wj1

Hi Lcuy.

Did you end up staying at the Rashmi Guesthouse on your last visit to Varanasi? We currently have a reservation there for our trip next February and would like to hear your thoughts and whether or not you would recommend it.

I hope your whooping cough is doing better.

lcuy

Well, despite all the other happy reccomendations for Rashmi Guesthouse aka Palance on the River, it was the one bad spot in our trip. Its a long story...but I'll tell it now as my trip report is pretty slow in happening!

After several emails back and forth when I was still uncertain of our dates, I finally set a date (May 18) and sent money as directed by them via Western Union.

After I did the Western Union thing, I emailed them with the secret code to get the money and reconfirmed the date and time of my train, as I had paid for pickup.

After an all night train ride, we arrived in Varanasi at about 9 in the morning. No driver with our name could be found. It was 106 degrees, and as the drivers are quite spread out, it took us about 40 minutes to finally give up.

Meanwhile the other drivers and touts had been right on our heels the whole time, trying to sell us their services or hotels. My phone wasn't working, so finally I stood in line at the STD booth and called the hotel. "oh, sorry, We'll send a driver rightr now. Wait in front and he should be there in about 20 minutes"

30 minutes later, I was frying, and I stood in line and called again. This time, a different person told me, "you should have been here on the 14th. You were a no show!"

I couldn't believe my ears, and as his accent was very bad, one of the station police nearby got on the phone and and got the details.

Eventually, we found out they did have rooms still available, so I decided to go there and straighten things out.

Unfortunately, the staion cop gave our rickshaw driver the wrong location (or did he just want us to go to a differnt hotel? It was way, way far from the river!). We were in a residential neighborhood with few rickshaws and the first guy wouldn't take us any further.

Second rickshaw took us to a point far from the hotel, then said we needed to walk the rest of the way, but he would go with us. Turned out we were about 20 minutes from the hotel!! Remember, this is now 11 am and it is more than 106'.

At one point, I tripped fell on teh ground. I almost got run over by a rickshow, but rolled out of the way. Luckily, it was in the one spot without any cow or dog droppings!!

Anyway, I was pretty hot and bothered when I got to the hotel. Very snippy clerk pulled out one of my emails asking about availability on 14th, and insisted that was the last one I'd sent. I had my western union receipt, and contact page from the web site, but couldn't find my last email.

I ended up paying again (full rate) for that night, although they did throw in dinner, breakfast, and a transfer to the airport once I burst into tears in the lobby. (I know, but I was in pain from the fall, the heat, and the frustration)

As far as the hotel itself...You have quite a few stairs up to the lobby, then have to walk up to the rooms. Ours was on the second floor, so it was quite a climb in the heat. Our room had a very hard double bed, a small TV with 4 fuzzy channels, a small armoire with a room safe and two windows. One looked out over roof tops to the river, the other into a neighboring building. There were about 2 feet of room around the bed, so very tight with two of us and a bag each.

The AC was not very effective, especially as every time the power went out (often in Varanasi!) we had to get up and reset it.

Bathroom was a sink, a toilet, and a showerhead on the wall in between.
The slick marble floor had a drain that wasn't in the low part of the room, so there was about a 1/2 inch of standing water at all times. Tehy did have a squeegee, but the handle was gone. Both of us slipped several times.

The dining room is on the fifth floor. Again, really a haul in the hot weather. There are indoor and outdoor sections. We chose indoor for the AC, but all the doors were open, so it was very hot. Neither of us were inpressed with the food or the service.

Next morning we had our free breakfast in our room. I ordered a water instead of the included tea, and was hit up for 70 rupees, which I thought was pretty chintzy, especially since the night before we had only ordered 2 cheese sandwiches with water for our free dinner.

That said, they do have two 50RS per hour internet computers, and the location is okay. Despite the ride/walk on day one, there is a mian road about 100 yards from the hotel. The aarti ceremonies are pretty close, and you are right in Godualia (sp?) area near the golden temple and market aisles.

Did not like the location for boat riding. You have to go north to see the burning ghats, and south to see the more puicturesque ghats. We went north on a boat at night, then south the next morning, but heading south means you are facing away from the rising sun.

I still think that the Assi ghat location -where we stayed the previous time- is a lot better. The rickshaw drivers are nicer down there, the boats are cheaper, and I prefer the shops and restaurants down there. My daughter agrees.

Oh, and when I got home, I looked at all my e-mails and realized that mail they pulled out as "proof" that my last email reserved the 14th was totally bogus. They HAD to have received the later one with the Western Union code or they wouldn't have been able to have gotten my money. That e-mail clearly said I was coming on the 18th.

I forwarded the email to them and asked for a refund. I will give them credit in that they didn't argue, but I had to set up a Paypal account to get my refund.

That leads me to wonder why I had to oringinally pay through Western Union with a $12 service fee, if they have a Paypal account that would have been free. Not to mention that Paypal has dispute resolution and WU doesn't.

