Ladakh
Spread along two floors in the bowels of the main monastery building are a dozen chilly spartan rooms sharing a single sit-down toilet. Check in at the…
Must-see hotels in India
Arambol (Harmal)
Halfway along the cliff, Om Ganesh has been around for a while and has solid rooms in a building on the hillside, and seasonal huts-with-a-view on the…
Gujarat & Diu
Convenient to the bus stand. If you're not too fussy about cleanliness, the AC rooms are reasonable; even if you're not fussy, the basic ones are best…
Karnataka
Offers very basic rooms that are something of a last resort. However, the vegetarian restaurant downstairs serves an awesome thali (₹90).
Khajuraho
On a quiet side street just back from the main drag, the family-run Osaka has six small and cosy, but basic rooms. It's clean and there's 24-hour hot…
Puducherry (Pondicherry)
The sparse, spotless rooms here, adorned with a single photo of the Mother, make for good-value ashram lodgings. It's very popular: book three weeks ahead.
Odisha
The Forestry Department–run Nature Camp is located just inside the sanctuary’s main gate. Reservations can be made online through the official website.
Kachchh (Kutch)
This small hotel on the main road facing the river has brightly decorated rooms with big windows that make the most of the views of the shipbuilding yards.
Shillong
This place has pleasant rooms with wood panelling and tasteful traditional decor. Expect some street noise in front rooms, as it's on a main thoroughfare.
Andaman Islands
Simple, comfortable enough whitewashed concrete cottages attached to a low-key restaurant and a pool, all in a bucolic setting among forest and mudflats.
Andaman Islands
No-frills tin-roof concrete-and-bamboo cottages for two to three (some bunk-style), plus surfboard hire (₹1000 per day) and home-cooked meals (₹180).
North Goa
A pleasant courtyard pool and well-equipped rooms make this a reliably good midrange choice. There’s a good little restaurant and bar facing the road.
Mcleod Ganj
This inexpensive 10-room guesthouse has its three best rooms fronted by a wide roof-terrace area. There’s also a cosily inviting cafe. No prebooking.
Punjab (India)
Sangam offers neat and tidy air-conditioned rooms, plus a few cheaper, grubbier fan-cooled rooms. The restaurant does good Punjabi platters for meals.
Old Delhi (Shahjahanabad)
Rooms are pokey at this Paharganj cheapie, and lack natural light, but they have TV, wi-fi and hot showers, and there's a rooftop restaurant of sorts.
North Goa
Baba Place, in the shadow of Chapora Fort, continues to improve with immaculate, decent-sized rooms with verandah, a small pool and a bar-restaurant.
Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep)
Tacked on to the well-established Dive India school, this cluster of modern, concrete-and-wood air-con rooms offers decent value, near Neil's jetty.
Kochi (Cochin)
Though now much reduced in size, 50-year-old Elite is a popular budget bet in an unbeatable location on Princess St, behind a streetfront tour desk.
Arambol (Harmal)
Better than some similarly priced Arambol options, Ludu offers simply decorated, clean and bright cliffside rooms with attached cold-water showers.
Karnataka
Located 1km north of the centre of Aihole, with adequate if somewhat dated rooms and a decent restaurant.
Gujarat & Diu
Friendly cheapie in a good central location. Rooms have extravagant bedheads, impressively modern bathrooms and often ear-splitting street noise.
Tamil Nadu
Comfortable modern rooms with good beds make this the best value in Kumbakonam, especially since discounts are offered if it isn't fully booked.
Odisha
Right on the beach, the Sea Pearl is a passable option. Rooms are small, though they feature a sea view of some sort (except the cheapest ones).
Varkala
Not bad value for the sea-facing clifftop location, Puthooram’s 10 wood-lined cottages are set around a charming little garden of pot plants.
Darjeeling
Clean, basic rooms and satisfying meals in a cosy house among mountain meadows, 2.5km above Mane Bhanjang on the way up to the Singalila Ridge.
Ladakh
At the southern end of Korzok village, Nomadic Life has en suite bedded tents that are marginally closer to the lakeside than its competitors.
South Goa
The budget offering on Talpona Beach, Matashree has 10 basic lime-green huts on the beach, with bathroom and fan. A bargain for the location.
Port Blair
Tidy modern rooms with hot water are spread across a top-floor property at helpful, well-operated Sunnyvale, 1km east of Phoenix Bay Jetty.
Auroville
Offers advice on guesthouses in Auroville, but bookings are direct with each property. It's best to research and book through the website.
Punjab (India)
The smartest of a few hotels just outside the bus station, Hotel Comfort has modern rooms with TV and wi-fi, plus a restaurant and a bar.
Jaisalmer
This friendly and small homestay provides simple but clean rooms and homestyle meals. The building sits on the remains of the city walls.
Telangana & Andhra Pradesh
Offers spacious though drab rooms, while the balconies enjoy good views. It's conveniently located across the road from the boat launch.
Hampi
The place for those who like things quiet, with attractive mud-brick huts in a bucolic setting among rice fields, close to the river.
Andaman Islands
A small, simple, palm-dotted resort offering five well-kept, colour-walled rooms and home-cooked meals, just back from Kalipur Beach.
Spiti
One of the relatively unsophisticated options near Losar bus, Tashi Gatsel stands out thanks to the expansive views from its terrace.
Arambol (Harmal)
At the north end of the cliffs, Shree Sai has simple, cute, sea-facing huts overlooking Kalacha Beach, alongside a good restaurant.
Tamil Nadu
If you're looking to save rupees, you could do a lot worse than this clean and friendly cheapie a few hundred metres from the fort.
The Western Ghats
The best of Theppakadu's reserve-owned accommodation: well-maintained wooden rooms with private bathrooms, but still pretty basic.
North Goa
Just four clean rooms and two spacious bungalows in the garden behind an old Portuguese house; has a popular restaurant attached.
Uttarakhand
The first place in from Amdanda Gate at the Corbett Tiger Reserve; meals are available.
