[vivek95]

Originally Posted by Chinmayd

Folks,
Planning Mumbai to Old Goa via Belgaum on Dec 15. What are the best options for lunch in Belgaum? Safe & hassle free parking is as important as good food. Read somewhere Belgaum city has lots of parking voes, is that true?

No, Belgaum definitely does not have parking woes as much as any of the biggies like Pune/Mumbai/Bangalore. Trust me, I am a native of Belgaum. Firstly most new roads are broad and traffic is not heavy as much you get to see in metros. All the popular hotels in my city have good parking space in their lots. Your best bet would be Hotel Ramdev just about 2 kms, on your left side, as you enter Belgaum from Mumbai side. They have a huge parking space.

[superutp]

Hi guys planning a mumbai bangalore trip during this weekend, plan to stopover in hubali. Anybody have any suggestions for a good place to stay overnight. It will be me and my wife travelling.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by superutp

plan to stopover in hubali

You might want to keep your options open like say Belgaum, Hubli, Davangere,Chitradurga. With just 2 days away from one of the peak travel days, loads of hotels are likely booked already.

You can look at Metropolis, Clarks Inn in Hubli. Kamat Yatrinivas in Dharwad. Sankama, Apoorva in Davangere. Naveen Regency in Chitradurga. Sankam, Ramdev, Fairfield Inn in Belgaum.

The budget/VFM options are likely to be full and some expensive options are what might be available.

If nothing works out, do consider an early morning start-single shot drive from Bombay.

[akshay386]

Originally Posted by superutp

Hi guys planning a mumbai bangalore trip during this weekend, plan to stopover in hubali. Anybody have any suggestions for a good place to stay overnight. It will be me and my wife travelling.

Check out this hotel / resort

http://cottoncountyclub.in/

It is opposite to Hubli airport and have very good amenities like gym, swimming pool (might not be useful during winter days )
Food is Ok Ok and owner is very kind, will make sure he will provide you good service during stay. Important thing is rates are quite reasonable as well. I stayed there during Diwali holidays with my family. I hope this helps.

[pganapathy]

I stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of Dharwad, on the highway. It is Ramya Residency and it is right next to the Mishra Peda store. The rates are very reasonable. 1K for a non a/c and 1.6K for an a/c room. It is board only, but does have a restaurant attached. Reasonably clean and you have safe parking with CCTV cameras. The Wi-Fi has not been working for a month or so when I used it last weekend. Other than that no other facilities, but works for a hotel on the highway where you want a clean and safe room for the night.

[superutp]

Thanks guys, ended up booking clarks in hubli owing to a deal on one of these travel apps. Will provide the feedback once this route is completed

[vdi]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

I stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of Dharwad, on the highway. It is Ramya Residency and it is right next to the Mishra Peda store. The rates are very reasonable. 1K for a non a/c and 1.6K for an a/c room. It is board only, but does have a restaurant attached. Reasonably clean and you have safe parking with CCTV cameras. The Wi-Fi has not been working for a month or so when I used it last weekend. Other than that no other facilities, but works for a hotel on the highway where you want a clean and safe room for the night.

Stayed here thrice on my trip to Shirdi from Cochin. Decent place for a night's stay. Clean rooms and nice people at the reception. Plus it is so very near to the highway too.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

I stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of Dharwad, on the highway. It is Ramya Residency and it is right next to the Mishra Peda store. The rates are very reasonable. 1K for a non a/c and 1.6K for an a/c room.

Originally Posted by vdi

Stayed here thrice on my trip to Shirdi from Cochin. Decent place for a night's stay.

Since this is just off the Hubli-Dharwad tolled road, does one need to pay the full toll for the sectiion when going to the hotel ? Would the toll receipt be valid while exiting the next day ?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

Would the toll receipt be valid while exiting the next day ?

Nope. Because they punch the date on the manual receipt and there was never a return ticket for this bypass anyway.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Nope. Because they punch the date on the manual receipt and there was never a return ticket for this bypass anyway.

So one needs to pay the toll twice if staying at the hotel ? Once during entry to hotel and again when exiting out ?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

So one needs to pay the toll twice if staying at the hotel ? Once during entry to hotel and again when exiting out ?

Never done this so won't know but ideally that is how they should treat you.

The other thing I don't recollect is that the date stamp on receipt doesn't mention time. If so, what happens when you enter at 1145pm and exit at 1215am .

[pganapathy]

My toll ticket was charged because I went into Dharwad, so couldn't even argue with them. Anyway, they said not valid and charged me 50 bucks, which is cheaper than the 70 I paid on the other side. Most likely they will charge you if you spend the night, but not if you drive through like @paragsachania suggested

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

My toll ticket was charged because I went into Dharwad, so couldn't even argue with them. Anyway, they said not valid and charged me 50 bucks, which is cheaper than the 70 I paid on the other side. Most likely they will charge you if you spend the night, but not if you drive through like @paragsachania suggested

I guess one needs to "EXIT" Off bypass to reach anywhere once you enter the bypass after paying for the ticket. So it's GAME OVER soon after you exit the bypass.

This logic I think becomes applicable when you purchase a ticket at 1145pm and exit at 1215am too because you can never really hold that ticket and stay at a hotel overnight since to do that you need to EXIT from one of the gates. The only way it becomes valid is by staying right there on that bypass which most won't do anyway.

[mpksuhas]

Seems like Chitradurga - Haveri road widening is progressing good. Not sure about the status north of Haveri since I took deviation from there. However, compared to my previous trip on this road in March of this year, when road work was just starting I see considerable changes.

However, didn't notice ongoing work at many places, hope its not slowing down.

I counted around 6 deviations between Chitradurga and Haveri. All are well marked and smooth, I don't think it will slow you down more than 10 - 15 mins.


That said, hope road widening starts on section between 6 lane south of Chitradurga till toll booth north of the town soon. Tumkur - Bangalore is a mess as usual.

Couple pics of work -

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

status north of Haveri

6-laning work is happening all the way from Chitradurga till Hubli Circle. The 'Work in Progress' sections do not disturb the flow. However its the diversion sections that you want to watch out:

- Diversions smoothly integrate with the main highway, no problems there.
- There are speed breakers of various sizes. Not everything is small enough to run over at speeds, but not mini-mountains.
- While the diversions are 2-lanes wide. There are 2 or 3 (especially towards Hubli) I remember that had one lane blocked with concrete divider blocks.
- Coming from Pune, the slow lane on Haveri bypass is also blocked with cement divider blocks.
- Rest/Fuel stops not on service road are tricky to enter. For example: Veerabadhreswara BP on Haveri bypass, Ranebennur Kamat.

Overall you'll still maintain a decent average pace over this WIP stretch, but you won't be able to do fancy speeds/averages.