Asia | Room for improvement

Love hotels are blossoming in India

Canny companies are creating capacity for couples to canoodle in a conservative country

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|MUMBAI

LOCALS CALL it “lover’s paradise”. Upvan, a picturesque lake in Thane, a satellite city of Mumbai, attracts its share of joggers, cyclists and pot-smoking college students. But mostly the lane surrounding the lake is filled with young couples getting cosy under umbrellas. Every Indian city has such spots, where skittish lovebirds find privacy out in the open. A socially conservative culture, small flats, joint families, pricey hotels and uptight hotel-owners mean that there is often nowhere else to go.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “In and out”

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