If I go to Varanasi again, I'll stay down at Assi Ghat at "Temple on the Ganges".

hawaiiantraveler

OMG Lucy! What a nightmare! Stick with Japan

And what whooping cough? Are you OK????

Any more days like the one described above in the month you were gone? Enquiring minds .......

Aloha!

TracyB

hmmm...we had a totally different experience staying at the Rashmi Guesthouse...however, i totally feel for u, as that has happened to us at other hotels...

For us...Rashmi Guesthouse was amazing from beginning to end...although what was amazing wasn't always good. (i'll explain later)

We were lucky to have no problems with our reservation and someone picked us up right from the airport (we flew from Bombay).The ride to Varanasi was definately a rollercoaster ride, and we were lucky to make it there alive...but..when we arrived, it was absolutely pouring rain, and we had to walk through the narrow streets in huge puddles.... but the hotel staff carried all our luggage and gave us umbrella's..

We were still soaking wet and it was sooo hot and muggy out..but from the minute we walked into the hotel...Ramesh treated us like gold...He remembered me immediately as i had emailed him sooo many times...

I had emailed to reconfirm my reservation the day b4 we arrived and confirmed that someone would pick us up at the airport.

I must admit it was a fair hike though up all those stairs... we were on the 3rd floor with a Ganges room...Our room was small, but clean and a great view. Everytime we had to climb back up, i nearly died from heat exhaustian...but managed to survive!!

The restaurant was fine...we had no probs..but for the bad amazing part...As it was just the end of monsoon..every night around 8:00 the whole entire hotel filled up with these bugs...i mean they were everywhere.

One night we were eating dinner (inside) cause it was too hot outside, but the doors were open..suddenly, the entire restaurant was full of those bugs..every single inch, it was like a horror movie!! They even were in our food...It was a freaky experience.

Another night we were using the complimentary computers, when all of the sudden those bugs were in our hair, on the monitor...everywhere...even in my mouth...I just screamed...

When we got back to our room, there were bugs in there too...but we soon figured out that if we left our outside light off...it would prevent the bugs from coming in.

Now other than that experience...we loved the Rashmi Guesthouse....although it was not perfect, but for India, it was pretty fine for us!!

Pappu, whom worked there... a local kid...took us on a few walking tours and helped us get acquainted with Varanasi...he also arranged the morning and evening boat trips for us which we thoroughly enjoyed.

That was our second visit to Varanasi, and although Varanasi is not for everyone...we thought of it as one of our more adventurous holidays...and just laughed later about the bugs and all the amazing things we saw and did in Varanasi.

I personally liked the location of the Rashmi Guesthouse...and should i go back to Varanasi, i would stay there again...

Robbietravels

I'm sick hearing about your nightmare. Our experience at Rashmi was good. Reservations in order; wire transfer duly noted. Service helpful. I guess we were lucky. We both know that every few trips we have this sort of disaster but its awful when it happens and leaves such a sour taste. I believe Rashmi depends heavily on word of mouth including Trip Advisor (they read it often). So if you want your opinion known, I'd post it on TA.
I had an experience akin to yours when I tried to book Temple on River. After 5 emails of getting the runaround and double speak (like yes we can confirm your room and we will advise you later if we have room available), I turned to Rashmi for last December.
I'm looking forward to reading about the good parts of your sojourn.

Kathie

Lcuy, what a horrible experience!

And I'm sorry to hear about the whooping cough. I had whooping cough for months when I was in high school. At the time everyone said, "gee, your symptoms are just like whooping cough, but there hasn't been a case of whooping cough for years and years." It turned out that because there hadn't been any cases in years, they had taken the whooping cough vaccine out of the standard DPT shots (pertussis) and so they ended up with a mini-epidemic. I wasn't diagnosed until I was over it.

Take care of yourself, Lcuy!

wj1

Lcuy: Thanks for being willing to relive your experience in replying to my question. I was hoping that you would say that you had a perfect stay in which case it would have been real easy to continue on with our plans to stay at the Rashmi Guesthouse next February. It's the standing water water in the bathroom that really gives me the heebie/jeebies. My husband still wants to stay there but I'm beginning to have second thoughts. Our trip is being coordinated by Yatrik and, not surprisingly, they have encouraged us to stay at one of the hotels in the cantonment as I think they are concerned that Rashmi won't meet our Western standards. I guess I'll just have to ponder this some more. But thanks for sharing.

Guenmai

What a mess, Lucy. I say write a movie script or a novel about it all and turn it into a best seller...what sweet revenge. Smiles. Happy Travels!

dogster

I stayed in 304 at Rashmi about 2 months ago for a week. It was great. Yup, lots of stairs. Food was fine. I thought the location was perfect.

But, you know, for all of us - things stuff up. Trip Advisor is full of this - a fantastic hotel for one can be a nightmare for others. And once it starts off bad - i.e. your guy ain't there, the booking has disappeared - its gonna stay bad. I've had that happen at seven star hotels as much as 2 star ones. Actually, I've stayed in a lotta hotels, I realise, and almost NEVER does the booking disappear. Computers have sorted stuff out. Guess the only protection we all have is to carry the documents with you. And an E mail the day before helps. Rashmi is VERY prompt.

