[SmartCat]

When you go on a driving holiday, where do you usually stay? In a traditional hotel or in a large resort amidst greenery/open spaces?

Here are my general observations regarding these options:

HOTEL / LODGE



- Rooms available for all budgets, starting from Rs. 500 per night.
- Mostly located within cities or towns, close to all amenities (hospitals, medical stores, fruit shop, grocery store)
- Almost always has 8 AM to 10 PM restaurant. Food and beverages are available at any time
- Room service will be available
- Likely to have facilities like laundry, phone, TV, wifi, newspaper etc
- Minimal open spaces. You can't take a walk outdoors if you want to.
- Not kid friendly. No 'kids play area' for example.
- Mostly standard service levels (you get what you pay for).

RESORT



- More expensive than hotels/lodges. Starts from something like Rs. 2000/night.
- Located in the outskirts of cities, but close to places of interest (Eg:viewpoints, waterfalls, beaches etc)
- Restaurant might not be open all the time, especially in budget resorts.
- Room service may or may not be available
- Facilities like laundry, wifi etc available only in some expensive resorts
- Set amidst acres of greenery and open spaces.
- Very kid friendly. Likely to have kids play area, swimming pool, table tennis, carrom boards etc
- Uneven service standards (Eg: hot water availability, long wait for food etc)

HOMESTAYS



- Costs anywhere between Rs. 500 to Rs. 5000 per night.
- Like resorts, homestays are usually located away from cities - but close to places of interest,
- No restaurant. Food and beverages are prepared at a particular time. Lunch is usually not served.
- No room service, but you get personalized attention from the owners.
- No extra facilities like laundry etc
- Unlikely to have kids play area or swimming pool. But might have facilities like table tennis, carrom etc.
- Generally good standards of service.

VACATION RENTALS:



My brother booked an entire 2 BHK apartment in Goa for a week at just Rs. 1000 per day via airbnb.in. There are a huge number of listings covering most touristy locations. Starts from just Rs. 500 per night. However, do note that other than a furnished house or room or apartment, you get nothing else. Most suited for longer stays (like a week).

OUTDOORS





I have spent atleast 3 nights in my car and few times in a tent during my treks and road trips - but I was a lot younger then.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...e-flights.html

Advantages & disadvantages of sleeping in a car or in a tent are quite obvious.

[SDP]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[paragsachania]

Opting between a Lodge, Hotel, Resort, Homestay & Car would depend on a lot of reasons and hence I voted for the option "Any of the above"

Hotel or a Lodge

• Works as a good place to stop for the night or last minute decisions
  
  
• If I want to have a Hotel/Lodge as base and do sight seeing over the next 2-3 days - This works wonderfully
  
  
• Definitely cheaper than Resorts
  
  
• Offers option to pay just for the night for if you haggle
  
  
• A good lodge may not have the best food
  
  
• Complimentary breakfast might not be part of your stay at most of these lodges/Hotels

Resort

• Will definitely depend on the purpose - Holiday or just a place to stay for the night
  
  
• Will also depend on the location of resort - I would prefer a good Hotel over a resort if the latter is located in the middle of the highway. We all know what these "Resorts" resort to
  
  
• Highway resorts are mostly are bootleggers den and witness all sort of illegal/immoral activities
  
  
• If it is a resort on a highway and the location has nothing to do with Tourism remotely, I will in all cases avoid
  
  
• Resort might again not offer best bang for bucks if I am just halting for the night - Using Swimming Pool, Gym, Lawn, Kids play area etc
  
  
• If I am on a Holiday, I will first prefer a resort over Hotel - I can walk around, peep out of the balcony through the landscapes around, use their amenities
  
  
• Kids would love to stay in a resort over a hotel - It offers them a lot of lung space to roam around and play too

Homestays:

• Popular then and even more popular today - BUT, this is exactly depending the location - Homestays where there is nothing to offer around have flopped big time
  
