Our itinerary for four-and-a-half weeks in India is now coming together, shaped more by Jet Airways than by ourselvs, as we're buying one of their 15-day passes.

The first leg of this pass leaves from New Delhi Airport at 0530. Obviously, we need to be CLOSE to the airport the night before, but we don't need a luxury hotel such as those which always seem to spring up in such areas. Just a basic hotel for a single night and an early departure. Has anyone some suggestions? Thanks for all help.

U can take a look at Uppals Orchid - do not know the website. More premium is the Radisson. U can also take a look at Jaypee Hotels Vasant Continental in Vasant Vihar - in the early morning very near the domestic airport.

Hi.
If you want very basic accomodations, and cheaper than the Radisson or Uppals, you can stay at the Ashok Country Resort. We stayed there for $50 before our 05:40 flight on Jet Airways. Rate included taxes/airport transfer, but we told them no breakfast---no time to eat at that time in the morning!
Uppals and the Radisson seemed outrageously expensive (over $150) to spend on only a 4-hour stay. We decided $50 was worth it to to avoid spending the night at the airport. It's not luxurious but will pass; the people were very friendly; and it beats staying at the airport. We also got a free wake up call by the peacocks in the garden
You can check out their website at:
http://ashokcountryresort.com/
I contacted them directly and got quick e-mail replies all the time.

Also, we left the hotel at 4:10 and arrived, checked in, went through security, and got to the waiting area at about 4:40. The hotel said we could leave a little later at 4:30 and that probably would have worked fine.

Thanks to both of you for this advice.

Sameera, I checked out the Uppals Orchid on one of the book-online sites; looks great, but "more" than we want, and the offered price of $US106 was a bit above our limit... I have sent an email request to the Jaypee Vasant Continental for a rate, so am waiting to see if they can beat the Orchid.
Babiron, you obviously took the same flight we are taking... with that Jet Airways pass, we felt we just HAD to see the Himalayas, though what the temperature will be like up at Leh at the end of October (especially in contrast to Mumbai) I shudder to think. I'd love to hear about your experiences with this flight.I will look up the Akosh Country Resort, as that price sounds like it's more in our line (though the name doesn't... it's a strange choice of name for an establishment near the airport in one of the biggest cities in India!) Where did you stay in Leh?

Thnaks to both of you for your help. Sameera, you are really helping my planning a lot... when doing searches above, I have come up with a LOT of advice you have given over the last few months/years, and it's really making a difference.

Alan, thanks so much. really made my morning (is currently 9:45 AM in Delhi). I am SO glad u r doing Ladakh (leh) - I am dying to go. Yes, Oct will be cold. What u shd bear in mind is that indoors is often colder than outdoors as there is no central heating. So, layering is important as opposed to just 1 very warm fleece or something which u will find uncomfy inside. Hope u have given yourself time to acclimatize to the altitude both going and coming. For acco look at Shambala hotel - my freinds rave about it and have been back 3 times. www.shambala.com - tried to log on just now to confirm url but unable to access, think is correct.

Sameera, I also tried to log on to the Shambala site without success, but no matter -- a google search turned up a list of Leh hotels, and among them was the Shambala, complete with an email address, so I know where to contact them. It's an 'A' class hotel, normally way outside our range, but we're only there one night, so maybe that will be our big splurge. It's for sure we don't want to freeze in a barn for the sake of a few dollars!

Sameera, here's another one that you can help me with. The codes for the major express trains on the Indian rail site are, with practice, fairly simple, except for one puzzling one: "sleeper class" (Code SL), which SOUNDS like it ought to be exactly what we're looking for, but in fact the cost of these seats is almost nothing compared to the first-class air conditioned and 2-tier sleeper. So what, exactly, does "sleeper class" give you? Looking at the railway sleepers, maybe?

Alan - I'm pretty sure that when I travelled through India - Sleeper Class meant that although the seats folded up into a bunk type arrangement there were no separate cabins. It was merely a normal train carriage, but the seats folded up at night so the person sitting next to you during the day slept in the bunk on top of you at night. It was an ok arrangement but probably not the safest in terms of personal a valuables security, also I seem to remember the carriage being overcrowded with some people sleeping on the floor. No bedding was provided, so a sleeping bag or blanket was very necessary.

Alan - I found this site - should be a help: -

http://www.seat61.com/India.htm

Alan,

Our flight was at 05:40 to Jaipur, so sorry I can't help you with Leh, since I've never been..

I know the hotel "Ashok Country Resort" has a funny name, being close to the airport and all. We arrived into Delhi at 11:15PM, and it was a little after midnight by the time we got to the hotel. Had no time to look around as it was dark when we got there and dark when we left in the morning-couldn't see anything.
It looked like they had some gardens/grounds around the hotel. (Hence the peacocks.) It looked like a lot of tour groups/hiking groups stay there to catch early flights.
Good luck with your choice and trip.
We loved India. Udaipur and Varanasi in particular.

Daneille, that site you dug up was exactly what I had been looking for. With a strange url like that, of course, I never would have thought of investigating it even if I had come across it. Anyway, with all those photographs and all those other cross-references, I count this as an invaluable aid to anyone contemplating a rail trip in India. Thank you so much!

For the benefit of anyone else following this thread with interest, here's another useful site I have just come across: www.webindia123.com/city/.

How did we ever manage to plan trips like this in the days before the world-wide-web?