Pushkar
Various permanent huts and semipermanent tents, set up near the fair ground, are usually booked out by tour groups well in advance. Full payment must be…
Must-see hotels in India
Uttarakhand
With its exceptionally friendly owner, Indra, spacious top-floor rooms and terraces facing the mountains, the Snow View is a great place to stay. It's on…
Kannur
Opposite the train station, in Kannur's market area, the Meridian is hardly palatial but it's friendly enough and offers a cornucopia of clean budget…
Delhi
The Radisson’s rooms are business-hotel comfortable, and there's a lovely outdoor pool, and a spa, as well as numerous on-site restaurants. 1.5km from…
Telangana & Andhra Pradesh
The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) runs vast dormitories and guesthouses near the temple in Tirumala, intended for pilgrims. To stay, check in at…
Uttarakhand
A bit pricier than Govindghat's other guesthouses near the trailhead, but here you'll pay for clean rooms, river views and hot water. The deluxe rooms…
Assam
Hotel Heritage has a range of medium-sized rooms, obliging staff and old-fashioned character. Breakfast is included with the more expensive rooms.
Uttar Pradesh
More cush than any of the railway-front hotels. Rooms here are business-quality, with patterned wall designs and good mattresses. Also situated near…
North Goa
Rainbow has some colourful, decent-value huts behind its convivial beachfront restaurant (mains ₹110 to ₹400) and bar. It’s at the end of Morjim Beach Rd,…
Assam
Bora's is a decent and well-established budget option with eight neat pink-and-white rooms. It's 100m along a lane off the highway, 1.2km east of central…
Gokarna
Tucked around the corner at the beginning of Kudle, this bucolic guesthouse has a laid-back owner and a sea-facing vegetarian restaurant.
Himachal Pradesh
Bare-bones rooms accessed up steep stairs are pretty good deals for the price given the super-central location.
Gujarat & Diu
The side-street location makes this place quieter than most budget hotels. The funkily decorated reception area leads to high hopes, but the aged rooms…
Uttarakhand
One of the best-value choices if you have to catch an early-morning bus. It has good beds, hot showers and TVs, and the manager is superhelpful. It also…
Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep)
This popular, sprawling place covers most budgets, from doghouse A-frame bamboo huts (the cheapest share bathrooms) to colourful concrete rooms offering a…
North Goa
Friendly Dona Florina is a no-frills guesthouse in a pleasant tangle of laneways and family-run hotels just back from the beach. Front-facing upper-floor…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
An acceptable cheapie opposite the train station. Rooms are mostly small, and some of the cheapest are windowless, but they're decently clean and some…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Has reasonably clean, but stuffy rooms with the occasional blue, yellow or pink wall, but no natural light. It's one of the only places in Mandu that…
Kochi (Cochin)
A welcoming, expertly maintained homestay, 900m south of central Fort Cochin, with bright, unadorned rooms, some of them air-conditioned, and homemade…
Mangaluru (Mangalore)
Set amid palm groves on a remote patch of Ullal Beach, Summer Sands offers kitschy bungalows in a tropical-resort-style set-up. Its restaurant has a great…
Karnataka
Mainly geared to pilgrims, this local Jain organisation handles bookings for its 15 guesthouses. The office is behind the Vidyananda Nilaya Dharamsala,…
Kodaikanal (Kodai)
Rooms don't have quite as much character as the exterior suggests, but this is a decent-value budget choice sporting clean bathrooms, plenty of blankets…
Nagaland
This no-frills but well-kept hotel is good value, with marble-floored corridors and clean bathrooms and bedding. The Chinese and Indian fare at the…
Rajasthan
The Navrang’s rooms are worn but spacious, comfortable and arranged around a modern internal courtyard. It’s about halfway between the train station and…
Gokarna
Very simple huts just off the Half Moon Bay shoreline are constructed here each year by the friendly owner. Bathrooms are shared.
South Goa
Beachfront Sarita’s has clean but unremarkable rooms with air-con and TV, and a common balcony offering an unimpeded view of the beach. Also has a bar and…
Gokarna
Functional bungalows at Kudle, with the option of more comfortable rooms, and a beachside restaurant where the good times roll.
Odisha
This hotel is in Udayagiri village, around 2km from the Udayagiri ruins. Facilities include an ayurvedic spa and a decent multicuisine restaurant. Reserve…
Ladakh
This camp's 15 en suite tents are among the best in Korzok, and the location at the north end of the village is somewhat raised above the lake, meaning…
Thanjavur (Tanjore)
Thanjavur's best value in the town centre has smallish but well-kept rooms with good mattresses and (sometimes) wi-fi. Plus, it's kitty-corner to an ice…
Uttarakhand
Run by friendly young entrepreneur, Ajay, Hotel Priya has undergone a refit to offer bigger, better quality rooms, but there are still a few cheapies to…
Odisha
The clean and comfortable Hotel Ambika is the pick of Baripada's cheapies, with a good bar and restaurant. It can organise Similipal trips upon prior…
Hampi
Very basic little rooms for shoestringers, with an pleasant open-air restaurant. Staff members are helpful, but the shared bathroom and loo could be kept…
South Goa
Conveniently positioned at the main entrance to Sernabatim Beach, Furtados has decent, clean and pretty good-value rooms behind its popular beachfront…
Ladakh
Spread along two floors in the bowels of the main monastery building are a dozen chilly spartan rooms sharing a single sit-down toilet. Check in at the…
Arambol (Harmal)
Halfway along the cliff, Om Ganesh has been around for a while and has solid rooms in a building on the hillside, and seasonal huts-with-a-view on the…
Gujarat & Diu
Convenient to the bus stand. If you're not too fussy about cleanliness, the AC rooms are reasonable; even if you're not fussy, the basic ones are best…
Khajuraho
On a quiet side street just back from the main drag, the family-run Osaka has six small and cosy, but basic rooms. It's clean and there's 24-hour hot…
Karnataka
Offers very basic rooms that are something of a last resort. However, the vegetarian restaurant downstairs serves an awesome thali (₹90).
Odisha
The Forestry Department–run Nature Camp is located just inside the sanctuary’s main gate. Reservations can be made online through the official website.
