Varanasi, any good hotel reccomendations

dzibead · Mar 19th, 2008, 11:42

Like Darmabum, I'm a fan of Hotel Ganges View. http://www.hotelgangesview.com/
And although it's not really "budget", I think you get your money's worth.

AlanJ · May 27th, 2008, 08:48

I'd like to respectfully disagree with an assessment on this thread regarding my own favourite, the Scindhia Guest House. It seems to me that a statement like "the management were a bunch of assholes" is somewhat outrageous, totally unhelpful, and reflects more on the poster than on the hapless recipients of such extreme criticism. It would have been useful for the readers of such a diatribe to have some specific incidents quoted to justify a statement like that, which is the kind of rude and insulting comment that makes me avoid Thorntree nowadays... it doesn't usually blight Indiamike, I'm happy to say.

Now to specifics. I stayed at Scindhia in 2004 and loved it. It had the advantage of being very easy to find, being right at Scindhia Ghat (which is the spectacular "collapsed ghat" which was planned as the largest and most elaborate of all of them) and next door to the main burning ghat, which is easy to locate because of the smoke (not to mention the steady procession through the streets, at all hours of the day and night, of the funeral biers).

Back then the Scindhia was great value for money; of course, I don't know what has happened to the prices since then to change that. The view from the balconies must surely make it worth the increase, however... it's right on a bend in the river, which gives an excellent aspect through the spires of the ghat right up past the main ghat and beyond. Amazing, if you can get out onto the balcony (ours had been claimed by a monkey who chased us every time we stepped out onto it, and actually patrolled for a while there to prevent our mounting a retaliatory attack... maybe this monkey was the "asshole" so vividly described by the earlier poster).

Back then the manager was a man named Kush, who was the politest and most helpful person imaginable, actually coming down the alleyway to meet us when we first arrived (he was worried the autorickshaw driver, who has to walk the customers for the last 200 metres because of the narrowness of the lane, wouldn't be able to find the door). While we were there he was more like a friend than a hotel host. After we came home we got Diwali and Christmas greetings from him for over a year.

Now, four years later, we're going back to India, and the first thing we did was send Kush an email, hoping that he was still the proprietor. We didn't, of course, think for a minute that he would remember us.

A reply came back in less than twenty-four hours, and not only did he remember us, but he was the same polite and eager-to-please Kush that we had remembered so fondly. So we'll be staying again at Scindhia, and we can't wait.

I am sorry the earlier poster had such a distressing experience at Scindhia, but I can assure him and everyone that this is by no means a universal experience. It's really a great place, and he must have just been unlucky... or maybe the management reacted badly because he rubbed them the wrong way (frankly, he did the same thing to me with that language).

I urge everyone to give Scindhia seriopus consideration.... unless, of course, the earlier poster can come back and give us some specifics about just what went wrong during his stay there. Name-calling, however, simply doesn't cut it.. or perhaps other posters think that that kind of thing is okay for Indiamike?

Jorge Reverter · May 27th, 2008, 21:25

I agree absolutely with AlanJ. I've been at Scindhia in November/December 2006 and everything was great: the views of the river, the room, the staff etc. Have been in other hotels in Varanasi before, and my ten cents are for Scindhia.

At the evening is a bit complicated to find the place but not that much.

I'll be next August in Varanasi with my son and most probably will go there one more time.

Jorge

OneLiver · Jun 11th, 2008, 23:38

Thanks for all the good info. Hotel Ganges View looks like the right place for us to stay. We will be there a week and don't mind walking from a more peaceful part of town to get in the thick of activity. I emailed the owner for a reservation and got back a quick response confirming via email. How refreshing that no deposit was required.

May 27th, 2008, 21:25	#18
Jorge Reverter Maha Guru Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Murcia - Spain Posts: 1,089	I agree absolutely with AlanJ. I've been at Scindhia in November/December 2006 and everything was great: the views of the river, the room, the staff etc. Have been in other hotels in Varanasi before, and my ten cents are for Scindhia. At the evening is a bit complicated to find the place but not that much. I'll be next August in Varanasi with my son and most probably will go there one more time. Jorge Attached Thumbnails

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Mar 19th, 2008, 11:42	#16
dzibead Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern California Posts: 1,915	Like Darmabum, I'm a fan of Hotel Ganges View. http://www.hotelgangesview.com/ And although it's not really "budget", I think you get your money's worth.

May 27th, 2008, 08:48	#17
AlanJ Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 36	I'd like to respectfully disagree with an assessment on this thread regarding my own favourite, the Scindhia Guest House. It seems to me that a statement like "the management were a bunch of assholes" is somewhat outrageous, totally unhelpful, and reflects more on the poster than on the hapless recipients of such extreme criticism. It would have been useful for the readers of such a diatribe to have some specific incidents quoted to justify a statement like that, which is the kind of rude and insulting comment that makes me avoid Thorntree nowadays... it doesn't usually blight Indiamike, I'm happy to say. Now to specifics. I stayed at Scindhia in 2004 and loved it. It had the advantage of being very easy to find, being right at Scindhia Ghat (which is the spectacular "collapsed ghat" which was planned as the largest and most elaborate of all of them) and next door to the main burning ghat, which is easy to locate because of the smoke (not to mention the steady procession through the streets, at all hours of the day and night, of the funeral biers). Back then the Scindhia was great value for money; of course, I don't know what has happened to the prices since then to change that. The view from the balconies must surely make it worth the increase, however... it's right on a bend in the river, which gives an excellent aspect through the spires of the ghat right up past the main ghat and beyond. Amazing, if you can get out onto the balcony (ours had been claimed by a monkey who chased us every time we stepped out onto it, and actually patrolled for a while there to prevent our mounting a retaliatory attack... maybe this monkey was the "asshole" so vividly described by the earlier poster). Back then the manager was a man named Kush, who was the politest and most helpful person imaginable, actually coming down the alleyway to meet us when we first arrived (he was worried the autorickshaw driver, who has to walk the customers for the last 200 metres because of the narrowness of the lane, wouldn't be able to find the door). While we were there he was more like a friend than a hotel host. After we came home we got Diwali and Christmas greetings from him for over a year. Now, four years later, we're going back to India, and the first thing we did was send Kush an email, hoping that he was still the proprietor. We didn't, of course, think for a minute that he would remember us. A reply came back in less than twenty-four hours, and not only did he remember us, but he was the same polite and eager-to-please Kush that we had remembered so fondly. So we'll be staying again at Scindhia, and we can't wait. I am sorry the earlier poster had such a distressing experience at Scindhia, but I can assure him and everyone that this is by no means a universal experience. It's really a great place, and he must have just been unlucky... or maybe the management reacted badly because he rubbed them the wrong way (frankly, he did the same thing to me with that language). I urge everyone to give Scindhia seriopus consideration.... unless, of course, the earlier poster can come back and give us some specifics about just what went wrong during his stay there. Name-calling, however, simply doesn't cut it.. or perhaps other posters think that that kind of thing is okay for Indiamike?

Jun 11th, 2008, 23:38	#19
OneLiver Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 3	Thanks for all the good info. Hotel Ganges View looks like the right place for us to stay. We will be there a week and don't mind walking from a more peaceful part of town to get in the thick of activity. I emailed the owner for a reservation and got back a quick response confirming via email. How refreshing that no deposit was required.

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