women empowerment – What's Next?

Crafting Secure and Welcoming Homestays: SaffronStays’ Pledge to the Comfort and Well-being of Women Travellers

4th March 202419th March 2025Posted in Celebrate Togetherness, SaffronStays DiariesTagged celebrate togetherness, family get together, family holidays, saffronstays, secure and welcoming homestays, solo women travelers, womanhood, women empowerment, womens day, womens day celebration

In today’s fast-paced world, the concept of travel has evolved beyond mere sightseeing. It’s about experiences, connections, and, above all, feeling safe and secure wherever one goes. For women travellers, this aspect of safety takes on added importance, and at SaffronStays, it’s a cornerstone of our ethos.

Seamless and secure experience

Ensuring utmost safety at every stage, from pre-check-in to check-out, is our top priority. We understand the unique needs of women travellers and have made it our mission to create safe and inclusive spaces that cater to their comfort and well-being.

Pitching against hit-or-miss villas operated by fly-by-night operators, SaffronStays offers complete transparency in service and details, ensuring a personalised stay experience that exceeds expectations.

Hygiene and cleanliness are non-negotiable aspects of our commitment to safety. Each of our properties undergoes rigorous cleaning protocols, with particular attention paid to bathroom spaces, which are major checkpoints for women guests. We ensure that every corner is pristine, germ-free, and designed for optimal comfort and aesthetics.

A stay beyond ordinary

Our staff members are more than just employees; they are ambassadors of personalized hospitality. Through comprehensive training programs, we equip our team with the skills and empathy needed to handle any situation with professionalism and care.

Parents who have rejoiced in life’s simple pleasures such as climbing trees, plucking fruits, pampering animals and visiting rice fields wish their children to experience the same now. Our curated farm stays and homestays make this dream a reality.

We offer round-the-clock support to our guests, ensuring that help is always just a phone call away, whether it’s a medical emergency or needing local recommendations.

From well-lit pathways to secure parking facilities, we go the extra mile to ensure that our properties are equipped with female-friendly amenities. Our rooms feature thoughtful touches like extra lighting, secure locks, and designated safe spaces, providing women travellers with the peace of mind they deserve.

Ideal place to craft memories

Beyond physical safety, we prioritize creating an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere that celebrates diversity and fosters meaningful connections. Our properties serve as vibrant hubs where guests can come together to share stories, experiences, and laughter, regardless of their background or identity.

In conclusion, creating safe and inclusive spaces isn’t just a goal for us; it’s a fundamental part of who we are as a brand. At SaffronStays, we’re committed to being cheerleaders to women travellers boosting their confidence to explore, connect, and create unforgettable memories.

Why wait? Gift a memorable stay to your special ladies at the uniquely crafted villas of SaffronStays. Rethink the Women’s Day celebrations!

SaffronStaysXEzy Mov: Travel With Dignity

21st July 2017Posted in Responsible tourismTagged accessible, Alibaug, champions with disability, crutches, Darjeeling homestays, dignity, empowerment, enabled, Ezy Mov, family, family get together, fracture, Holiday, Home, homestay, incusive, Maharashtra, mobility, old age travel, paralyses, physical disability, restricted mobility, saffronstays, senior citizen, senior citizen accessibly, travel, vavaction, Weekend Getaways from Mumbai, wheelchair, wheelchair friendly, women empowermentLeave a comment

Picture this: Lush tress all around, rivers brimming with water, birds flitting around against a dramatic sky and the pitter-patter of raindrops against your car’s window. Reminiscent of a road trip with your family, is it not? With the monsoons, a sense of wanderlust is imminent. The urge to travel to exotic locales, try mouth-watering cuisines and cherish every moment spent together with your family, even if it’s just over one weekend, can be overwhelming. Yet, instead of acting upon those urges and heading out for a getaway, we delay the plan for another time. And the main reason, more often than not, is a senior family member who, due to mobility constraints does not wish to burden himself/ herself, or the family members during that long journey.

To break these very shackles, Ezy Mov, India’s premier wheelchair accessible cab company was conceived. Founded by Rrajesh Patil, Romeo Ravva, and Bennet D’Cunha in 2015, Ezy Mov had only one objective in mind: To ensure a dignified mode of transport for all those with limited mobility through a technically advanced fleet of cabs fitted with world class equipment like hydraulic lifts and wheelchair restraint systems driven by a team of professional and courteous drivers. Much like Ezy Mov, other platforms like Enable Travel and ENAT ensure a comfortable and honourable travel experience for individuals with access hindrances.

Reclaiming Freedom

Having one’s independency and freedom snatched away is a difficult obstacle to overcome. By accepting accessible transport, travellers both young and old can head out to their favourite spots, stress-free. Be it permanent or temporary, respite from being someone’s responsibility is empowering in its own stance. Ezy Mov’s vehicles ensure that a patient or traveller reaches his/ her destination sans any external help.

