[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by Niel@Figo

Can someone suggest a good homestay for families in Wayanad?

Pranavam Homestay near Vythiri. They have two houses called Pranavam and Wellbeing, located in a large coffee plantation. Away from the city, lots of open space, very nice hosts and quite reasonable. Wellbeing is newer structure, Pranavam is older wooden structure which has its own charm. Come out on the road and cross over and you will be in the tea estates of Harrisons Malayalam.

You can get the contact from their website.

[kannan666]

Originally Posted by Niel@Figo

Can someone suggest a good homestay for families in Wayanad?

Wynberg is also a good option, have stayed here more than once - http://www.wynberg.in/index.htm

[Mohan Mathew A]

Originally Posted by NPV

Around Salem, on the highway (NH 47), some options are:

I couldn't find an option to book online for Travellers's Inn and the other one, as none of the travel sites are offering it and neither do they seem to have a website. If you have, can you please share

Incase if they don't have online booking, and if i land up there what are the chances that they will be full?
With kids i would prefer to book in advance

[hserus]

Use a phone and call them - they would be glad to book a room for you.

Google says -

Address: NH47, Near Salem Toll Gate, Sankagiri (TK), Salem (DT), Vaikundam, Tamil Nadu 637103
Phone: 04283 259 666

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

I couldn't find an option to book online for Travellers's Inn and the other one, as none of the travel sites are offering it and neither do they seem to have a website

If you have, can you please share

Incase if they don't have online booking, and if i land up there will they have a room?
With kids i would prefer to book in advance

[Mohan Mathew A]

Originally Posted by hserus

Use a phone and call them - they would be glad to book a room for you.

Google says -

Address: NH47, Near Salem Toll Gate, Sankagiri (TK), Salem (DT), Vaikundam, Tamil Nadu 637103
Phone: 04283 259 666

yes, i did see the number but if available i would prefer an online booking option as i can see and choose the type of room and will also have some kind of proof of booking

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

yes, i did see the number but if available i would prefer and online booking option as i can see and choose the type of room and will also have some kind of proof of booking

Most of the smaller kind of hotels keep their overheads low by not investing in middlemen such as their own websites, third party booking sites etc.

Call them - and depend on feedback from the bhpian who suggested this.

At the most if you get a clean room with no cockroaches / bugs, and good food, you should be perfectly satisfied. Else you may want to drive into Salem town and take your pick of hotels there.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

yes, i did see the number but if available i would prefer an online booking option as i can see and choose the type of room and will also have some kind of proof of booking

These are not big hotels per se, rather lodges run by smaller players, call them on the phone. You can also just try a walk-in and take a chance. The Travellers Inn near Sankari/Vaigundam toll and Sri Saai Stay Inn near Reddipalayam (above Saravana Bhavan Classic hotel) are about 15Km apart, so that one is an option too if Travellers Inn does not have a room.

If you're looking for better hotels rather than just a clean place to crash for the night, you can try Park (Radisson now) or Grand Estancia at Salem - both these are on the highway to the left side when driving from Bangalore to Salem.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

yes, i did see the number but if available i would prefer an online booking option as i can see and choose the type of room and will also have some kind of proof of booking

Originally Posted by NPV

These are not big hotels per se, rather lodges run by smaller players, call them on the phone. You can also just try a walk-in and take a chance. The Travellers Inn near Sankari/Vaigundam toll and Sri Saai Stay Inn near Reddipalayam (above Saravana Bhavan Classic hotel) are about 15Km apart, so that one is an option too if Travellers Inn does not have a room.

Couple more:

- Alps Residency at Krishnagiri. Right after the toll booth onto the right
- Sivaraj Holiday Inn, Salem. Its right next to Saravana Bhavan Asai Dosai towards the Railway station.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by ampere

Couple more:

- Alps Residency at Krishnagiri. Right after the toll booth onto the right
- Sivaraj Holiday Inn, Salem. Its right next to Saravana Bhavan Asai Dosai towards the Railway station.

Alps is pretty good but its on the other side of the road as you're coming from bangalore, also as it's right next to the toll make an early start else just getting out of the hotel to the opposite lane will take you a bit of time due to the heavy traffic.

[Mohan Mathew A]

Originally Posted by NPV

These are not big hotels per se, rather lodges run by smaller players, call them on the phone. You can also just try a walk-in and take a chance. The Travellers Inn near Sankari/Vaigundam toll and Sri Saai Stay Inn near Reddipalayam (above Saravana Bhavan Classic hotel) are about 15Km apart, so that one is an option too if Travellers Inn does not have a room.

