Testing at Prometric? Try Resting At Cinnamon!

Reading the email, I knew that it was time when I was slowly inching towards my big American dream. As a student of engineering, I had always wanted to move to the US for higher education in Environmental Engineering. The preparation for the mandatory GRE and TOEFL was going on since the past year. 

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The email confirmed my exam date and my centre was the Prometric Centre in Gurgaon. I was confident that I would be able to score very well in the first attempt itself. 

Yet, my confidence was not brimming as I had expected it to. My parents made me realize that perhaps it was the inhibition or “scare” of going to Gurgaon for the first time, that I was feeling the way I was. It was decided that mom and I reach Gurgaon a couple of days before to get accustomed to the place and can be focused on the exam completely on my “D” day.

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We chose Cinnamon Stays as our place of stay on the recommendation of my mother’s friend, Radha (who called herself a “Friend Of Cinnamon”). The recommendation paid off more than I had ever expected it to. Here are a few things that made our stay in Cinnamon simply fantastic!

1. Located just 5 minutes away from the Test Centre

The Prometric centre is located in the Iris Tech Park Building on Sohna Road, just 5 minutes walking distance from the homestay. This convenience of being so close by meant that I could have a good night’s sleep and not worry about traveling across town.

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2. Home like environment

The home like environment of Cinnamon was the first thing that struck us. It obviously is a home to the hosts, Manish and Shilpi, yet, every corner of the place oozes of warmth - something that I knew I would miss in the days to come.

3. Safe for young travelers

Though I was with my mother, I did see a fellow girl student traveling from Kanpur on her own. For parents to send their children on their own, for an important exam, meant that they completely trusted Cinnamon. It is a safe and secure family place for young student travelers like us. They have 2 villas. You can choose to stay with the family or in the other villa if you want greater privacy. I loved staying with Shilpi and her family. 

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4. Home cooked meals

The home cooked meals provided are hygienic, (spice according to your taste) and the portions are very good! (at least for a big guy like me who eats a lot!). The servings at the breakfast are different on different days and that feels just like home! I was even asked if I liked my milk with Horlicks, Bournvita or good old Haldi (turmeric). All the energy you need before the big exam. There is also a McDonalds across the street, Sree Ram restaurant that’s open 24X7. 

5. Packed meals (added service)

I could also get a packed lunch ( actually very tasty sandwich made by Ravi - their cook) as per our request. The entire headache of what and where to eat near the centre was completely taken care of!

Cinnamon will also help you order from outside. They are pretty cool about food from outside.

6. Flexibility

At Cinnamon, we had flexibility of checking in and checking out as per our convenience (Though on special request!). We had an evening flight to catch and the hosts agreed to look after our luggage even after check out so that we could go to the centre without our baggage and not worry about it’s safety at all.

7. Quiet zone

The entire homestay is a quiet zone. Since it is located in a gated community, the noise levels are very low. The rooms are serene and with the greenery around, it gave me a stress free environment and I could carry out my last minute preparations with ease and comfort. There is a power back-up so there was no tension of power cuts and a sleepless night.

8. Motivation

On the day of my exam, I was but nervous and edgy. Very strangely, Shilpi the host struck up a conversation with me. She helped me to stop being fidgety just by chatting up with me! Later, she told me that she is a Coach and it is her profession to “pep” up people. I suggest you have a small chat with her before you go for the exam. She really cheered me up!

9. Extra amenities in the room

Cinnamon does not shy away from giving you the “extra”. Be it an extra mattress, milk with bournvita, extra cups of tea  (on the eve of the exam, on request!), a small guitar strumming session (to de -stress) or a quick lending of book from their collection.

   

    10.  Emergency drop off facility

I was told that in case of any emergency like rains, I would be dropped off at the exam centre well in time.

I had worked very hard for my GRE and taking the exam was a feat in itself but the one thing that made it fairly easy and convenient was the place we stayed - Cinnamon Stays. Today, after 4 weeks, I have my GRE score in hand and looking at it I know that soon I will be packing off to the US. One thing is for sure that if I do fly ex Delhi, I will stay at Cinnamon again for the love and pampering that I will be showered upon for sure! After all, the airport is only a 30 minute drive from there!

Friends of Cinnamon

When I first met her, she was a client and I, a recruitment consultant. What began as a professional relationship over 10 years ago is now something that I can proudly call “friendship”. Meeting Shilpi and getting to know her during my professional relationship was always endearing. When she decided to move from Mumbai to Gurgaon, I understood that I was not just losing an excellent client but would be missing her chirpiness and enterprising temperament.

No sooner had she moved to Gurgaon, she excitedly told me about her journey towards being a hospitality entrepreneur. She launched Cinnamon Stays. When her entrepreneurial venture started to see success, I was extremely happy to see her grow from a single homestay in Gurgaon to a silver startup in Varanasi.  As luck would have it, I too moved to Delhi albeit only for two years and we could catch up more often. I paid her a visit and the full day that I spent with her in Cinnamon revealed to me much more than I thought I knew about her and Cinnamon.

Cinnamon has a soul, it is not just a place you go to stay. It’s a place where you “Sense” and you “feel”. It is a community of guests, travelers, small entrepreneurs all of whom rely heavily on the social media. I was amazed to see that magic of being connected via social media with interesting and like minded people who walk in as guests and walk out as friends.

One day, as we were on a usual chat up call, she excitedly told me about a program called “Friends of Cinnamon”. She told me that this was a unique initiative started by her to acknowledge all her friends who had been a support in making both Cinnamon Stays and Granny’s Inn where it is today. She explained that her friends played the role of evangelists and somehow contributed in making the business flourish.

“Friends of Cinnamon” kick started with an aim to create a safe and reliable network of people who would be guests at both the homestays purely on the basis of referrals and word of mouth.

As she unfolded the initiative, I could not help but wonder how important the safety of her guests was to her. As a friend, I have always spoken so much about her and her work that, invariably some of my friends have booked in her home stays and have had a wonderful experience. In order to acknowledge the same, she decided that for every referral that would walk in as a guest, I would be rewarded monetarily. My work would be very simple and informal. Much of it I was already doing, being the storyteller for Cinnamon and Granny’s Inn. Only, I needed to do it in a structured way, over social media, over my network - personal and professional, connect with travel bloggers and carry out small curated events to spread the word. This seemed like such a fun idea to me. This was no hard sell, only pure sharing with like minded people.

It has now been over a year since I formally became an FOC! I have had the most interesting interactions with other FOCs, have met people who I would never had in the normal course and built “friendships” with some who share the same interests as me. FOC has recently extended its scope as the business also extends. The Unhotel group as they are called is now seeking new properties to bring under their umbrella from Corbett to Goa, Ladakh to Coorg. Give them the same soul that they have. In case we come across any property fit to be an Unhotel (Cinnamon and Grannys), we can just drop in the reference to Shilpi and she will work her charm.

In case this sounds exciting to you, do go through the websites www.cinnamonstays.in, www.grannysinn.in and write in either to Shilpi or Manish at cinnamonstays@gmail.com for more details on how to enrol in the ‘Friends of Cinnamon’ program. Believe me, there is a whole new world out there for us to seek and grow