Sindhuri Residency states that it is a business class hotel for budgeteers. And it is one, especially during lunch hour on weekdays. Its spacious lobby is full of monkey suits, seemingly uptight starched white collars, some puffing smoke, others smoking passively.

The large fish tank that stands stolidly and indifferently bang in their midst, in front of a seating arrangement, is a dramatic irony by contrast - the fish are as lazily tranquil as the monkey suits are hyper. Throw in the ridiculous garland of fake flowers crowning the front desk like a badly mismatched wig, along with the monkey suits and the fish, and the word 'jungle' comes racing to mind.

However, beyond the lobby, Sindhuri Residency is not tacky. Far from it, in fact. The 40 rooms and suites spread over 4 floors are, first and foremost, unusually large. While we would not go as far as the hotel's brochure and claim that they "flaunt style to the hilt", they are adequately neoteric and well-stocked. And clean; the housekeeping army at Sindhuri Residency seems uncommonly active throughout the hotel, buffing tiles and changing linen with crisp efficiency.

A restaurant, Buds, also runs inhouse at ground level, offering multi-cuisine fare. A board room, with a seating capacity of 20, is also available. A fairly large banquet hall, which can seat up to 350 people for a party or a conference, is part of the sunny terrace, one side of which immediately overlooks the quaint clock tower of the Ramgopalpet Police Station. (And no, the clock does not display the time accurately.)

Sindhuri Residency offers its main clientele - read "corporates" - quality, and the basics of "a business class hotel", at competitive rates: rooms can be rented here for an amount that would fall anywhere between Rs. 1,050 and Rs. 2,940. Now that is how you define a good deal.