  
• When someone asks me Chikmagalur or Coorg or Sakleshpur or Malvan region - I just say Stay at Home (Homestay!!) You get the real taste of the region in a Homestay
  
  
• Homestay means your sight seeing is half done as you stay - Estates, Lifestyle, Food, Serene surroundings, pets, Jeeps, cultivation/agriculture
  
  
• Might not be the best option for those choosy about food although the owners/managers oblige to cook as per your preference, you might not always be lucky
  
  
• Many homestays prefer couples or families - So Homestays not always a popular choice for get togethers or bachelor parties
  
  
• Restrictions in terms of fixed schedule is another thing to watch out for as there's no food that is made to order most of these places
  
  
• More than two days might kill you with boredom if you are not used to it

Outdoors

• Works as good stop-gap arrangement under dire needs
  
  
• Might really not give you that peace of mind - You may end up being sleep deprived as you were uncomfortable or you had too many thoughts in your mind or you had too many silly disturbances - Pulling over at a toll booth is a good idea but remember that toll booth can also be the noisiest if a Bus or a truck honks due to an impatient wait or even the screeching noise of brakes from heavy vehicles as they inch in towards the booth
  
  
• Saves money & time (decision making on the go, booking and driving to that Hotel)
  
  
• Not the safest - People often get carried away and have faced dangerous situations while camping in their car or even pulling over on the highway to take a nap at wrong locations. India and Camping - We are not yet there if I have to compare that with the West

In the end, picking between these options will really depend on all these factors (and a lot more) and not just whether its a cheaper option.

[Sheel]

When I am driving to a destination, would prefer to stay in a hotel.

On a holiday, would prefer resort or a good homestay [with good kitchen & decent furnishing]

I generally avoid the resorts. In metros, I prefer Ginger or Redfox. But, in other places, it is home-stay. So, I voted for home-stay. I don't spend the entire night inside the car sleeping as I prefer driving with power naps rather than sleeping in the car.

[Rajeevraj]

Voted any of the above. But have not tried vacation rentals or outdoor stays. So my choice is restricted to Hotels, Resorts and Homestays depending on the destination and availability. My first choice is a big resort in a good location with lot of space and some amount of amenities. If I have a constrained budget then I look for home-stays. When on a holiday, hotels are the last choice. But recently during the independence day weekend, had visited Jog Falls. It was a late plan and nothing was available. So we booked a hotel in Sagar and turned out to be a good choice.

But one thing I have noticed is that the definitions have become a little blurry. Because of the tourism boom especially places at a driving distance from major cities like Bangalore, tons of hotels/resorts/home stays have popped up all over the place. A lot of places freely use the names interchangeably. I recently went to Kodaikanal and stayed in a place that called itself a resort (The Peak), but to me it was a hotel with a small amount of greenery and a barely there play area for kids thrown in. The experience was good though.

Similarly when I visited Coonoor-Ooty last year, had stayed in a Homestay called Sunvalley. Again the experience was very good, but more than a home stay it was again closer to a hotel kind of atmosphere.

Tripadvisor's classification also confuses me. I tend to now rely on recommendations from experts here for an initial list of choices.

[GTO]

Guys, reworked the poll. Please vote again!

My first choice is renting a house. Reasons:

- Everyone can hang out together a lot more. In a hotel, people usually retire to their (small) rooms once they're back from an outing. If you rent a house, the group is hanging out together all through (e.g. in the living room).

- At least one meal a day, I prefer home-cooked food. Can't eat outside food for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Last weekend, we rented a Bungalow that came with an excellent cook. I don't like hotel food anyway; whatever the destination, local restaurants offer better food.

- You have the place all to yourself. No sharing common facilities with strangers.

- More convenient if you have a senior citizen in the family. As an example, my Mom can't walk much. In a big hotel, we need a wheelchair to take her from the parking spot to the room. If we rent a bungalow, she can walk as the distances are shorter.

