ALLAHABAD:On Friday, businessman Dayanand Lal and his family from Gwalior had been searching for a hotel room with basic amenities and security in all of Allahabad. After an online search, the family visited a number of hotels, only to find thatrooms that were priced somewhere between Rs 2000 and Rs 3000 for a night on a regular day, had now been priced at Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. The reason for such a jump, hotel owners told them, was the Kumbh Mela Not being able to zero in on a room for the family then, Dayanand was caught in a fix, not knowing how to balance his budget and desire of being a part of the Kumbh, with hotels charging three to four times their regular charge. Not just this family, tourists and pilgrims from across the country coming to Allahabad are finding themselves in a tough spot given the government's attempts to make Kumbh Mela a grand affair. Sighting a business opportunity the hospitality industry has spiked prices of even the smallest of rooms for a single person, making them out of budget as compared to room rates offered on other days in the year.Which means, a single room you could afford within a budget of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000, now ranges between Rs 11,000 and Rs 15,000 per night. With days close to the Kumbh dates, the price for the same single room, escalated to Rs 20,000 per night.We reached Allahabad and started looking for a room. We checked both online and offline, but at every hotel the prices had soared for rooms not even worth that rate. The receptionist finally told me he would include the taxes in the room tariff. But, I was shocked when he asked for a higher bill for a two-night stay. He said the same room for the second day is available at an even higher price, which increased my total bill, somersaulting my budget for the stay,” said Dayanand.He said he would check a few more hotels to get the best price within his budget before settling in. A decision, he said, he was not very sure would pay off.When this reporter went about looking for rooms, she was also told that dynamic pricing in the hotel industry during the Kumbh period, has had room prices jumping leaps and bounds.Sample this: When the rates of a particular hotel in the city’s Civil Lines area – on way to the Kumbh Mela ground -- were checked online, the rate for a single room spanned from Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 in early January. This reached Rs 13,000 to Rs 16,000 in mid-January and February, remaining so till March10. The price suddenly showed a drop on March 11. The Kumbh will get over on March 4.“There is a calendar of rates we can see in advance for a room. A room which is currently available at Rs 5,000 a night, is going to be charged at Rs 8,000 the following day. In the next few days, the rate for the same room would show as Rs 13,000 in our general tariff list," said Vikas, a property manager at a franchise based private hotel room facility."Dynamic pricing is working these days because of Kumbh. And this is not just increasing daily but also changing hourly given high demand for rooms and great opportunity for us," he added.This rise in prices, is not limited to hotels in the centre of the city or ones close to the railway and bus stations. Even those hotels that are situated at a considerable distance from the Kumbh Mela area, have given tourists a run for their money.Even the government-run tourist department hotel accommodation have joined the race. At the Civil Lines-situated tourism department-owned hotel, the room tariff has seen a 100% increase with effect from January 1 till Kumbh lasts. The rooms available here at Rs 2,200 to Rs 2,500 are now being given out at Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000."I was trying to book a room in Allahabad online. The rates were exorbitant but having no option, I decided to go ahead. But when I took the second step of online booking, the price jumped even higher. I will have to reconsider my options for stay in the city but have no clue how to go about it now," said a photographer from Lucknow, who wanted to shoot the Kumbh.

Stay updated with all the Allahabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.