Hotel bathrooms...and quality of hotel themselves!

Preeti

Namaste all!

As some of you know from my other thread (in the itinerary section), my mother and I will be going to India during the month of may, and will be doing a short tour covering delhi, agra, varanasi, aurangabad, and nanded. I have been searching on IM and trip advisor for hotels in these areas and have come up with the possibilities below. We are not going after anything fancy, but the main things is comfort, safety, and cleanliness (as well as supportive employees if we need help). I had mentioned in my other post that my mom has a bad back, so it is troublesome for her to squat and use a bucket bath. Therefore, it is important to have a modern bathroom with sitting toilet and shower head bathtub. (we don’t want to share with other guests) I’m having trouble finding this information on their websites, and the emails that Im receiving from them aren’t too clear on these topics, so I would really really appreciate it if you all could give your input on bathrooms for the following hotels, as well as the hotels themselves. If there are other hotels that you recommend, please let me know! (price range: we really don’t want to go higher than $40-$50, and are looking for cheap as possible, with good locations)

Varanasi (we want to be as close as possible to the river, and hopefully be able to see the aarti from our room):
- hotel alka
- golden Buddha
- ganga view
- ganges view

Agra (we want to be as close to the taj as possible)
- Sheetal
- Kamal
- amar nitra nawas
- sheela

Aurangabad:
- government MTDC holiday resort
- shree maya
- taj residence
- great Punjab

Nanded- Cant find any hotels asides from hotel classic amrut

Delhi- still have to some research from the many, many choices!

Thank you all!

All my love,
Preeti

zoltan

Hi Preeti,

The last time I was in Delhi (Dec.06), I stayed at the Hotel Ajanta . The room I had was one of the better ones available. It cost me AU$30 per night - double bed (thin mattress but solid base); cable TV; phone; attached bathroom with western toilet & shower (no bathroom).

It was also *very* quiet (compared with places in the main bazaar of Pahar Ganj.

Cheers
Zoltan

Darmabum

Preeti . . . as for Varanasi, I would recommend the Ganges View Hotel, right on Asi Ghat (the old Asi ghat) . . . whether you can see aarti from the room or not (I stayed for a month, in Room #9 - glass enclosed balcony, right on top of the main walkway to the ghat) I can't say (now that the new ghat has been constructed) . . . (owners/employees were gracious to a rare degree) and the view to Asi ghat was great . . .

as for Agra, I have always stayed at the Shanti Lodge . . . I've never, in fact, stayed anywhere else . . . the new fourth floor open restaurant has a GREAT View to the front of the Taj (maybe 1/2 km away) . . . the veg burger is very nice . . .

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Preeti

thank you for your responses!

zoltan, by attached, do you mean you had to share with someone else?

darmabum, do you by any chance know whether the bathroom was a modern one?

thank you so much for the input! i really appreciate it!!

machadinha

Attached bathroom = private, attached to your room.

Shared bathroom = common bathroom, shared with others

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Preeti

thanks for clearing that up for me machadinha! lol, guess i thought that attached meant attached to another person's room

machadinha

LOL, that's OK, it's always good to ask innit Hope you enjoy yourselves!

(--> Thinking of my first shower there: Hm, I'd heard about this, but this bucket and cup with a cold faucet in what isn't such a terribly warm grubby hole at night will really have to do, eh? Takes some getting used to, shall we say. [btw You do use those standing up, but will have to bend over to scoop up the water of course. Next step: Now learn doing it with just 1 bucket of water so as not to have to walk out to the village well stark bollock naked ]

Don't worry, in the establishments mentioned above if there's mention of "western" bathrooms, a western-style [i.e., not: squat] toilet is what you'll get, and a shower with hopefully hot water, you might expect so for over 1,000 Rs. anyway. Bathtubs are rather more unique I think, anyway you weren't expecting those.

I was pretty much getting what I was paying for, which was pretty much nothing. On a later trip I had trouble even finding such low-key places I think, or maybe I wasn't looking for them. I think in all but the very cheapest of places a western-style bathroom will be pretty common, certainly if you don't go way off the beaten track.)

Preeti

hehe, machadinha! so true, i remember my summer last year in punjab (mom didnt come)...all we had was a squat toilet and had a bucket to bath with in the place i was staying in ...the squat toilet, not so bad...bathing with cold water was a refreshing welcome in the heat... first splash would make me jump-always! but i have hair to my waist and i always would run out of water...always i know what you mean, having to use 1-2 buckets take some practise! finally developed a method by the end it was storing several 2L bisleri bottles with water on the shelf.. my cousins called it "the preeti emergency pani"...oh, the memories!

please continue to post your opinions on the hotels, thanks so much my fellow IMers!

i just got this quote from Ganges view..."We have room in May . top floor room 2500/- with ac. [room with bathroom ]" does this sound about right?

Aishah

Could be if it's really classy - they may have cheaper rooms but not booking over internet...the only hotel I can help with is Hotel Sheela in Agra - it's close to the Taj, and has a nice garden. My friends thought it was clean and decent.

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Preeti

thank you aishah! do you know how the bathrooms were by any chance? thanks in advance...

Aishah

I think o.k. but really don't know if western style or not - my friends were terribly fussy, so if it passed their scrutiny, it must have been alright.

vireya

I've stayed at the Hotel Sheela in Agra, but none of the others in your list. The bathrooms were private. They had western style toilets, a hand basin, and a shower of the kind which just sprays into the room, ie no bathtub, just a drainage hole in the floor somewhere, which seems pretty standard in my price-range of Indian hotels.

edwardseco

I'll second the Sheela as Vireya described though I saw one inexplicable complaint. Be sure in May to get an AC room..

Cheap 'n' Best

I agree with Zoltan, for Delhi the Hotel Ajanta is great. It's slightly expensive but when in Delhi I find the extra cost to be worth it. I will be there next week and have been quoted Rs 1400 for a double room, attached bathroom, ac, tv etc etc. If you are staying for more than five days ask for a discount and as you are travelling in May you should try for an off-season discount also. In Delhi, Benares and Agra etc it is going to be pretty hot, around 40 degrees.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

zoltan

Hi (again) Preeti,

> zoltan, by attached, do you mean you had to share with someone else?

Sorry for the misunderstanding - attached means it is part of the room.

Also, the hotel is quite well equipped with internet cafe; restaurant; travel desk & 24 hour security. I really found them to be a far cry from the budget places in the main bazaar.

Cheers
Zoltan

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