It had been almost a month now that we had started dating. We both knew we were serious about each other. And yes, we did want to get intimate. I wanted to hold her. Have her head rest upon my chest with her arms around me as we both slept. We were in that zone where sex wasn’t sex, it was making love. I remember my parents being out for a weekend and I had called her over. That was just once. We both wanted each other really bad but just couldn’t figure out the ‘logistics’. We hated waiting for these one off chances. Eventually, we started to entertain the idea of booking a room at some hotel, but we dropped the idea because hotels were supposed to be shady, dangerous and even judgmental, which was our major fear, as my partner and I have a ten-year age gap between us. We were sure we would be denied. We continued to tackle the question, where can we find couple friendly hotels in Delhi?
And so, for a while it just had to be phone sex. That’s when one of my friends told me about StayUncle. I remember opening the website for the first time and immediately calling my woman and saying “we won!”.
I wanted to hold her. Have her head rest upon my chest with her arms around me as we both slept.
Yes, indeed! And here it was, a guardian angel, a redeemer and even a saint that was offering hotel rooms for unmarried couples, where they could be privately intimate, with no judgements, no harassments and no insecurities.
I immediately installed their app on my phone and clicked on the “hotels near me” option. It gave me a bunch of hotels with extensive reviews and photos. We went through this list and narrowed onto one. The customer care staff for StayUncle was always there for us to clear any of our endless queries and dilemmas, since we were booking for the first time.
Sex wasn’t sex, it was making love.
So my partner and I arrived at the hotel on a Saturday with an overnight booking. It was our first time doing this, so we were nervous. We were wary of that judgmental look that resides behind the reservation desk. What we got though, was a smile from the hotel staff and we went from being nervous to being welcomed.
Wow. This is happening. I thought to myself.
The entire check-in process was butter smooth, with no unnecessary questions or queries. They took our IDs and details and gave us the room key. Ok, most difficult part, first step done. Breathe now.
Next was the room. We whispered about the room. We wondered what would that be like… Still, we walked to our room, hand in hand and with a smile of respite, stealing glances around the attendant. In the room the attendant informed us about the basic amenities, this and that; a usual ritual for them, a new experience for us as a couple. Looking around, it was really beyond what we had expected. It was clean, neat…cozy. There was no discrimination when it came to commitment to quality and service. There was no bracketing of us being “those” customers.
We were still a little nervous but felt secure. We didn’t have to worry about any hidden cameras or some raid by a fundamentalist group because it was a popular hotel that we chose to book, and we had booked it through a legit channel. Rest are the details that are best known between my partner and I!
The entire check-in process was butter smooth
Time for checking out. It was the same. They didn’t ask us a damn question, or give us a ‘we-know-what-you-did’ look. We deposited the keys and that was it literally.
This is a revolution! The unthinkable actually happened. Something new had occurred. We made memories we won’t forget for the longest time to come. It was almost unbelievable, how smooth everything went, something like this was possible in a country like ours.
The whole experience gave us a sense of confidence; it felt as if we didn’t have to hide our relationship any longer. That we weren’t committing a crime. What we experienced and cherished the most, above and beyond everything else, was freedom.
