When I started to price the hotels for a southern India trip about a year and a half ago, the average price for so called 3 or 4 star hotel was $150-$200. I switched my trip to Vietnam which was much less expensive. But I have decided to go to southern India in Jan.2013, and I am sure that those same hotels are much more expensive than 2 years ago. It is quite unbelieveable to pay those prices for what you get in Indian hotels, yet we still go. I do not consider India an inexpensive place to visit, in terms of hotels.

We did not stay in the super luxurious hotels and felt our accommodations were all fine. While the oberois would have been wonderful, I can't see spending that kind of money.

Hotel stays in India are only expensive if you insist on staying in expensive hotels.

You're looking at south India? At the Panjim Inn in Panaji, Goa, for instance, the most expensive double, in high season, is $115 incl. tax. The Bangala, a countryside place where I spent New Year's Eve, will be $130 for club rooms, but $115 for classic this winter. The Keys chain, which offers very nice business class hotels, is $91 on agoda.com for Chennai in December. Everywhere will be cheaper out of high season.

If you look around here you should find dogster's post on places to stay in India.

The heritage hotels in India are lovely and they aren't all expensive, though some are.

We are extremely comfortable with staying in smaller, less expensive, but still interesting lodging. So, I am relieved to hear that we should be able to find what we want for a reasonable price.

india is a fantastic place to stay on points. i am staying 3 times in the lux marriott courtyard in gurgaon (near delhi airport) for 10000 pts per night.

i am staying at the sheraton udaipur for 2800 pts plus $45 per night.

we are staying at 3 heritage hotels for $70-135 per night.

Hi everyone . . . I’m back and thanks for all of your additional comments. Thursdaysd, you are making me jealous with those costs – perhaps we will try a more adventurous route next time.

ShelleyK, I also went to Vietnam and found the hotels expensive, at least in the 5 Star range. However, they seem like hostels compared to the prices we’ve been seeing in India.

Kathie and Rhkmk, we are getting quotes of $300 and $400 for some heritage properties in Varanasi and Narlai. Seems kind of insane but we are exhausted from our planning so we will likely go with it.

Rhkmk, if you are a Starwood member, 10,000 points per night will buy you a room at the ITC Maurya in Delhi which is a “Moderate Deluxe” hotel centrally located that looks beautiful in photos.

Well guys, we are nearing the finale. While our original price will likely remain about the same, we upgraded about 4 of the hotels so at least we will be getting more bang for the buck so I feel better!

Thanks again for all of your help! Any other comments are welcome!

Sueblue, I hope this doesnt sound too blunt, but plese, get some more quotes! Personally, i'd nix this agent altogether.

Of hotels you listed, i've stayed at ITC Maurya and ITC Mughal, and loved them both!

I stay in much less pricey places, but we used a combo of Starwood points/cash for these.

The company with which i've booked two trips (Faith Pandian at www.indianpanorama.in ) includes cost of driver, guides, breakfast, and of course, the vehicle and hotel costs. They emphasize that the driver is available to you 24 hours day.We put it to the test for late hours only once when we were out shopping 10 pm, but other times, after we'd settled into the hotel in the evening, we wanted to go out for a bit. Just a call from the hotel's front desk to the drivers' area , and off we went!

I've NEVER heard of limited times for the hours of the driver's availability to drive you where or when you want to go, from any India-based travel agency.

I understand that you are paying for convenience to a large extent (and yes, i understand travel prep fatigue!) but i suspect you could still, if it matters, save yourself a good chunk of $ with a different agent

We just returned from 18 days in India with an itinerary similar to yours, except no Varanasi. While in Delhi, our hotel arranged daily drivers for 3 days at $34 per day for 8 hours which included gas, and tolls, all in. We flew to Jaisalmer and met the driver who would be with us for the next 15 days. He was on call 24-hours a day and we paid $830. This included the car, gas, and tolls. We paid our own entrance fees, meals, and hotels (although the driver service arranged all our hotels in advance). From my research prior to the trip, this is common with most driver services in India.

Get a few more quotes.
We used VP Singh, LegendsandPalaces.com. We recommend him highly as have other posters on this Forum.

sue, i wanted to be out near the airport each of my 3 stays in Gurgaon