My spouse and I are planning to explore India for a couple of months this winter. I spent six months in India in the late 70's, living very cheaply with accommodation like beach huts in Goa, or budget hotels elsewhere, somehow managing to scrape by on a few dollars a day. A private bath was an un-imaginable luxury.

However, I'm no longer interested in roughing it to that extent. Plus I'm older and creakier, and enjoy the creature comforts of, say... a private washroom (though I could certainly still cope with Indian style toilets).

Can one secure decent accommodation for 1000 rupees a night? 1500? 2000? We don't need internet hook-up, room service, mini-bars, TVs or little chocolates on our pillows. We'd be happy with clean rooms, bug-free beds, safe enviroment, and preferably a private washroom. What about home-stay? Is that like a bed & breakfast establishment?

We will probably fly first to Bangalore, then wander at will from there, first through the south (new to both of us), possibly to Sri Lanka, then perhaps northwards.

Any advice on the general accommodation question would be appreciated. Later I will pick your collective brain for best destinations.

A very useful website I have found is at http://sawdays.co.uk/, click on the book for India. You can also buy the book, but the website will give you a very long list of hotels to start with. I think you are going to be in the 1500-2000 range and maybe a bit above in most places outside of major cities if you want a private bath, and I personally would not really go that low in major cities, but you may be able to find things in that range, I can't vouch for clean bug-free in cities in that range, however.

I am very curious to see what you think of India now and then. I wish I had had the opporutnity to see India in the 70s, I first started going in the early 90s and it has changed tremendously since just that time; I wonder if you will even recognize parts of it.... You should definitely bring some photographs of places you are going back to so you can compare. The outskirts of Delhi will be unrecognizable to you certainly as whole new gleaming suburbs (gleaming for India, lots of India anyway) have built up. More Mercedes than Ambassadors on the roads these days too...

1000 rupees in the new India doesnt get you anything!!!

You mentioned Bangalore....good luck!!! The very average places charge an arm and a leg due to the ever booming IT industry....and always over-booked.

I stayed at Arya Niwas in Jaipur and loved it.It's under 1000 rupees for an ac room with private bath.They have a great cafeteria on-site,gift shop,all of the good stuff.

www.arayniwas.com

The devil is in the details.Try:
www.aryaniwas.com

Also in Orchha,the beautiful Sheesh Mahal has some rooms in your price range.

I hear what you are saying. I haven't been to India since 1999 - but my budget then was 300rps a night and that usually got me a private bathroom. But without frills of course.

Never been to Bangalore.

But, look, these sort of places are not bookable in advance - you just need to go and busk it.

And not mind a torn curtain or dodgy lightswitch.

Is that you?

PS - just brill to hear from someone who doesn't want to be picked up from the airport by a car and driver and be whisked from place to place seeing the "sights" and the insides of a 5 star hotel and not much else.

For info aimed at people like you and me, best to visit the thorn tree.

thorntree.lonelyplanet.com

Cheers

Thanks to all for the responses!

Cicerone, I was in India for three months during the winter of 1974/75, and then again for three months in 1977. On the first trip, I took a "magic bus" overland from Athens ($125 Athens to Delhi) travelling overland through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan & Pakistan. I'm so glad to have had that experience. I wonder if such ad-hoc trips by private bus owners are still running? Staying first in Old Delhi, packed in four or five to a room, we sure knew how to make our money stretch in those days. At Goa I stayed in a palm-frond hut at Benaulim beach for a dollar a day. The only tourist establishment was Pedro's, another jerry-built hut, where we beach-dwelling inhabitants sat on rude benches and enjoyed the limited (but much appreciated) fare offered. A night out was a walk northwards to Colva (?) beach, where there was at least one big restaurant, with a more varied menu. "Big" meant more than two small tables. Is Goa still the clothing-optional beach it was? Is it still a ganja mecca for those inclined?

Unfortunately I can't compare before-and-after photos of India, because I didn't have a camera with me. I carried nothing of value so I would have little to worry about; one's fears and anxiety tend to increase in direct proportion to the amount of stuff one is guarding from the bad guys. However, I may carry a camera this time around. But I draw the line at a laptop! That, and the blow-drier, steam iron, and personal trainer.

Chimani,

You have a good point about budget accommodation not being bookable in advance. Probably the best thing to do is to just wing it by talking to other travellers, and hop from one place to another as we get good tips or rave recommendations. And I can cope with a dodgy light-switch. In fact, I don't even expect the power to work half the time. (I always carry a little stump of a candle with me)

Pramod and Massagediva, thanks for the info. I will follow up on it.

fleate, to see what Goa is now, see my photo essay -

http://www.parrikar.org/images/deathofgoa/index.html

Re. clothing - we Goans didn't like it then, we don't like it now (public nudism, I mean - so now what? Are we prudish enough for you? Now there's a law against it. We found it easier to ignore it in the 1970s when hippies were confined to only a couple of remote beaches.

I'll second Arya Niwas in Jaipur. We loved this place and thought it was a great value. We payed 750 rupees in Jan 2006. Great staff, clean rooms with private bath, and the cheapest laundry service we found.

1000r is totally possible. Other places we stayed for less than 1000r was the Haveli Guest House in Jodhpur (550r, private bath, view of fort) the Shahi Palace in Jaisalmer (550r, private bath, small room) and Scindhia Guest House in Varanasi (900r, large room with couch, private bath, balcony).

We reserved everything by email in advance as it was during Christmas and New Years.

You may want to check the indiamike site if you don't already know about it, lots of good budget recommendations there.

www.indiamike.com

Agtoau,

Thanks for the link to the excellent photo essay. Yes, I'd say that Goa has changed. I'd never have recognized Calengute. Let's hope that Goa doesn't become another Varadero.

Kellyee,

The indiamike website link is perfect. I've also noted the guesthouses you listed. I'm beginning to think that the 1000 rupee budget might indeed be possible in many locations.