The only time I'll book a hotel is if there are two people, or I'm travelling alone. Anymore and it's a house only. Things have gotten so much easier with airbnb & the like.

A beautiful place we'd rented in Goa. Had its own small swimming pool. 10 minutes from all the action of North Goa. Far cheaper than a 5-Star:


Can't do this in a hotel! Just hanging out with the common areas all to ourselves. Heritage bungalow belongs to a prominent Parsi group:


Team-BHP Mods at Pawna:

[TorqueyTechie]

Would prefer resorts for holidays anytime. If not available then I will go for homestays. For travel or visiting temples (or any such thing) I prefer to stay in hotels with decent bed and good bathrooms!

[Santoshbhat]

Voted for Hotels/ Resorts. For holidays with family I tend to prefer resorts as they are generally in a scenic location away from the hustle of towns.

As the head of young family (2 small kids) I get a bit paranoid about security with home rentals and homestays. For a large group, home rentals should be the way to go.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Voted for Hotels/ Resorts. For holidays with family I tend to prefer resorts as they are generally in a scenic location away from the hustle of towns.

As the head of young family (2 small kids) I get a bit paranoid about security with home rentals and homestays. For a large group, home rentals should be the way to go.

Have similar thoughts as yours. When going out with family alone, the preference is for known places/resort at good locations. Since such travels are not very frequent, I dont mind paying a premium. An estate bungalow is a good option, when the group is large (not just friends, but even a large family group).


There is another angle to it as well. When you travel for events like a small temple visit or an event (like marriage etc), you tend to chose a location within the city/town which has good access and the place has good ratings. In such cases, its not the resort but a hotel in the city. Similar is the case for a transit hotel when on road. Easy access to highway and clean rooms and good parking.


But there is another of aspect stay too! When you go out with friends more for exploring a location, then the constraints of the stay go out of the window. Clean rooms, toilets and parking is all you need!

[Jaggu]

Voted the home-stay since that is what i have used most down here in south india, comfort of having home with home cook food and other assistance available just like any resort. Pretty reasonable also. Downside is one cannot expect all the luxuries of a hotel egs wifi or expect an elaborate menu.

[Turbohead]

Voted: stay with relatives. I'm surprised there aren't many votes for this as I type.
Given a chance, I'll stay with my close relatives rather than a hotel/resort!
1) You can have some serious fun with your cousins!
2) You can chat all night
3) They'll know where to go etc
4) Feeling stingy? Buy them veggies, meat, groceries if necessary, gifts etc and take them out for shopping. They'll appreciate it for sure.
5) You can have your meals at restaurants which you know are good. You can fight for the bill too. Happens every time!

But it's only possible if the said relatives are cool with guests. We entertain guests at home too. When they leave at the end of their stay, you feel a void in your home.

If this is not an option, anything else will be fine.
Edit: This option is possible if its max 3-4 persons

[rrsteer]

How I wish I could choose SUV/ caravan/ outdoor option. But India is not the place for it. 1) It can be dangerous (had a scary experience) 2) Most outdoors are dirty (atleast in the plains) 3) Curious onlookers (again personal exp)

I'd vote for house rentals, as I can't travel without family. I am a big big user of airbnb. It has revolutionized how we travel. I have used it in Thailand, Japan, Netherlands and ofcourse India. Each time, the experience has been excellent. Infact, this weekend we are off to an airbnb rental just 90kms from our place - in rural Punjab, of all places.

[SmartCat]

And I'm surprised by the relative popularity of vacation rentals among BHPians. Are there any other aggregators like airbnb.in ?

[mpksuhas]

Its tough to select any one option as such. Selection mostly depends on the group size and type of holiday for me.

However, irrespective of any selection a safe parking and clean bathroom is mandatory for me. If its just me and wife, would prefer hotel or a reputed homestay.

If there are more people along with us, would opt for renting a house since it works out both convinent and cheaper.

I usually doesnt opt for resorts since I end up spending most of times roaming outside.