Darjeeling
Offers inexpensive accommodation with attached bathrooms in Rimbik, a trailhead for Singalila Ridge treks. Fooding available.
Must-see hotels in India
Uttarakhand
Clean and simple rooms, set in an area with lots of wildlife, especially birds and crocodiles, but tigers and elephants, too.
Mysuru (Mysore)
Functional rooms with cable TV. There are four price categories from compact singles to spacious rooms with balconies and AC.
The Western Ghats
Helpful staff, clean air-conditioned rooms, and a quick walk to the bus stand make this a good overnight choice in Pollachi.
Srinagar & the Kashmir Valley
Friends is plain and some mattresses are hard but in general rooms are spacious and good value, and the welcome is friendly.
Himachal Pradesh
With a neo-traditional facade, Rohru's HPTDC hotel has large, clean, air-conditioned rooms, a lawn, a restaurant and a bar.
Tiruvannamalai
Basic, clean and friendly, this popular place is down a lane south off Chengam Rd. It's got good wi-fi and modern AC units.
Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep)
Modern, slightly overpriced concrete bungalows with private porches on a peaceful plot of land trickling down to the beach.
Hampi
Run by a tight-knit family, Ranjana has reasonable rooms with TVs, and killer temple views from its sunny rooftop terrace.
Palolem
This very nifty village of seafront beach huts and restaurant is good value. The best huts have sea views, TV and air-con.
Nubra Valley
Key features here are the open if scrappy rooftop, with lovely views of the Pakistani mountains, and a small garden.
South Goa
This is the budget offering on Cola Beach with just a few hillside huts and a basic restaurant south of the lagoon.
Arambol (Harmal)
The sea-facing timber cottages here are among the best on the cliffs, with attached bathrooms, fans and verandahs.
The Western Ghats
Scruffy rooms straight out of a cheap hotel, but in a peaceful setting virtually right beside the Moyar River.
Ladakh
This simple parachute restaurant has two bedded tents with en suite toilets but a charmless roadside location.
Karnataka
This long-running place has simple, functional rooms, a central location and a popular garden bar-restaurant.
Mangaluru (Mangalore)
Right in the thick of things, this old-school cheapie has very low rates and fairly well-maintained rooms.
Odisha
This is a reasonably comfortable hotel on the main Paradeep Rd, 5km before Lalitgiri. Reserve in advance.
Himachal Pradesh
Above Malhotra Jewellers, right on the central square, is this consistently popular budget choice.
Port Blair
Basic but adequately habitable rooms, some sporting colourful paint jobs, in a central location.
Linh Son Vietnam Chinese Temple
Uttar Pradesh
Simple, clean triples with modern private bathroom and hot water. Not very cosy but great value.
Punjab (India)
The Pathankot bus station has a guesthouse featuring very basic rooms and a common shower room.
Meghalaya
The Sundare has old fashioned but decently maintained rooms in a conveniently central location.
Punjab (India)
One of two smarter hotels in Faridkot, Hotel Trump Plaza has a good restaurant and a bar.
Uttarakhand
Far and away the best place to lay your head in Sankri, with clean rooms and hot water.
Drikung Kagyu Gompa Guesthouse
Himachal Pradesh
Monastery guesthouse with simple rooms and a shared terrace with peaceful lake views.
Tamil Nadu
Don't expect much, but rooms are clean enough and surprisingly decent for the price.
Karnataka
Around 500m from Murudeshwar beach, with basic but clean and spacious rooms.
Uttarakhand
On the Ramnagar River, accessed from Dhangarhi Gate; meals are available.
Prayagraj (Allahabad)
A stone's throw south of the train station, this sprawling, well-organised local flophouse is helpful and boasts wi-fi (lobby only), a State Bank of India…
Chennai (Madras)
In business since 1951, Broad Lands was a hippie-era stalwart. This rundown colonial-era mansion, with leafy courtyards and rooms up rambling staircases,…
Millennium Monastic Guesthouse
Spiti
The monastery guesthouse has modernised around half of its rooms, which remain simple but perfectly adequate.
Tiruvannamalai
A place for individual or organised retreats rather than a permanent community, Sri Anantha Niketan has tree-shaded grounds, Arunachala views and basic…
Mumbai (Bombay)
Run by the same people as the excellent Sea Shore Hotel, it's not as attractive but its box rooms (some with partial sea views) are cheap as chapatis and…
Bihar & Jharkhand
This government-run operation in Madhuban has been renovated in recent years, and offers basic accommodation in two spacious three-bed rooms with air-con,…
Chandigarh
Located beside the train reservation office, on the 1st floor of ISBT 17 bus station, this rundown place is handy for late-night or early morning buses –…
Maharashtra
Large, plain and well-worn rooms that won’t win any awards for imagination or cleanliness but are among the cheaper options in this pricey city. It’s one…
