$150 Suite in Karachi's Best Hotel 🇵🇰

My first day as a tourist in Pakistan and I decided to start of the trip with a bit of luxury. I booked a suite at the best hotel in Karachi, according to user ratings on TripAdvisor anyway.

When searching for a good hotel in the city there were only four really good options. They were the Marriot, Movenpick, Pearl Continental and Avari Towers.

It seems like Karachi has plenty of cheap and basic hotels but there's only a handful that fit in the luxury category. I chose Avari Towers based on the fact that it was listed as number 1 out of 149 hotels in Karachi by 'Traveler Rank' which is based on the actual reviews of travellers.

Just because I was staying in an expensive hotel didn't mean that I wasn't up for some adventure. I got a quote for taxi prices from the booths at the airport and then exited by foot onto the main road in an attempt to beat those prices for transport to my hotel.

That's the advantage of travelling with only a small backpack. When you are burdened by a lot of luggage you end up taking the easiest option, which is also the most expensive and least fun option.

I was out on the street, considering finding a bus to jump onto to take me at least some of the way to the Saddar area, where my hotel is, when both a motorbike and a rickshaw pulled up beside me to ask if I needed transport.

The rickshaw already seemed to have passengers and I hadn't even considered getting on the back of a motorbike, considering that I was wearing a backpack and it was about 40 minutes drive from my hotel.

The bike man suggested I put my backpack on the front of the bike for him to look after and for me to sit on the back, which actually seemed doable. He wanted 400 rupees ($2 USD) for the journey which seemed very reasonable for such a long journey so I didn't even bargain.

The bike ride was a fun introduction to Karachi. Friendly locals were giving me thumbs up and waves and even some subscribers were saying hello from their vehicle.

At Avari Towers I was able to check in right away despite it being early in the morning and 5 hours before the official check in time. Some of the big international hotel chains will charge you extra for checking in so early but usually independent hotels and smaller local group hotels will give you the room without charge if they have it ready and available. Thankfully this was the case at Avari Towers.

I had booked the 'Business Suite' category of room because it wasn't much more expensive than an ordinary room at the time of booking. It includes complimentary mini bar, fresh fruit, nuts, two pieces of laundry per day and access to the business lounge that has complimentary snacks are drinks available throughout the day.

I liked the design of the suite which was a cozy and well furnished living room with a separate bedroom with working desk and office style chair. The bathroom had separate bathtub and shower areas, which I always appreciate. I hate having to stand in a bathtub to take a shower.

The swimming pool was huge, with no other guests using it. Whenever I stayed in hotels with pools in India I always had the pool to myself as most Indians have never learned how to swim. Hopefully it's the same in Pakistan and I can keep getting these awesome pools all to myself.

After getting settled in I went on a Pakistan SIM card hunt. I always get a local SIM card in any country I travel. Roaming data from a foreign SIM card is expensive and it doesn't help with ride sharing and food delivery apps. You need an actual local phone number because the drivers will almost always phone you up.

I had planned to buy a SIM card at Karachi Airport, but with caution so as not to get scammed. I had seen a video from another vlogger, Indigo Traveller, who got scammed there at the SIM card booths last year. Well, those booths no longer exist. They were all empty and cleared out and I was informed that it's no longer possible to buy a SIM card at the airport. I'd have to wait until I was in the city.

I was recommended to use the Zong mobile network, so I saved the location of the nearest Zong franchise on my Google Maps while I was in the hotel and had WiFi. I walked all the way to the branch and it didn't exist. Some other business was operating from that address. So a whole mission started from that point to procure myself a local SIM card.

0:00 Motorbike Taxi Ride
6:55 Hotel Suite at Avari Towers
20:42 Pakistani SIM Card Hunt

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