Anyone Tried Haystack?

the opoponax

For past trips, I've had great luck finding budget accommodation through Loney Planet's Haystack website.

Checking out their Mumbai offerings as a last resort this morning, I noticed that they offer reservations for hotels which don't seem to otherwise have much of a web presence (especially places often mentioned here under the rubric of "I've emailed these people and haven't heard back!").

The best thing about their service is that you pay only 10% of the total cost up front, and your credit card gets run through their very secure Australian site, so fewer worries about what the people at the other end are going to do with your credit card #.

How reliable are they for reserving rooms in Indian cities? Has anyone tried this?

unclelach

I see from the Lonely Planet site today that Haystack has been absorbed by the Hotels and Hostels section.

I never used Haystack, just searched out accomodation upon arrival using a current LP book. Glad that others found Haystack useful.

A look at hotels for Delhi just now in the LP site seemed to bring up places comparable with Tripadvisor's results.

Will be interested to read of other folk's experiences of booking via the LP site.

the opoponax

Yeah, last time I used them there seemed to be two sites ("Haystack" and their hotels & hostels page) with conflicting info and availability. I'm glad they've merged, as that was the only strange thing about booking through them.