Roccco

I will likely be visiting Rajasthan next February on a custom tour with private car and driver/guide.

If the Oberoi is like any other 5* hotel in the world, they likely charge an arm and a leg for laundry/dry cleaning. While I do not mind paying the high tariffs for the room, I do have a problem when optional services are vastly overpriced, and I have always found laundry/dry cleaning to be exorbitantly overpriced in 5* hotels/resorts.

Would it be insulting to my driver/guide to ask him to take my laundry to be done in cities where we are at for a couple days? It's not like he will be washing it himself but instead dropping it off at a place the hotels likely are using and then quadrupling the price. I hate to spend my valuable free time doing laundry/dry cleaning but it often happens on my trips.

It's not really that big of a deal. I mean if my wife and I must have our driver take us to a place to drop it off ourselves and pick it up ourselves, it would not be so terrible, just a little inconvenient.

Anybody have any experiences on this issue? Thanks.

glorialf

I would only ask the driver to di it if you are willing to pay him extra. I found having the hotel do the laundry cheaper in Rajasthan than in many other places.

I think you need to think about how a driver/guide would react to someone who is "rich" in his terms -- can stay deluxe and yet wants him to do his laundry for free.

Bonita

Rocco, Do not worry or be conerned one ioata about laundry or laundry services while in INDIA!.they are everywhere, but not necc. in the form you are used to..First off, every hotel will have laundry services, and yes, it will be A bit expenive, relatively speaking, to what u will find outside of the HOTELS, everywehre!..Some info, a person who does laundry in INDIA is called a Dhobi-wallah..(ONE who does laundrY!)Where do they do it?.Well, the woman or man gathers the clothes and generally takes them to the nearest water source, and bangs it against a rock/stone in the water..stone-wahsed, so to speak.U WILL see this everywhere, in INDIA..IT is a beautiuful sight actually, seeing the woman in their colorful saris washing the clothes and laying them out on the earth to dry..Great viewing in UDAIPUR, along the lake, specifically..U can find signs for laundry service almost everywhere, or ask anyone..feel free to drop me a line with your questions, as i am a American woman who lives on/off in INDIA.

indie

I would think the driver would not mind - however you certainly want to make sure your dry cleaning stuff does not end up with the dhobi.

You could probably ask him to stop by a laundry on your way whenever you go out with him. There are plenty of laundry and dry cleaning places in India.

If you want it before a specific time emphasize that fact - the more I think about this seems like it would be simpler to just get it done at the hotel - at least you will be guaranteed delivery on time.

Rajhelp50

As a general rule, all services in a hotel are priced according to the tag they put on the rooms. If you are staying at the top-end Oberoi properties, be prepared to pay their matching prices for other services too!

The driver will only be too happy to oblige you by taking your laundry to the nearest drycleaners. He will already be expecting a high Oberoi standard tip, and he may like to earn it by doing a few chores.

And if you will be kind enough to allow him to take you to his cousin's shops - he will check with you every morning if there is any laundry to be washed.