GADVENTURES NORTH TO SOUTH INDIA ON A SHOESTRING – HOTELS RATED

 

Looking at travel with Gadventures on the north to south India on a shoestring? Worried about the hotels you might experience on the way?

We went on this trip in April 2019, and enjoyed our time exploring India. Some of the hotels were definitely more memorable than others. Each had their own character, features, locations – here we rate each hotel we stayed at during our Gadventure north to south India on a shoestring. Please note, these are based on our time in each, how we enjoyed the sleep, facilities, staff and general experience in hotel.

 

1. Delhi – C Park Inn 6/10

Okay, the first stop on your Gadventures trip. What do you do? Tripadvisor it, DON’T DO IT. The reviews of this hotel aren’t great, but we just don’t know what these TRAVELLERS were expecting or how they experienced it like that as we had a pleasant stay.

We were greeted by lovely staff members who knew we were coming, gave us a basic language sheet, water bottles and took our bags to the room. The room was nice, clean and comfortable. Okay wifi wasn’t the best but we cannot complain about it. Our toilet did break, but we spoke to the staff who fixed it immediately. This is a good hotel, a welcome stay in Delhi.

Note – Delhi never sleeps, no matter what hotel you are in, there is noise. 

 

2. Agra –Hotel Amar Yatri Niwas 8/10

Great breakfast (extra cost). The main thing I wrote in my notes about this hotel. It has a very grand lobby and is quite hidden from the road as you had to walk down underneath the shops to get to it – including a Costa outside for those of you who want to get your western fix in.

We did find the rooms comfortable, modern and clean. I just noticed our room (not sure about the others) had no windows. It felt a bit weird as it just didn’t feel like any light ever hit the room. 

A pleasant stay for the time we were here.

 

3. Jaipur – Hotel Jaipur Inn 9/10

This was such a lovely stay. I think as a group, we all just enjoyed this hotel. We walked in and it just felt relaxing, it felt like everything had been designed for travellers. The owner had thought of everything for his hotel. 

The rooms were beautifully decorated, the blankets and sheets on the beds were lovely and really gave them charm. The rooms were also very large, we (as a couple) we given lovely ones downstairs which had our own little garden as well. The location is good, the hotel has so much character, and you can tell a lot of thought had gone into it. There’s a cafe area where you can order food by filling out a form and passing it to the server. The food was great.

You can tell the owner is passionate about this hotel. I’m going to warn you, he can be a little blunt/to the point which can seem rude, but you can tell he just loves what he is doing and created this lovely haven in Jaipur.

 

4. Tordi Sagar – Hotel Tordi Garh 10/10

I mean, this place is pretty much a palace. It’s beautiful.

Set in the village of Tordi Sagar in Rajastan, We had the palace to ourselves, we were able to explore the building and just enjoy our time here. We were served lunch, dinner and breakfast here – which were buffets of food. It was all just so amazing!

You can head up onto the roof and watch the sunset over the village and the dunes. It was just the perfect way to relax and enjoy our time, feeling the sun and wind over our faces as we played our card games in the evening.

 

5. Pushkar – Hotel New Park Inn 7/10

Our first place with a pool on our trip! (admittedly we had to wait for them to fill it up, but totally worth it). The rooms were spacious and the grounds of this hotel were just stunning. 

This is the place if you want to relax, and get out of the way of the hustle and bustle of Puskar. Admittedly the location is quite far out from the main bits of town, it takes about 10 minutes to get to the popular parts, but then you can get that quiet.

The only downside to this place is that there isn’t enough deck chairs for the pool! We managed to get our own but other guests couldn’t. The pool was good though, big enough to swim and deep enough to float around. Next to the pool is a restaurant that serves great food, and quick too! I had some awesome pancakes for breakfast.

Note – restaurant staff are friendly, the lobby staff aren’t!

A good stay, totally worth it for the pool.

 

6. Udaipur – Hotel Royal Dezire Udaipur 7/10

The beds in this hotel were the best beds in our trip to India. They were huge and super comfortable. The rooms were very large, big enough for me to do a workout in them which is great. Very clean and modern.