If you're looking for better hotels rather than just a clean place to crash for the night, you can try Park (Radisson now) or Grand Estancia at Salem - both these are on the highway to the left side when driving from Bangalore to Salem.

I stayed at Grand Estancia and it was a very nice experience and quite worth the money paid. The staff was very friendly. Food is priced on the higher side but i was expecting it. WIll definitely recommend it.

The previous night we spent in Kamat Yatrinivas in Hubli. It is strictly average and the place was full of mosquitoes and also the maintenance and upkeep of the room and bathroom is not upto mark. I will definitely think twice before opting for this again

Thanks for all the suggestions NPV, ampere, hserus

[ranjitp1]

Stayed at Waverly (www.thewaverly.in) on top of the VR Mall in Whitefield,Bangalore.Fantastic rooms and service.The breakfast is included in the tariff and is served at the Whitefield Pub in the Ground floor of the mall.It is miles ahead of the Oakwoods of the world.

Red Fox (the budget arm of the Lemon Tree Hotels)at Trichy is another highly reccomended place.If you are single,the standard room would be sufficient-but claustrophobic.The suite are the best option if you are double or more.Location is bang on the Cantonement bus stand at Trichy.Definitely 3-4 star standards.Service is excellent and the food too is excellent.

Radisson Blu on Avinashi Road at Coimbatore is the new infant on the block in the city.Easy to access while coming from Salem,its on Avinashi road.Rooms are excellent.Breakfast is just about average,nothing to write home about.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Red Fox (the budget arm of the Lemon Tree Hotels)at Trichy is another highly reccomended place.If you are single,the standard room would be sufficient-but claustrophobic.The suite are the best option if you are double or more.Location is bang on the Cantonement bus stand at Trichy.Definitely 3-4 star standards.Service is excellent and the food too is excellent.

I stayed at Red Fox with my family last week. The rooms are quite good, there's free wifi and the restaurant food is excellent and the chef / staff are very friendly. Kept bringing over free cakes / ice creams etc for my kids too.

A lot of the staff there are north indians so quite comfortable with Hindi.

The Red Fox parking area has a not very friendly stray dog that's a pet of the staff so please be aware of that. At least he's friendly with the staff but doesn't react well to strangers (even the ones that give him a whole packet of biscuits like my son did get barked at the next time). He is kept chained up - but he managed to get loose and was jumping around my wife and kids, barking loudly, which quite likely means he wanted to scare them rather than bite them, in my experience - a dog that's coming at you with intent to bite will growl, or worse, head straight for you without making a sound. This dog enjoyed the sight of a woman and two kids jumping around and yelling I think.

Two doors away from Red Fox is the PLA Krishna Inn hotel - which has superb non vegetarian and truly local dishes. You might see every second restaurant in Chennai claiming to offer "Chettinad Style" dishes .. well, PLA Krishna Inn has the real thing. Mutton Biryani that falls off the bone and has superb flavour soaking through it - cooked over a wood fire. Dishes that use very local ingredients and recipes rather than the usual "chicken manchurian, alu gobhi, paneer butter masala, kadhai veg" type stuff you get as side dishes.

One door or so from the Krishna Inn is the legendary and "been around for decades" Bombay Chappati House. They serve fairly ok to eat rotis with raita and one curry side dish for a real cheap rate but never mind that. They have excellent hot and cold badam milk (think one litre of milk slowly boiled with badam and thickened to less than half the quantity .. when cold you can eat it with a spoon). Very nice lassi as well.

[creative420]

A friend of mine is doing a Ladhak trip in June, along with his wife. He's renting a self-drive car from Leh to drive around. Please provide me a few budget options for the following:

Leh (4 nights)
Nubra (2 nights)
Pangong (1 night)
Tso Morri (1 night)
Kargil (2 nights)
Sri Nagar (Day Boarding option?)

P.S.: Do note that the room cost should be pretty affordable. Something in under 2K range

[ranjitp1]

Rasika Renaissance at Kolhapur is a new place and highly reccomended.It is just off the highway and easily accessible.

www.hotelrasika.com

[pduttaghy]

Four Seasons Resort which is adjacent to the Eco Park at Sohra (Cherapunjee), is a very new place and suitable for a medium budget traveller. Excellent staff and very friendly management. It has options of three persons sharing a room as well as ample parking space. Food prepared was pretty good (homely stuff).