How to Stay in an Indian Hotel for Under $8 Per Night

So? How do we do it?

As you know, one of the most expensive parts of traveling is the hotel. Well, in India, just like throughout Central America, we stay mostly in guest houses. These are barely hotels and more a closet-sized room with a bathroom and, if we’re lucky, a hot water shower attached. Sometimes the hot shower is next door.

The bedroom of room 105 at the River View CottagesAt times these rooms can be quite nice, but usually they have concrete walls that are badly painted and often peeling, one florescent light and you can hear everything from everywhere else in the guest house at all hours (people talking two floors up, someone’s iPod playing loudly, late night check ins, etc).

In these guesthouses, “double” beds are usually two singles pushed together with separate sheets and blankets. They are usually clean, but a couple of times we have had dirty or ripped sheets and even once had a blanket with blood on it (we chose not to use it). You usually get a towel to use, but no soap in the bathroom and, for the most part, you have to pay about $1 per roll of TP.

However, when you are living on a shoestring, it’s amazing what you put up with.

. . .

A room in the Loling Guesthouse of McLeod Ganj, India
A room in the Loling Guesthouse of McLeod Ganj, India — $5/night

 

A bathroom in the Bhagsu Villas in McLeod Ganj, India
A bathroom in the Bhagsu Villas in McLeod Ganj, India — $7/night

 

A room in the Bhagsu Villas of McLeod Ganj, India
A room in the Bhagsu Villas of McLeod Ganj, India — $7/night

 

A bathroom in the Ganga Darsha Hotel in Rishikesh, India
A bathroom in the Ganga Darsha Hotel in Rishikesh, India — $8/night

 

A bathroom in a Maderai hotel
A bathroom in a Maderai hotel — $4/night