Many start celebrations at lunch; good demand for hotel room parties

Mysore/Mysuru: The New Year’s eve was subdued for the second consecutive year as the Police were prepared to bundle away public from roads, junctions, party venues last evening and as the clock struck 12.

The only way left for people to celebrate the New Year was to zoom around in their cars and SUVs, have dinner with their loved ones at their favourite restaurants and reach home by 10 pm following the night curfew restrictions.

Restaurants, pubs and clubs were allowed to continue to operate at 50 percent capacity as per the usual timings permitted to them. However, there were no restrictions on room occupancy and room service and hotels served their patrons beyond 12 am and had made special arrangements.

Special food was prepared to cater to the needs of people holed up in rooms and hotels that had permission to sell liquor had made arrangements for enough stocks of liquor. Many guests had brought their own stocks.

Over 80 percent of the hotel rooms were booked by the local residents who preferred to stay indoors in view of the restrictions.

Mysuru Hotel Owners Association President C. Narayanagowda told SOM that this year, people started their New Year Eve celebrations at 2 pm instead of the usual 8 pm or so.

Hotels, restaurants and pubs that get filled up in the evening saw patrons walking in for lunch. College students formed most of the crowd prancing the streets in the afternoon. “Walk-ins started at around 12 pm and by 5.30 or 7 pm, all hotels were full to the 50 percent capacity. While people were interested in continuing the party even after 8 pm, the night curfew prompted many to leave early,” he said.

Amidst a strict night curfew and government guidelines, most of the streets that would have otherwise been full with revellers wore a deserted look beyond 10 pm. The Police ensured that people did not gather outside after the deadline.

By 9.30 pm, announcements to shut shop by the 10 pm deadline were made and roads were barricaded and at many places, drunken driving tests were carried out. Most of the restaurants and pubs in the city were full to the allowed capacity. Only those who had got two doses of the vaccine were allowed in after checking their certificates. Crowds started thinning out starting from 8.30 pm and there was good demand for autos and cabs who made the killing.

Food delivery boys had a busy evening as there were no restrictions for them. Many restaurants, pizza and burger outlets saw a line of delivery staff to pick up their orders. Due to restrictions, many preferred these online aggregators to deliver food at their doorsteps.