Gratitude for the Teachings

We are always trying to honour the toils and troubles our parents went through to raise us. A vacation away from the noise and din is something any senior citizen would appreciate. A number of SaffronStays homes have been designed to ease access for those who may face ascent or descent complications. A holiday package, gifted to your dear ones would be the ideal form of gratitude, wouldn’t it? After all, we too promote inclusive holidays where the entire family bonds!

Here are some of the homes SaffronStays recommends for those with mobility restrictions:

SaffronStays L’attitude, Kamshet

When rest and relaxation is on your mind, SaffronStays L’attitude is the place to be at. Nestled in the hills of Kamshet, Maharashtra, this uber-luxurious home has been designed with comfort of accessibility as the highest priority. With no steps at the entrance of the home, open access to the balcony overlooking a gorgeous lake, and two bedrooms on the ground floor, L’attitude is a must visit. This monsoon, head over with your family and friends for an inclusive vacation, and enjoy the 108 lush trees around the property in all their grandeur.

Accessibility Quotient: 10/10

SaffronStays Little Paradise, Murud

Save the 2 steps to get into the home at SaffronStays Little Paradise, the beachfront cottages are a perfect getaway. With a manicured lawn, pathway to the beach, and a tranquil porch, everyone can now enjoy a stay by the sea.

Accessibility Quotient: 8/10

SaffronStays Bliss, Mulshi Road

With 2 bedrooms, a home theatre and a pool all on the ground floor, SaffronStays Bliss can be the place your family and friends head out to next. Close to Pune city, Bliss, Bhugaon proves for soothing weekday visits too. So close to the metros, accessible by all, and equipped with amenities. Need we say more?

Accessibility Quotient: 8/10

SaffronStays 9 Palms, Alibaug

How often have your parents’ Bridge-playing buddies made a plan to head out of the city for a vacation? Gift them that perfect holiday at SaffronStays 9 Palms, Alibaug and help them cherish unforgettable memories. Home-cooked meals, vast lawns and a pool to while away a lazy afternoon is what we all crave for, don’t we?

Accessibility Quotient: 7/10

Book your holiday now: www.saffronstays.com | book@saffronstays.com

Empowered in a beautiful tea estate

29th September 2014Posted in Community tourism, Darjeeling, Hosts, Ninja Diaries, Responsible tourismTagged Darjeeling, Darjeeling, Darjeeling homestays, Makaibari, Makaibari home stay, Rajah Banerjee, Tea garden, women empowermentLeave a comment

Born and raised in the tea gardens of Assam, I’ve always related home to the sight of dark green leaves glistening in the sun, the sound of large dryers whirring in the factory, and the smell of garden fresh tea lingering in the house. Habituated to the flat plains though, this was the first time that I was laying eyes on tea plantations that stretched across vast slopes of hills with greener mountains at their backdrops. In Darjeeling, the tea gardens provided a more dramatic and stunning sight than I was used to and I definitely wasn’t complaining.

On a rainy morning, Tejas and I reached Makaibari Tea Estate, our last destination in Darjeeling. Famed for producing the finest quality of organic tea and also the most expensive Silver tips tea, Makaibari hosts travellers and tea enthusiasts from across the globe every year. Seven villages and a dense forest cover characterise the tea estate.

As we zigzagged our way through narrow lanes of the villages that day, visiting the houses of the tea pluckers on our way, we noticed a pattern more striking than that of multiple cups of flavorful tea. The tea estate, through its various little policies over the years, had given rise to an empowered women population. Other than encouraging women to set up responsible home stays so they could generate extra income for their household, Makaibari had also begun the trend of electing female garden supervisors. In fact, our host, Mrs. Maya Devi was a garden supervisor herself, with a sizable number of tea pluckers under her, whose work she inspected and managed on a daily basis. We met Mrs. Bhumika, who actively took part in garbage management in the area, and Mrs. Verbina who encouraged her children to improve their English and learn about different regions and their cultures from her guests.

The most inspiring person we met, however, was Mrs. Ranju. Guiding us to her village of Phoolbari that lay a scenic walk way, she introduced us to home stay owners there. She constantly asked us for our suggestions and feedback, and advised families on ways to improve their service and hospitality. We learnt how passionate she was about propagating her culture to people from different parts of the world. In fact, she had been organising and taking part in local cultural shows out of the same passion. It was evident how the position of power, the ability to be entrepreneurs and contribute to the family income, had encouraged these women to be fearless and confident.

Before we said said goodbye, Mrs. Ranju left us with a beautiful Nepalese song and told us how much these interactions with working women encouraged her. I hope she realises that women like her inspire us way more.

About the Traveller: Born and raised in Assam, Sarita Santoshini has been travelling around India and penning down her experiences over the past year. You can read more of her travelogues in her blog- http://crumbsfromyourtale.wordpress.com .