The restaurant was hot, it’s just fans upstairs, but the breakfast was awesome and super cheap. We ordered the breakfast both mornings we were here and it was great every time. 

Location was okay, it’s quite far out from the main bit of town. It takes about 20 minutes up a hill to get to the good bits, but it’s a quiet hotel, in a bit more of a quiet area of the city.

This would have scored higher, but my dry cleaning came back and had been shrunk, and trousers ripped!

 

7. Mumbai – Hotel Fortune  3/10

Hot. Smelly. Damp. Bad wifi.

That’s all I’ve put in my notes. I think considering you spend less than a day here, it’s one that can be sucked up. We just did not enjoy it at all. The one positive is the lovely security guard at the door.

 

8. Goa – Alor Holiday Resort 6/10

This is a decent hotel, it’s not too far from the beach, the rooms are decent. Our room was huge, we had two balcony’s, a spare room with a kitchen style area and a large living room – I think we got lucky on the trip as we were a couple, we usually were given nice rooms. 

I think the whole place could do with a bit of a revamp, but the rooms were clean and were good for our time here. The rooms can get very hot, and the fan can be loud, but it’s definitely comfortable.

Breakfast is decent, you can either have a buffet or order from their menu – there’s plenty to eat.

My one pet peeve from this hotel and it’s not really the hotels fault – I was in the pool by myself and some guests/locals kept trying to take pictures of me. So much to a stage that the group surrounded the pool and wouldn’t let me get out unless they had photos. I ended up having to hide in a corner until they all got bored. The staff seemed to find it funny, but I didn’t.

 

9. Kochi – Gama Heritage 7/10

This building had a really weird layout, when walking through it, I felt like I was in the shining. 

The hotel staff were lovely and the rooms were large and comfortable with good air con! This was based a little further out of the usual, so it took about 5/10 minutes to get into main town area. The only downside is the bad wifi, it only works in reception, but if you’re placed in a room above the reception, you can just manage to use it.

BREAKFAST IS AWESOME, it is a huge spread, definitely the best part. This is a nice hotel, I enjoyed the stay.

 

10. Allepey – Alasr Heritage Home 10/10

This place is just so wonderful. It’s a real family based home, with so much care and passion in looking after the guests. The rooms are beautiful, with some in our group getting 4 post beds, beautiful blanket spreads and comfortable large rooms. 

We had a wonderful dinner and breakfast at this hotel, amazing home cooked dishes! We all just really enjoyed this stay, all just bought up our spirits and we had a great time. 

 

11. Kollam – Hotel Sea Pearl 10/10

Ready to be treated like royalty? When we walked into this hotel, we asked our guide if she was sure that this was our hotel. It was stunning. We were met with warm towels, a welcome drink and a beautiful lobby. We were blessed that we were given a corner room, which felt like a huge apartment. We had a six person table in our room and a massive kingsize bed, which was super comfortable.

The hotel had several restuarants, but we only ate in one of them. It felt like we walked into a royal room, each chair was designed like a purple throne. The staff were very friendly and just wanted to help us with everything. 

We had dinner & breakfast here. We arrived late and left early, BUT, this was the best hotel of the trip. 

 

12. Varkala – Nikhil Residence 5/10

This is a comfortable hotel, air con worked and staff were helpful. 

Our towels were dirty and stained when we arrived, they changed immediately. The groups in the other rooms also had dirty sheets, and they changed them with sheets that were still stained/dirty. 

The pool was too dirty for us to swim in, luckily they are part of a 3 hotel complex, and there’s a nice pool down the road we were able to use.

If I’m honest, I think we got the worst pick out of the 3. The place was decent to sleep in, it was quiet and comfortable – but there isn’t really anything else to offer with this one.

 

There it is. Each hotel rated out of 10. These are based on our experiences, our time and how we felt – you may have different experiences when you take part in the tour. Gadventures would never put you in a place that is terrible, so some aren’t great, but others are just amazing. If you go on the trip, let me know how you enjoyed it.

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