Scindhia Guest House or Rashmi Guest House (palace on river)?

phead2

Hi - i'll be a first-timer to India, going for business in Hyderabad initially. I am hoping to go to Varanasi on my own for about 4 nights - single female traveler - and trying to choose accomodations now. Scindhia looks great - I love balconies and the view seems killer. But there have been some concerns on previous posts and I'm hoping to hear some people weigh in. My alternative is the Rashmi Guest House but it doesnt appear to have balconies, and I'd rather not pay 100% in advance. (also the building doesnt seem as charming, kind of unattractive actually)
Some Scindhia concerns I would like to ask readers about:
1) Is it really unsafe somehow for a single woman to go out alone at night from this location? If so, why?
2) Shower "taps" (is that the head?) that zap you because of ungrounded wires (any experience with this?)
3) Bad food and no lunch

Appreciate the opinions. Thanks.

wonderwomanusa

I've had showers where the electricity for the heater was grounded on the water pipes, and it's kind of scarey ... i don't think I'd chance it again if I knew about it in advance.

I've never stayed at either of the places you are contemplating, so can't really respond accurately to your questions about them. Scindia house is a few ghats away from Dasaswamedh Ghat, which is the main area, and indeed, it may have become unsafe in the years since I was last in Varanasi, though it used to be okay.

Baba

I stayed at Scindhia in Dec 06 and was quite happy. I had one of the more expensive rooms with balcony and view. Kush, the manager has this place extremely well organized and will have you picked up from the station provided you arrive at a decent time.

He advised me not to use the path by the ghats after 9pm or so. (I am female and was traveling alone.) This is more due to junkies down there than anything else. He said there's no problem using the way through the city, which I did in the dark, but not very late. On New Year's Eve (or rather New Year's morning) a friend accompanied me.

What I liked: the position by the water, my room, the reasonable rate. My shower was ok.

What I did not like: the food and the amount of "rules" posted all over the place. I had no reason to miss lunch there as I wouldn't want it in the first place.
Some people may find extras like boat trips or internet a bit expensive.

I once had breakfast at Rashmi and while the rooftop was great I would not want to stay there. As an alternative to Scindhia I would maybe consider the Alka as the location is nearer to the main ghat.

If you choose Scindhia I would recommend a porter from the place where the rickshaw stops: you'll have to walk a while (dodging cow patties) and the last bit is steep.

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Baba

Jorge Reverter

The biggest diference is in the price. A very good room in front of the river with terrace, AC, etc cost in Scindhia around 700 Rs. and in Rashmi from 2500 to 4200 Rs plus taxes.

You can have a look:
http://www.scindhiaguesthouse.com
http://www.palaceonriver.com

Last November 2006 stayed in Scindhia six nights and everything was OK except he breakfast bad and it takes almost half day to get it.

Main problem for a woman solo is the way back at evening but try to stay there not later than 10.30 pm and don't go through the ghats.
Agree with Baba with Alka as an alternative nearer Daswasamed Ghat.

One of the pictures is taken from my room in scindhia and in the other the scindhia must be on the right of manikarnika ghat

Jorge

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Indianworker

Phead2,

My friend and I were booked into Scindia Guesthouse in Varanasi but when we got there, after a gruelling, hot, humid and very messy walk through backstreets from the rickshaw to the Guesthouse, we decided that we would not want to do this walk in the dark and had safety concerns regarding this. We checked out and stayed at the Palace on the Ganges at Assi Ghat and from this hotel we did not need to walk through the Ghats. It was quite expensive compared with Scindia and unfortunately we didn't have a balcony view which is what my friend wanted but we felt the location was a bit safer.

Can't comment on anything else because we didn't actually stay there but I have never forgotten our 'trail' from the rickshaw to Scindia Guesthouse.

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Indianworker

Jorge Reverter

Scindhia Ghat is my opinion absolutely safe and for me is a much better location than Assi Ghat a bit far away.

The river view from your room is a must if you are in Varanasi, otherwise you can stay in Cantonnement.

Jorge

Jorge Reverter

In this picture you can see the location, is the five storey building in the middle of the pic.

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