Best Place to Start a Guest House

Amaya

Hi all,

my first post here, at IndiaMike, and i do hope i am posting in the right thread.

i am not new to India, though, and time has come to make a dream come true: have my own guest house, with my daughter.

where would be the best/easiest place in India.

yes, i know, "easy" does not exist. i am talking about easier or easiest.

we do not wish to be in the big hitech mega-cities.

any thought, recommendation, opinion, will be a huge help.

any suggestion about how to learn the payment matrix to local officials and dignitaries, police and others... this seems to be one of the important keys when talking business.

thank you
Amaya

puppydogben

First question would be - Do you want to make mega bucks or are you interested in making a more unique guesthouse somewhere away from the competition?

For making the most money quickly, your best bet would be Goa, or perhaps one of the Himalayan hill stations such as Manali, or Dharamsala. But you would have to be very business savvy in these places as these towns are littered with failed guesthouses/hotels.

A more interesting option might be to try and create a more unique guesthouse away from the main tourist areas but perhaps in an interesting and uncovered location somewhere in between places of interest. Such as in Rajasthan, somewhere between Udaipur and Jodphur. Most 5 star tourists travel Rajasthan by road and are becoming more and more interested in staying in small, family run homestays or guesthouses. Here you should pay attention to the finer things such as home cooked food, beautiful rooms and count on more rupee per customer, rather than more customers but less rupee - if that makes sense!

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puppydogben

Also, I do feel that you should decide on your location before worrying about payments to local people, police etc. Though run by the same ethics, even every village is different from the next.

Amaya

Thank you somuch, man who chose the eyes of the Buddha to be his symbol!
this is, BTW, one of my favorites places on earth, if not THE one. ahh... the Boddhanath. pure magic.

whatever you wrote to me was written nicely and with wit. indeed Dharamsalah and a small Rajasthani place are on my thoughts.
Dharamsala becoming, though, an arena for so-called-Buddhist-monks trying to trap innocent western ladies into marriage, thus escaping India and their destiny. so they think. an industry.

Rajasthan i have not seen in quite a few years. will have to go back and sense it again.
i read an article, the other day, about the Governer of Raiasthan (or whatever you call his job, can't remember). he has a habit of giving sought after presents to people who are dear to him: Havelis (!!!). working my way in this enviroment... but i want to go there anyway.

once again thank you.
please post whatever fresh idea you have.

Amaya

Aishah

Amaya - I would agree with puppydogben's suggestions - also think where you, yourself would like to live, particularly climate-wise. Most areas on the plains are stinking hot for around 4 months of the year - hot and dry for April, May, June (or part of June depending where you are based) and hot and humid for July and August, more so in the northern regions.
Also consider your clientele - do you want mainly foreigners, or do you wish to cater to the domestic Indian market which is booming? These things can influence the locality of your guesthouse.
Another thought - do you have an Indian passport, or PIO or OCI card? If you or your daughter have then no problem. If you don't you will probably need an Indian partner for your venture because foreigners cannot earn rupees in their name on a tourist visa. I am not up to date with rules and regulations re business visas, but you should really look into all these areas as to whether you can start up a business on your own here, if you are not an Indian national, and don't hold those cards I have mentioned.

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