Hotel Silver Moon — Hotel in Mumbai

By the standards of conventional, Western tourism, I would give this modest, walk-up motel 0 stars. But that just wouldn't be fair. One must compare it against the cost, location and comperable offerings in the area.

My room had a comfortable mattress, two comfy pillows and a clean sheet. The mattress barely fit onto the floor area.

What you get: Powerful & quiet ceiling fan, large flat screen TV with hundreds of channels in many languages, very fast WiFi and Internet, a private toilet, bidet and cold shower.

What you don't get: No hot water, air conditioning, or desk/chair (there simply isn't room for these!).

Just to be fair, I chose a cheaper room without air conditioning. Many rooms had a working air conditioner. There was an instant hot water heater connected to my shower, but it didn't work.

There is no Secure Storage Box in the rooms. But there is a locked closet near the front desk. Security of valuables and electronics did not appear to be a problem during my visit.

Nice touch: Upon request, the manager happily loaned an electrical adapter and extension cord at no cost. He also allowed me to place cold drinks in the lobby refrigerator.

Problems: (1) the motel occupies 4th and 5th floor of an old concrete walk- up in a run-down but bustling market area. Although there is a good elevator, getting to the first floor requires strength and good lungs. You must walk up a narrow, two-story stairway that is steeper than a playground slide. Even a strong man is left breathless upon entering this place!

(2) Very tiny ants (you can barely see them) and a few cockroaches. They didn't seem to invade the mattress area. I would rather tolerate a few ants then have them fumigate the room with poisons.

Final thoughts:

a) if you book with an online site, you can expect a significant price reduction for added days. There is always a better deal with no commissions and no credit card.

If you stay for more than 3 nights, you may get the manager to drop the price as low as $,000 Rh. But don't set yourself up for a rude experience. Even at 15~1700, Silver Moob is a bargain.

b) You will be very thirsty in this section of town, even in the winter. Buy fresh fruit and veggie drinks on the street. The hotel only sells mango juice, Coke and Sprite -- and only if you can find someone at the front desk.

c) I met an Israeli officer who was backpacking across India. His mother was visiting him at this hotel. He told me that he booked the room, so that his mother wouldn't see the Salvation Army guest room that he normally uses. Amazing! I can scarcely envision more humble and less livable...

When we first were dropped off by the taxi at this hotel we were a little concerned - it is located in the middle of a busy market place with piles of rubbish all around. The traffic inside is terrible and so takes more than twice as long as expected to reach the road the hotel is on. The hotel itself is on the fourth floor of an industrial building and difficult to find unless you know here it actually is. But no matter, we decided not to judge on first appearances as sometimes, especially in India, things that look like they may be terrible actually work out to be quite nice. But oh how wrong we were. ||First and foremost I would like to point out that the staff, when they were working, were absolutely lovey. Pleasant and polite and willing to help. That however is the only good thing I can say about or stay. ||The room was filthy and there was damp on the ceiling in both the main room and the bathroom. The double bed was made up with only one blanket made up for a single bed so one of us was without any blankets to sleep. The bathroom stank of urine, had a tap that did not put water out of the spout but only the fitting so water pooled around the base of the fitting and only trickled from the tap and the tiles on the floor were cracked and broken. ||Again we thought no matter, this is India and if you are looking to stay in this hotel you’re obviously looking for somewhere cheap and this is to be expected. However at night until 2am maybe 3am there were people in the hallways, running up and down, shouting, playing loud music and keeping their doors wide open. On the second night after being woken up by shouting a second time my partner stuck his head out the door and yelled at them to be quiet. The people then banged on our door multiple times until I opened the door to tell them to go away as they were disrespectful and harassing us. Both were hotel employees, in uniform but obviously off shift and staying in the hotel to sleep. ||In the morning we checked out of the hotel to find somewhere quieter and nicer to stay and the reception staff tried to deny their own staff were involved, only to have to go back on that when one of the guys walked pastor uniform. ||Overall, poor location, poor rooms and poor facilities. If you are looking for somewhere cheap but nice to stay,...

I booked it after checking positive reviews from Bookings dot com site .||||The locality i.e Masjid Bunder is a mess , worst I have seen in Mumbai during my tour. The hotel is on 4th floor of a shady building . Lift is there but it looked rusty so I took the staircase . The environment inside the building was pathetic . Looks like small factories are being operating inside there illegally . ||||There is one more hotel on 3 rd floor with similar name but it is not listed on Bookings dot com . ||||The staff didn't greeted me and one topless person was sitting on sofa , I think he was the owner, they asked for full advance before checking in . The amount they were asking was more then what is listed on Bookings dot com . During discussion two people came from behind and joined manager , now all the three were perusing me to pay money . I decided to pay through credit card so I can show proof to Bookings dot com of getting overcharged . To this manager said will add another 3.5 % as credit card processing fee . I even agreed to that . But now comes scam part . Manager took me downstairs to the that second hotel and asked me to pay there with my credit card btw all of this was happening while I was surrounded by 4 to 5 people and each was trying to get in my space . When I got a call on my mobile I walked outside on the reception area even there these people followed me trying to listen my conversation . They all knew Hindi but were talking in different language when talking to each other. I finally decided to leave that place , then comes the owner ( person without shirt) pull out his mobile phone and show me list of other hotel he manages in that locality . And threaten me no other hotel will welcome me if he whatsapp in the group . ||||I think since I am tall and strongly build hence nobody pushed me or blocked me . Its better to avoid this hotel and best to avoid this whole locality i.e Masjid Bunder since most of them are operated...