IF you are visiting Dahanu or Gholvad and do not have any nice Parsi-Irani friends who will put you up in the spare bedroom of their palatial bungalows, then take my advice, go and stay with Parivaz and Ronnie Irani at their charming little Pearline Hotel. It is on the Dahanu Seaface Road right before the beach. A picturesque place with a swimming pool and gym at the back and right besides which the Iranis have their own residence. But make sure you call and reserve a room, because Pearline Hotel has only 12 rooms, and they are always in demand.

Before the Iranis took over, this place used to be the Imperial Hotel, and it was owned by a Muslim solicitor from Bombay by the name of Mohammed Raoji. Ronnie�s father, Bamanbehram Irani, bought it over in 1962. At that time, the residence they are staying in now was the hotel. It had just four rooms but these rooms were large and rather aristocratic in their appointment. The Iranis used to run another hotel next door called the Royal, which had 12 rooms, but they gave that up in 1987 and spent time and money in developing Pearline Hotel properly.

What is there now is a charming one-storeyed cottage with 12 rooms and the Irani�s heritage-like bungalow by the side. The rooms are cheap. The tariff is Rs. 700 for a couple in an AC room and Rs. 400 if the room is not AC. Parivaz looks after Pearline Hotel while Ronnie does what most other Irani men do in Dahanu, he is an agriculturist. The couple live here happily with their dog, Zeus the Boxer. Occasionally their sons visit from the US. The elder boy, Jaron, is a US Marine and he is just back after fighting George Bush�s war in Iraq. The younger son, Malcolm, is studying in LA.

I will not describe the rooms to you beyond saying that they are comfortable and fitted with fairly modern amenities. But I must make a mention of the food that is served at Pearline Hotel. It is Parsi food, and you will not get anything like this in Dahanu. I say this at the risk of upsetting half the township�s Zoroastrian residents whom I know personally and in whose homes I know the dining is exceptionally great. But Parivaz and Ronnie Irani are fortunate. Their cook is one of those old Parsi retainers who are more skilled in the kitchen and at cooking Parsi food than the Parsis themselves.

The cook at Pearline Hotel is a Mayavanshi, a tribal, and you have to eat the Kheema, Akuri and Aleti-Paleti he does. Ask him also to get you a glass of chilled Neera for your breakfast. It hits the right spot and sets the mood for the rest of your morning. The hotel has a restaurant as well. It is called Garden Restaurant. At nights, it is a happy little place all lit up and serving, again, the most sumptuous dinner in Dahanu. You must go to the Pearline Hotel sometime even if you have no work to take you to Dahanu. A train will take you to Dahanu station in two hours from Bombay. And from the station, the hotel is a short auto-rickshaw ride.