partout

We will take our first trip to India for the month of February and we will head directly to Varanasi for 4 days. Because Varanasi is our first stop, we're looking for a comfortable hotel, with character, with rooms having a view of the Ganges in a central location near the ghats. Any ideas? Has anyone experience with the Alka? Is 3 nights/4days a reasonable visit? Any ideas welcome?

thursdaysd

I stayed at the Alka five years ago in a riverfront room. The location was great, but the room was pretty basic. Did have AC and attached bath, though, and you can eat on the roof overlooking the river and evening prayers. I think specialplacestostay.com has a couple of other riverfront places listed.

dperry

I understand that the Radisson is very nice and has an excellent view, with balconies.

landini

I just returned from Varanasi and stayed at the Hotel Ganges View. It was wonderful. Right on the River (ASSI GHAT). It was a beautiful respite from all the chaos. Lots of character. Outdoor seating with river views for breakfast. Great food in the restaurant (although all vegetarian). Excellent, low key service (no one hassling you for tips). For the price and what you want, you would be lucky to get a room here. I think I paid about 2200 Rupees. Request a top room floor. This is a small hotel that books fast, so try to send a deposit. It is very charming. Depending on what you want to do 2 days would even be enough. However, this is one of those hotels where it's nice to just sit and read a book and have a pot of tea. Don't confuse the names, as there are many similar sounding hotels. Oh yes, and when I left they gave me a small gift.

thursdaysd

"Radisson is very nice and has an excellent view" - of what? Frommers says: "None of the rooms have views worth mentioning." Not surprising, since it's in the Cantonment section, well away from the old town and the river. Besides, why go all the way to India to stay in a big Western hotel? And why pay $100+ to stay away from the river when you can pay under $50 (or just $16 for the best room at the Alka) for a riverfront room? Which is what the OP was asking for.

Girlspytravel

Hotel Ganges View sounds good, landini(I'm really going to do India this coming year-and Varanasi is where I want to spend a few days) And how much in USD is 2200 rupees approximately?

partout

Thanks for all your advice! The Alka looks good. We checked tripadvisor.com, which rates the Rashni Guest House first (basic, too) and the Ganges View #2, but the comments sound less than enthusiastic. Encouraged by landini's comments on the Ganges View and will check it out. Radisson's are always high quality, but we're looking for something closer to the ghats and with some local character. And for Girspytravel, One US Dollar is about 44-45 INR.

Girlspytravel

thanks, partout. I've not decided whether for my trip to India I'll take the easy way out and do a tour with Adventure Travel or something else, as yet. If I do do a tour, then I'll tack on extra days at the end in Delhi, base myself there, and go out on my own. I do also want my trip to take in Kathmandu and surrounding areas, but southern India will have to be another trip.

One thing I do know, Varanasi and the ghat experience will have to be at least 3 days for me-as I expect that to be a true highlight of my trip.

I have been looking at the 5 star hotel scene in Varanasi, I must admit, just to see what's there, however, at the Indian hotel chains such as Clark's, but also the Taj Ganges, situated right on the Ganges, doesn't look bad to me at all.

thursdaysd

"the Taj Ganges, situated right on the Ganges" - are you sure about that, girlspy? Or are there two Taj Ganges? The high end one is in the Nadesar Palace Grounds, which are over in the Cantonment section. Maybe it's on the Varuna river?

lcuy

Taj Ganges is in the cantonnment, a long way from the Ghats, where you want to be in Varanasi

Girlspytravel

Gee, Thursdays, sorry, I'm NOT sure about that, okay? I didn't map it, so sorry! Looking at a local reservation website, gosh, sometimes they say things that aren't accurate, can you imagine that?

lcuy

Which is why it is great that the error was corrected immediately on this web site, so that no one makes a booking based on false or erroneous info.

You're welcome ;-)

thursdaysd

Hi girlspy - I wondered where you got the info. Do you remember the website, so we can avoid it? I'm quite picky about hotel location, although I mostly use guidebooks for selecting hotels, and they come with maps.

landini

girlspytravel,

2200 rupees is less than $50 US. I also saw the Taj Ganges hotel. It is NOT on the river. It is a "luxary" hotel, but I don't think what you are looking for. It seems a bit contrived. It is also away from the action. I saw many tour groups coming in and out. I heard the rooms were nice and big with flat screen TV's. Personally, I opt for ambiance over space and a flat screen TV. Hotel Ganges does not have TV's if that is important to you. Travel agents seem to push people to stay in the cantonement area, I'm not sure why. I think they feel westerners need a certain type of "luxary". I did not go all the way to India to be completely isolated from the country. Take a look at Hotel Ganges View website.

eyeski

What is the url for the hotel ganges view?

landini

what's a url?

thursdaysd

Uniform Resource Locator, once Universal Resource Locator - i.e. web site address

landini

Thanks, I learned something new today. Anyway, the website as I call it is:

www.hotelgangesview.com