An Experience to Never Forget

COVID-19 has taken away 2 precious years out of our lives in a brisk of a time. The moment world leaders looked at normalising things, second wave of the pandemic shook the world. Although pandemic has majorly brought us sorrows and bad experiences, it has certainly changed the view of looking at things. Either it is to standardize working from home or taking vacations/trips while working. People have quickly adapted the new way of living without affecting work.
People have started relying heavily on connectivity. Every single services (including basic needs such as food & clothing) is been accelerated by Digital solutions during pandemic. New terminology such as “Staycation”, “Working trips” and even “Holistay” were coined on Social Media and promoted by marketers wherein people can travel without taking leave from work.
In my opinion, I love the idea of travelling along with working. Initially, pandemic had crushed dreams of avid travelers by its restrictions but concept like Staycation opened the gates of happiness. I have been a travel enthusiast from the moment I have become an independent individual, there is nothing more I could have expected during pandemic. One of such memorable trips that I got to experience was while travelling to Coorg with a 1-day working layover at Mumbai.
My office is in Mumbai and I was told that I had to occasionally visit office during COVID-19. This was one of those occasional times, where my organization paid for the visit. In my experience, people working in IT field get such surprises whenever they plan for a trip and now I was quite habitual of it. My company had arranged my stay at a posh hotel of BKC called as Trident. BKC was the most convenient location for me as it was near to my office.
Trident, Bandra Kurla Complex was huge in space with gigantic entrance and beautiful décor. The hospitality was par excellence to the standards of 5 star hotel, I couldn’t have afforded such a plush hotel if it was on my expenses. Although, my welcome was mind-boggling and it kept my heart busy wondering; my mind was anxious about the Champions league game that was scheduled for the same night. I kept introspecting, if my room at the hotel will have the OTT platform or the sports channel on the TV that telecasts the football game.
Hotel’s staff was courteous to guide me towards my room. The moment I checked in, I had a glance at the Television set and to my notice Cable TV along with OTT services were provided. I was badly hoping for the channel availability and it startled me when I switched on the television. It had TV channels and OTT platforms separately displayed on the screen. When I further tried to investigate the OTT platforms section, it nearly had all the OTT platforms. From Amazon Prime to Sony Liv, everything was right in front of me, it only asked for my credentials and I am ready to enjoy the content. I was happy that I can use my own credentials to watch the OTT without paying any additional charges to the hotel.
Interestingly my name was displayed on the TV screen as welcoming me to the room. I felt it that the TV system was personalized for my stay.
I was happy as my television already had Sony Liv and TV channel broadcasting the game. While exploring, I realised OTT platforms and TV channels can be managed through a single remote. The experience was like at home. It didn’t even require casting screen through mobile or adding credentials on regular intervals. For me TV experience is most pleasurable with a remote. The remote was wireless so I could use it even from my bed without pointing to the TV! I also noticed that I can view all the hotel information on the TV, rather going through the printed brochure kept in the room. During these pandemic times, I try myself to keep safe by not touching common items kept at the room.
It was one of my best travel experiences, where I didn’t have to compromise on my favorite sport just because I am at a new city. The football game ended late at night and I was running behind time for the meeting. Thankfully, Trident was located quite near to my office. But in a hurry to reach office on time I missed logging out of the OTT platform which I used to watch the football game. I checked with the Hotel and they informed me that the credentials were removed automatically at the time of checkout to maintain security. When I tried to understand about the process, the hotel staff detailed the same and mentioned that the solution is powered by Jio.
I didn’t know that Jio who is a market leader is mobile service also providing entertainment services for hotel industry. The trip would have been different if I had missed the game. There is nothing more a common man asks for, other than a hassle-free trip, best experience in watching favourite entertainment/sports programme on cable TV/OTT channels in the same way he does at home!