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Hotels Accommodation in India
Choices vary wildly depending on your budget and location. Cheap travellers' hotels are numerous in big cities where you can get a
room for less than Rs 450 ($ 10). Rooms at guest-houses with a
double bed (and often a bathroom) can be found in many touristic
venues for Rs 150-200. Good budget hotels in India are hard to find,
but Ginger Hotels [40] runs a growing nationwide chain of
squeaky-clean half-motel, half-business hotels with rooms from
Rs.999 per night.
Midrange options are plentiful in the larger cities. The prices vary
from $ 50 to $ 100 per night. Breakfast is often included. The
international Country Inn chain is expanding its network at a rapid
pace. As of December 2006, they have Country Inns and Suites at
Bhimtal, Haridwar, Ludhiana and Jammu. Alternatively, Neemrana
offers resorts at Off-the-Beaten-Track locations. If your wallet
allows it, you can try staying in former maharaja's residence in
Udaipur or modern five-star hotels which are now found pretty much
all over the country. The top-end of Indian luxury rests with the
Oberoi, Taj, and Sheraton India hotel chains, who operate hotels in
all the major cities and throughout Rajasthan. A number of
international chains including Marriott and Hyatt also run major
5-star hotels in most Indian metropolises, but due to India's
economic boom availability is tight and prices can be crazy: it's
not uncommon to be quoted over US$300/night for what would elsewhere
be a distinctly ordinary business hotel going for a third of the
price. Also beware that some jurisdictions including Delhi and
Bangalore charge stiff luxury taxes on the rack rate of the room,
which can lead to nasty surprises at check-out time.
Two important factors to keep in mind when choosing a place to stay
are 1) safety, and 2) cleanliness. Malaria is alive and well in
certain areas of India - one of the best ways to combat malaria is
to choose lodgings with air conditioning and sealed windows. An
insect-repellent spray containing DEET will also help.
Dak bungalows exist in many areas. These were built by the British
to accommodate travelling officials and are now used by the Indian
and state governments for the same purpose. If they have room, most
will take tourists at a moderate fee. They are plain — ceiling fans
rather than air conditioning, shower but no tub, etc. — but clean,
comfortable and usually in good locations. Typically the staff
includes a pensioned-off soldier as night watchman and perhaps
another as gardener; often the gardens are lovely. Sometimes there
is a cook. You meet interesting Indian travellers this way:
engineers building a bridge in the area, a team of doctors
vaccinating the villagers, whatever. Visit
different States to find Hotels accommodation.
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