‘My Favourite Hotel’ review – The Sind Club, Karachi, Pakistan

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• Tristan says:

  5 Sep5 September 12:39

  This is a very well-written article about an interesting hospitality option which many forget exists. Clubs often provide excellent service at a reasonable price and a decent network of reciprocal clubs (and a jacket and tie in one’s suitcase) is a very useful thing to have when travelling.

  HfP should be praised for running an interesting piece that was bound to provoke a little controversy. I do hope Rob won’t be unduly influenced by the ‘woke’ minority who take perfectly legitimate (if of declining relevance) questions about the Empire and use them as a cudgel to silence any viewpoint other than their own, far-left, ideology.

  As reader ‘AJA’ notes, there is considerable hypocrisy in condemning exclusive hospitality at the same time as enjoying a blog that devotes so much time to achieving it.

  I would also note that, without knowing the Sind Club in particular, staff at the more traditional private clubs are often long-serving and enjoy a substantially better working environment and more appreciation from members than do their counterparts in purely commercial hospitality.

• Sandra says:

  5 Sep5 September 12:48

  These ‘Clubs’ are still there and still run along the same colonial lines wherever there are expats, particularly in the ME & Asia. Not very long ago (within the last decade) after one relocation my husband applied to join ‘the club’ and was accepted immediately. His British Asian colleague, similar job, same level, salary etc as my husband, was told sorry there was a waiting list for membership & it was unlikely he would be admitted within the next 2-3 years. When we found that out that we never bothered using it & let the membership lapse.

  • Lady London says:

    5 Sep5 September 13:05

    +1 Well done you.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    5 Sep5 September 14:38

    Unfortunately still lots of discrimination across the globe. I actively Avoid France as I’ve always felt I got extra attention airports, walking down the street, Or zero attention (bars/restaurants)

    Do you mind me asking which country?

    • Sandra says:

      5 Sep5 September 14:44

      UAE

• Lady London says:

  5 Sep5 September 13:11

  Well said @Nathan.

  What’s often overlooked is the British government’s oppression and exploitation of its own people at home, including in England, continuing well into the past century.

  It isnt only foreign peoples and colonies who have been appallingly treated by the British.

• wee motto says:

  5 Sep5 September 13:17

  A lovely review. The Sindh club has been beautifully maintained and locals in Karachi are very proud of this place and their links to Britain. As a UK doctor, I have visited Karachi to support children’s surgery in a charity run hospital. The local guests took great pride in treating us to dinner at the Sindh club but the food was always Pakistani and delicious. The gardens are beautiful and a tranquil oasis in this bustling city. I would recommend a visit here even for dinner or drinks just the same as I always love a Singapore sling in Raffles !

• Robert Hardless says:

  5 Sep5 September 14:21

  You can also use the facility if you are a member of the RAC. My grandfather was President back in 1935 of the club. It is an oasis in Karachi, which is always very frantic. Despite the colonial heritage it is a safe and tranquil place to stay. I was staying at the Islamabad Marriott in 2008 just before it was blown up (fortunately) so safety is a big concern in Pakistan.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    5 Sep5 September 19:55

    Not the “RAC” as most of us know it but rather “The RAC”

• mutley says:

  5 Sep5 September 16:32

  Most overseas clubs have reciprocal arrangements with British clubs, one of the best lists is the old NLP on the Thames, reasonable rates, a first class lunch to boot.

  As an aside, during the 90s on HMS Liverpool, the ship docked in Karachi, within 8 hours 90% of the ships crew were back on board, which was highly unusual, the place was a hole, and aptly named dog sh!t city by the matlows on board.

• Aston100 says:

  5 Sep5 September 18:51

  What a dreadful article
  Barely a review; more like a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

• The Savage Squirrel says:

  5 Sep5 September 19:13

  I didn’t like the review really at all as there was not much factual information about the facilities (literally one word on the rooms in a review of a place to sleep?). It was more a bad attempt at micro-travel-prose and it was obvious the reviewer has very different tastes and probably a very different world view to mine. That’s no problem of course – no two people have an identical view on everything. So, with that said I just don’t get the intolerance of the existence of a very different world perspective to your own displayed in some of the comments. By all means present a different view, but saying that a view that does not correspond with the prevailing consensus should not be published is straying into very dark territory. So well done Rob for publishing a review I dislike.

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