The executive-category rooms are enormous, with their own private dining areas, but standard rooms are run-of-the-mill for this price range. Wonderful restaurant, though, and a delightful teardrop-shaped pool shaded by bamboo and palm trees.
The beautifully designed central atrium garden and restaurant make for a grand entrance, but rooms here are smart and comfortable rather than luxurious. The suite, with private bar and butler service, though, is superb.
The well-furnished rooms have Indian art on the walls and there's a green-themed restaurant and subterranean bar.
The antique-filled former palace of the maharaja of Bahadur is now a slightly eccentric heritage hotel. Some rooms are reasonably modern, but others are tatty for this price.
Varanasi’s best hotel is set in five hectares of beautiful gardens with fruit trees, a tennis court, a pool, an outdoor yoga centre and the old maharaja’s guesthouse. You can walk, cycle or take a ride in a maharaja’s buggy around the grounds.
Next to Lotus Lounge Restaurant, this delightful, bright-red brick building is part of the city’s paying-guest house scheme.
In complete contrast to next door Sahi River View Guesthouse, Chaitanya has just four rooms: a single, two doubles and a double with AC. All are comfortable, with high ceilings and clean bathrooms, and are well looked after by friendly staff.
This pocket-sized guesthouse only has four rooms. Two have private bathrooms, two have river views. All are very basic, but spacious and come with interesting alcoves and built-in shelving, just in case you bring along your favourite ornaments.
Run by the same management as the popular Apsara Restaurant below it, Urvashi’s doubles are large, clean and homely. A good-value option.
Next door to Divya, Haifa is also recommended for its clean rooms and quality restaurant serving Middle Eastern food. All rooms have TV and hot water and there's a covered rooftop dining area.
Simply gorgeous, this beautifully restored and maintained colonial-style house overlooking Assi Ghat is crammed with books, artwork and antiques.
The rooms vary a lot in this generally well-kept place near Hotel Buddha - those with AC are much nicer and some have balconies. The hotel also has a restaurant and bar.
Back from the ghats in a relatively quiet location, Ganga Fuji’s best and brightest rooms are near the top. The cheaper ones are a bit cramped and gloomy.
Rooms aren’t the biggest in this well-run, ghat-side guesthouse, but they’re clean and some – the much pricier AC rooms – have balconies with river views.
This new hotel back from Assi Ghat is immaculate and stylish, and well run by a charming lady manager. There's a good range of rooms, all with TV and hot water, an excellent restaurant as well a rooftop terrace.
There’s a huge variety of rooms at this friendly place, but most are good quality and clean, and some have interesting private balconies.
An excellent ghat-side budget option, Alka has pretty much spotless rooms that open onto or overlook a large, plant-filled courtyard.
Each room in this immaculate heritage accommodation costs the same, but is individually themed on a regional Indian style, using antique furnishings and colourful design themes. The colonial, Rajasthan and Jodhpur rooms are among the best.
Friendly enough, but lacking in character, especially now that a huge marriage hall has been added. What you do get, though, is space. Rooms off an open central courtyard are large and come with bright, modern bathrooms.
A long-running favourite with hippie types going for the bargain-basement prices and laid-back ambience. Rooms are pretty basic, and all have shared showers and squat toilets.
Big, bold and bright yellow, Shanti is as popular as ever. Rooms are nothing special, but it’s the very high, 24-hour rooftop restaurant with fabulous views of the Ganges that pulls in the punters.
Accessed through a small courtyard with family homes coming off it, or directly from Pandhey Ghat itself, this simple guesthouse has bags of character.
Decorated in tasteful browns and creams, AC rooms here are smart and comfortable. Some have balconies. The standout feature, though, is the rooftop garden restaurant, Eden.