cheap hotels and toilet paper

Leah

do cheap hotels have toilet paper? what is the best way to stay in india for 3 months? monastaries? hostels? any suggestion or good sites online for such places??

Mangogirl

Hi Leah!
I you're staying at a guesthouse they wont provide toilet paper. But you can find toilet paper in shops everywhere. You also asked about rabies, I've been to India 6 times and I've never had an injection for rabies, most turists don't have an injection for rabies. Just be aware with dogs and other animals, don't pet them. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.
Happy travelling!
mangogirl

aadil

Good places to stay for cheap are usually never available for online reservations and also it is best to check them out before you stay there. Cheap hotels are a bit dicey if you are a single woman travelling alone. So best to check them out before you book them even if they are available on the internet. Ask for all the details you wish to know before you agree to the price as well as stay in small places as it is better to be safe than sorry later on. Bring your own padlock for doors and keep your belongings in a safe place with a lock if possible on any valuable items and always carry your passport, tickets and money with you at all times and do not leave items like these lying around in the room. In a city like Mumbai there is the Salvation Army's Red Shield Hostel at Colaba for a dormitory at Rs150 including breakfast and is the cheapest place you may be able to find in Mumbai. In most other places you may not require a hostel as hotels will probably be as affordable and within the Rs150 t0 Rs300 range and in some big cities it may be a little bit more at around Rs500. These are the cheapest options and there is no luxurious accomodation available at these rates so be prepared to rough it out if you want cheap rooms. Better and more expensive rooms are about Rs800 to Rs3000 depending on the class of the hotels.

Small hotels and guesthouses surely will not provide toilet paper and may only have squat toilets without the western toilet that you may be used to. Many good hotels also do not have toilet paper and unless you ask them for it they may not provide it and when they do get it for you, usually it may be like coarse sandpaper so you will be better off using some that you buy yourself (available in most places even in smaller cities but not the very soft variety that you may want which is available in all big cities or most large towns only so no harm in carrying one spare roll when you are in the train or on the move and in smaller non touristy places).

Cheers,
Aadil.

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haritha

All good palces will provide it .If the roll is big the place is good and it will not be in guide books .

woodlouse

loo roll will seem costly once you've been living on your ruppee budget for a few weeks. With some gentle persuasion (and a not in situ demonstration) from a fellow traveller I eventually gave it up altogether and became very fond of the asian method. Though it's definitely easier to perform on squat toilets.
Also, was travelling alone and didn't have any problems. Bear in mind while you're doing things that it is unusual for Indian women to travel or do pretty much anything alone, keep well covered up, be sensible and you should be fine. In fact, better than fine, often on trains etc. families will look after you and you'll have a brilliant time.

Merchant

Even expensive hotels can't seem to stock a decent roll of two-ply, let alone replace it after you've used it all after the first day. Best to carry a Scott's 1,000-sheet roll in a big ziplock.

TimMakins

You will only find toilet paper in the most expensive hotels. Yes you can buy it (usually in stationery shops!) but the quality and softness won't be ANYTHING like you are used to at home. Easy solution: bring it with you from home, and as it gets used up, the space in your pack can be replaced with souvenirs. Simple, huh?!

There is a full range of hotels and other accomodation in India, from 1-500 dollars a night. The guidebooks will list some of them, but there are plenty more that never get in, usually because the researcher never found them. As an ex-guidebook researcher, I know this only too well. The ones not in the guidebooks can be as good or indeed better than the ones listed, which, in the case of Lonely Planet especially, often have the worrying tendency to 'rest on their laurels' and let standards slip once they have a listing in the 'bible'. How to find hotels? the easiest way is often just to walk around and look for yourself. Or if you plan staying somewhere for a while, then take any old hotel for 1 night to give yourself a base, and go check out all the others at your leisure. DON'T be shy about asking to see the room first - this is quite normal in India, though perhaps not in the 5-star ones haha.

Tim in Ireland

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