Troubled with the squeaky fan in your hostel? Or the inedible mush they call dinner served from 8 pm to 9 pm?
Perhaps it's time to go premium.
If you chafe at the idea of a live-like-the-masses hostel, then perhaps these premium student accommodations could be the answer.
From solving your daily hassle with laundry and clean bathrooms to a 24x7 café or fully equipped gyms and chilling zones, this premium student accommodation brand - Tribe - is as upper crest as it gets. All you need to do is convince your parents to dole out an extra lakh or two for your accommodation. Tribe, created and operated by MyTurf Hospitality, currently provides premium student accommodation at Pune and plans to expand to Indore, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in the near future.
So, what do you get in these premium pads? The answer is EVERYTHING. CEO Yogesh Mehra, who co-founded Tribe with his elder son Shantam Mehra, says that they will take care of everything else so that students can focus on their studies. Noble, that. "Students shouldn't need to concentrate in order to study well. And for that, they need a hassle-free stay. You can't expect them to be uncomfortable and still give their 100 per cent to studies," Yogesh adds.
Because 24x7 food is Bae
A major grouse for hostel students — the unavailability of food at later hours — is apparently not an issue here. Food will be is available at all times in the Tribe facilities. Yogesh points out that it is stupid to expect a kid in today's times to finish his or her dinner by 9 pm. "It just doesn't make sense. Most of the students study at night. They are bound to feel hungry. Our cafés have food 24x7. This also prevents the students from going out at night to eat if they feel hungry," he says.
Show them the money
Obviously, their clientele is also drawn from a certain amount of affluence, "The majority of the students who are in our target group have had their own room back home and some might even have had a vehicle exclusively for them. For these kids to adjust to a hostel environment where the AC doesn't work or the laundry is not done or where the bathroom is dirty is a hassle that affects their studies," adds Yogesh.The Mehras are crystal-clear about their business strategy — this is not for the average Indian who depends on his scholarship fund to survive. The basic double bedrooms start at Rs 2.83 lakh a year, Luxury twin-sharing rooms are priced at Rs 3.43 lakh per annum and if you like to stay alone, Tribe also has single rooms at Rs 4.03 lakh.
But this is just the beginning. Yogesh wants to make it even more luxurious, "People are ready to pay if you provide them with a product that is value for money. They won't mind spending a few more lakhs to ensure that their son or daughter are living comfortably." He reasons that private university students are already paying the same kind of money to stay in university hostels. Sources have revealed that a student has to pay around Rs 2 lakh at Symbiosis International for accommodation and mess facilities, while it is Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh for someone studying at Christ University in Bengaluru.
This is your concierge calling
Yogesh, who has been in the real estate sector for the past 20 years, says that at each Tribe facility, professionals will manage the day-to-day operations to ensure that students do not have to get involved in these matters. Safety is also a major factor, though how students will take the different floors for different sexes thing, remains to be seen, "All campuses are CCTV enabled and we have RFID bands to track every student. Female students are housed on separate floors, with complete access control only for the girl student, with female security and housekeeping staff. Emergency and medical services are available around the clock," he adds.
Tribe also plans to take over hostels at some universities and remodel them and manage them to provide the same facilities they provide at their facility. But Yogesh wants to stick to private universities, "Government universities are a whole different ball game. But we might approach IITs and IIMs as their accommodation facilities are considerably higher," he reasons.