But it sounds like Lcuy was having one of those 'India Days' - and when it starts going pear-shaped it's as if there is a conspiracy to make it WORSE, and WORSE and WORSE.

We all have those. For some of us - that's ALL we have. lol.

lcuy

That is so true about how sometimes things just go wrong all at once, and that day was certainly one of those days that made me wish I was anywhere but Varanasi!

My main complaint though, is that I believe they knew they had made a mistake but tried to cover up by pulling out an earlier email (with no internet transit info or dates) to prove I was the one in the wrong.

A good hotel manager would have given me the benefit of the doubt and applied the funds they had received to my room on the night I appeared - especially as the hotel was very empty, so I don't think they lost any additional revenue even if it had been my mistake; which of course it wasn't!

I just wish I had remembered about the WU code at the time, or better yet had had that email with me! Those who've traveled with me know I always bring a plastic folder full of my email confirmations, directions, etc. Of course, this had to be the time I brought the wrong one!

Anyway, we survived, they did refund once I sent my "proof", and the story will get better with age. By next October's GTG in Boston, I will have been run over by that rickshaw, have walked 5 miles in the blazing sun with a broken ankle, and will have ko'd the surly, lying desk clerk while my daughter convinced all the other guests to boycott the hotel!

dogster

Now you're talking! Work with it.

It's already a way better story than if you just got picked up on a hot day and checked in without any fuss.

But, I gotta say this, [kindly] you know - it's not Rashmi's fault that:
you were tired after an allnight train trip
that Varanasi train station is like hell
that it was 106 degrees
that you were laden with luggage
that your phone didn't work
that there was a queue for the public phone
that the station cop gave the wrong directions
that you had two idiot rickshaw drivers in a row
that you fell over
and arrived in a complete state.

It's just possible you weren't in your best negotiating frame of mind at the time... mmm? Possible evidence for this might be your sobbing fit - but, who am I to judge?...

It's Rashmi's fault that they screwed up and maybe lied. Probably just screwed up. Who knows? But, like a house of cards, everything went down in a heap just because of one office mistake. Interesting isn't it? I wonder how you could have prevented that?

Ain't India a bitch when things go wrong?

lcuy

Dogster...I hope you aren't trying to justify the hotel's actions?

There was no negotiating...They insisted, and had their "proof" that I'd been a no show. In retrospect, there is no question in my mind that they were lying to cover a mistake.

I could have prevented it by having my whole series of emails, but even then, I would have experienced most of your list:
****************
tired after an allnight train trip
that Varanasi train station is like hell
that it was 106 degrees
that you were laden with luggage
that your phone didn't work
that there was a queue for the public phone
that the station cop gave the wrong directions
that you had two idiot rickshaw drivers in a row
that you fell over
and arrived in a complete state.

************************
before I had arrived at the desk to argue the error.


I also would have stood out in the sun for the second hour after the first call when they said "the driver is on his way"

Instead, I was careless and got scammed, in part because others here seemed to find the owner so charming. That is why I've printed this as a head's up.

BTW, I was not laden with luggage. We'd left our suitcases in Delhi. I had a tiny wheeled duffle with 2 shirts, 2 underwear, sarong, toiletries,small camera and my money belt. DD had a little school size backback.

I've done bicycle and backpack touring in the past so know how to pack light!

dogster

Gawd, I wish I'd travelled as light as that.

Noooo - I'm not trying to justify the hotel's screw-up.. merely noting that when one card falls - all follow.. and to try and separate the issues. I guess I was trying to imply you may have been a little careless - but not as a censure, particularly. We're all careless, we all leave home without the crucial piece of paper - and, after an experience like you had, we tend not to be at our best when trying to extricate ourselves from the situation.

As you well know India can be a monster when things go pear-shaped. My huge learning curve while there [and in the rest of Asia] has been working out HOW to solve the problem. We Westerners seem to solve problems in a very different way than people from Asian countries - and I have learnt that confrontation, aggression or shouting is not the way to achieve your aims. Maybe sobbing works - I haven't tried that.

I was just wondering aloud whether you felt YOU could have handled the situation differently in hindsight - that's all. I always think that's an interesting exercise.

In my week-long experience with Rashmi Guesthouse, they couldn't have been more together and efficient. But they are a mafia. lol. Big time. I wouldn't like to argue with 'em.

CFW

I also had a great experience with Rashmi Guesthouse, though the rooms were very small and the bathroom very basic. I was there in Feb & it was cool so AC was not an issue. Ramesh the manager was extremely responsive, made pick-up and drop off at the airport easy, and did everything to make my stay a pleasure. In fact, he sent someone out to look for me when I was late returning to the hotel for my return trip to the airport for flight to Delhi. The only thing I can think of, Lucy, was that Ramesh may have been on vacation or away during your stay, and having a good manager around can make all the difference!