Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Budget Hotels and Guesthouses
India is awash with affordable, family-run guesthouses and cheap budget hotels. These (and they are often
interchangeable) are a traveler's best accommodation option in the country. You can get a single or double
(the price is usually the same for both) room between $5 USD and $30 USD (that's on the very high end!),
with rooms around $10-15 USD offering the best value for your money. These independent budget hotels
provide you with the basics: a large, semi-comfy bed, some furniture, and a somewhat clean bathroom with
Western toilet. They are basic but what more do you need when you're traveling on a budget!
Hotels over $20 USD a night will get you a more spacious room, twenty-four-hour hot water, a comfy
mattress that won't kill your back, television, and some additional furniture.
It is fairly easy to find rooms last minute in India. This is especially true during monsoon season (late
June through August) when many hotels have high vacancy rates and offer deep discounts. As mentioned
before, hotels in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore will usually be double or triple the price of elsewhere.
Mariellen Ward of Breathe Dream Go (breathedreamgo.com), an India-inspired blog, says she has found
many clean, safe, and comfortable budget guesthouses in India. “I look for places that are family run, in a
good location and that get good reviews online. Sometimes, I will spend extra to get a place with great at-
mosphere—such as a view of an ancient fort.”
Apartment Rentals
Apartment rentals aren't that popular in India. For a country with over 1 billion people, Airbnb only has
9,000 listings. Wimdu listed only 133 properties, and HomeAway only 1,285. A shared room will run
between $20 USD and $31 USD, with a chance you'll find one at $12 USD per night. Private rooms can
cost as little as $15 USD per night, but are usually around $31-57 USD. An entire apartment to yourself will
cost $51-82 USD, depending on the size.
While you get all the amenities of home, these apartments cost more than hotels and, unless you are
traveling as a family or in a big group, are an option I would stay away from. You get better value for your
money at the local guesthouses and hotels.
Camping
Camping is not very widespread in India and though there are a few places where you can camp, it's not
something I would suggest doing, unless you are on an organized hiking/camping trip in the desert or moun-
tain regions.
This is very important for female travelers. As Mariellen cautions, “It's important to stick to the popular
tourist-friendly areas of India for female travelers, especially solo female travelers,” and suggests females
avoid camping in rural areas alone.
Hospitality Exchanges
Couchsurfing is the most popular network in the country. There are over 105,000 Couchsurfing hosts in In-
dia. Indians are generally really hospitable to foreigners and really like meeting and sharing their culture.
It's quite easy to find hosts. The other hospitality exchanges mentioned in other sections of this topic don't
have large and extensive networks in India. There are some hosts but not as many. Hospitality Club, an older
organization that has more families in it, has over 6,000 hosts, and Global Freeloaders has 3,342.
