There’s a wide range of sleeping choices available in India and you’ll find anything from simple straw beach shacks for a few pennies per night through to luxury boutiques and romantic houseboats that cost a small fortune. India’s still a relatively cheap travel destination compared to Europe and North America, but the days of finding good quality guesthouses at rock bottom prices are long gone. Read below for my tips on finding the best sleeping choices available in India…
On November 8th 2016 the Indian government announced an almost immediate withdrawal of all high value banknotes from the economy. This was an attempt to clamp down on India’s thriving black money marketplace. It’s had a huge impact on the travel industry and you can consequently expect to pay much more now than you would a few months ago! To add further salt to the wound, the Indian Government recently introduced a new national sales tax, which has further increased the cost of a night in a hotel by 7-14%. For rooms priced under Rs 7,500 (£88) the sales tax now adds 18% to the quoted room rate and for more expensive rooms it’s a monstrous 28%!! Of course hotels and travel agents are trying to hide this ludicrous increase when you book online so make sure you read the small print.
With that said, there are still some gems to be found and in most places you can easily find a decent budget guesthouse for approximately £15 per night (€17 / $20). Expect to pay double this in the big cities (especially Mumbai) where hotels are notoriously overpriced compared to the rest of the country. Read below for more of my tips for booking a room to stay in India…
NEVER COMMIT TO A PLACE UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN IT FIRST
While there are plenty of good places to sleep in India, there are just as many bad ones, particularly from the perspective of hygiene. My golden tip for travellers therefore is to never commit to spending too many nights in one place, until you’ve seen it and feel comfortable. When booking online these days you can usually check the cancellation policy and payment terms before booking so try to choose places with flexible conditions.
HAGGLE IF YOU CAN
Another good reason to follow the previous tip and not book a place for too many nights upfront is because you can usually negotiate an even better price when you arrive. Use the following line at reception when you check-in…
“I was wondering…could you offer me a better rate if I was to extend my trip and stay for three more nights?”
This line has saved me many rupees in India over the years, so give it a try sometime 😉 !
BOOK A ROOM WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING AND SAVE!
Indians love their air conditioning (AC rooms), which in many parts of the country becomes a highly desired luxury that pushes up the room price. Most hotels will offer Non/AC rooms at a fraction of the cost, so if you can manage without air conditioning then you should be able to bag yourself a bargain.
AC rooms…make sure the window opens
I’ve noticed that many hotels offering AC rooms in India have sealed windows. This can make the room incredibly stuffy, with strong food smells floating through the extractor fans from other rooms. In one extreme case I could even smell diesel coming through the vents! In this way make sure you ask for a room that offers AC and opening windows. In life it’s always good to have your cake and eat it!
ALWAYS SUBMIT YOUR PASSPORT DETAILS AT CHECK-IN
*Very important for foreign travellers
Please learn from my experience! If you’re travelling as a foreign person in India then it’s crucial you do a proper check-in by signing the guestbook and submitting your full passport details upon arrival. I once stayed in a budget guesthouse without filing a proper check-in and a few days later I had my stuff stolen! Not only was this a harrowing experience, but consequently I had a difficult time dealing with the local police and getting them to sign the papers I needed to make a claim on my travel insurance!
I hate to sound pedantic here, but I also want to add an extra line of caution and let everyone know that the same rule applies if you’re staying at a place on Air BnB. I know it’s easy to be blasé when travelling in India, but if and when the s£%t hits the fan you’ll be glad you read this. Check with your hosts upfront and make sure that they’re taking note of your date of arrival / passport details and submitting these to the police using what’s called a C-Form. If something goes wrong during your stay and they didn’t do this then your hosts could be looking at a prison sentence!
For more info here’s a link on Air BnB’s website…
Long list of taxes
Another funny thing to look out for upon checkout is the long list of different taxes on your bill (hotel tax, cleaning tax, government tax, service tax, VAT, luxury tax!!!). In some cases a lot of these taxes are made up and just added to the bill to confuse the customer! In this way, the golden rule is to always check upfront that the price you have been quoted for a room per night is inclusive of all local taxes .
Best websites for finding a hotel room in India
Below is a list of some of the best online portals I like to use for finding a place to stay in India. Some of these websites are obvious choices for booking nowadays, whereas some you might not have heard about and are much better for finding the real deals in India! Read on for more info…
Booking.com
I pretty much use this website as a first point of call for all my hotel bookings around the world. I like the design of the website along with their search tools and filters, which makes finding a room really simple. I recently had an issue with my booking through their website, where the hotel cancelled on me last minute and they were very quick to issue me a full refund. Overall I find that booking.com offers the best prices compared to similar hotel portals and the reviews are all 100% genuine (because customers must have made a booking before they can leave a review).
Ixigo.com
Indian based search engine for all travel related bookings. Good also for domestic flights, especially because you can see flight prices for different days.
Homestay.com
Homestays are well endorsed by the Government in India and are a great way to have an authentic travel experience. They’re also a great option for solo travellers (especially solo women travellers) as staying with a family is often preferred to a seedy hotel or guesthouse run entirely by men!
Air Bnb
In 2017 this company needs very little introduction! However, while I’m a big fan of the platform, I do believe it’s a place you have to tread carefully when making a booking. I mean there are plenty of hosts out there who mean well, but just remember that many of these people and places are not hotel managers running hotels. I’ve stayed at a few Air BnB places now in India and on more than one occasion the places weren’t particularly clean. In one case I stayed in a penthouse and the roof terrace turned out to be home to dozens of pigeons! The golden rule I advise to travellers therefore is to book cautiously when using Air BnB and read reviews to gauge a prospective host’s experience and reliability. Follow my booking tips in this article and especially apply these rules when choosing a place on Air BnB in India.