Jai Jagannath! we said and packed our bags for Puri. It was Christmas time and I had just bought the Sterling Holidays membership which offers me seven nights every year at any of their over-fifty attractive properties all across India and abroad. We spoke to our Relationship Manager and booked our stay at their Puri property for 4N. All I remember from that conversation was that the manager was exceedingly courteous and guided us through the whole process of booking till our room was confirmed.
Sterling Puri is a big and spacious property and the room we were allotted was comfortable with all necessary amenities for a deluxe hotel room. There were tea and coffee sachets in plenty in the room and the housekeeping staff was courteous and did their work with a smile on their faces. Everything here is arranged to make your stay nice and comfortable and since I was travelling with Popo, who was only three years old at the time, I was delighted to see that their breakfast menu includes a child section where they serve delicious Maggi noodles which every child loves to eat.
The part I loved the most about the hotel was its private beach which only those in the hotel have access to. Imagine living in a sought-after tourist destination like Puri, and getting access to a sort of private beach where there’s nobody to break the calm repetitive noise of the waves coming and going except you and your loved ones. Every morning, we would get up, eat our buffet breakfast at the in-house restaurant downstairs and go to the hotel-adjoining stretch of the beach where I would play with Popo and sea-gaze for hours. Popo loved the kid’s playing area where we took many photographs which now keep popping up in my Google Photos: a vacation is a memory forever.
But the photo I like the most from this trip is the one where I am sitting on the stairs of the Sun Temple at Konark and the magnificent temple can be seen in the background. Also, the customary family photo in front of the celebrated wheels of the Sun Temple. Oh! How I wish to go to Puri again!
