[subraiyr]

30 years + and going on and in those 30 years, 25+ years were living out of a suitcase, hopping from town to town, city to city, state to state, and country to country. I have stayed in all sorts of places. Hotels, Motels, Public houses, railway waiting rooms, dak bungalows, guest houses, temples, bus stands, and even in a village square

Every one of the above has its own charm. I loved the village square for its quaintness, but the musquitos and the bugs were absolutely murderous. Railway WRs were a class apart. The kind of people that you see and interact with is mind-boggling and every interaction is one of a kind. I have had strangers sharing their dinner, playing cards, sharing addresses, and finding out that the person next to you is a long-lost relative of yours.

Nowadays, I am not able to handle the hard challenges some of these places pose. I end up staying at a mid/luxury hotel to a large extent. For me, the go-to hotel with nearly the same kind of service and personalization has been Taj. During my heydays of working it was Marriot group, esp the long stays. I need a BIG breakfast and for lunch and dinner, it's strictly outside food. In some places where the hotels are in the mid of the city, I end up doing Swiggy for dinner.

Guest houses were probably the worst of the lot. There were defined rules but no one to enforce it. I have ended up in guest houses where people ended up smoking in the bedroom and stay up extremely late and noisy as well

[kovilkalai]

I used to travel a lot on business. I have travelled in the US, UK and India. There are generally two types of trips - 1 or 2-nighters and longer stay trips.

For 1 or 2-nighters, a comfortable bed was a priority. In the mid-2000s USA, this was surprisingly a problem. I had trouble with Hyatts, but I always liked Holiday Inns and Westins. It was important to get a breakfast-inclusive rate. The location of the hotel didn't matter except that it had to be in close proximity to the office one is visiting.

Longer stay trips are trickier. After I moved back to India, I had occasion to spend a month or two in the US a few times. My first long stay experience was a disaster. I couldn't rent a car because of some credit card headaches and the hotel I was booked in was a few miles from everything - office, food, entertainment. After this experience, I ensured I got my credit card issues sorted out before my next trip. The other learning was that one's accommodation needs to be somewhere near a commercial hub of a city, neighbourhood or a suburb. This way, one doesn't get bored after the first few days. In these trips, breakfast-inclusive rates are less important, because one tends to keep a few things in one's room.

The USA was great for mid-market hotels which checked a lot of important boxes - good bed, bathroom, internet and a basic restaurant (think Holiday Inns and Courtyards). The mid-market is still a problem in India and represents a big opportunity for the hospitality industry. The reliable brands I can think of in this space are Ibis. We need a lot more. As a result, when it comes to travel with family in India, I usually stick to the Tajs, Marriotts and ITCs.

[libranof1987]

I travel a fair bit for leisure, and on occasion for work (none for some stretches, and then Mon-Fri for weeks for some).

Hotels: my first rule of thumb when traveling for work is to book the highest category of hotel and room I am eligible for. After a day's work, you want to be able to relax, unwind and have a decent time.

Regarding the office guest house vs. hotel debate, I have always stayed at hotels: main reason being the anonymity they offer. Guest houses are attached to your company, and off work hours, you'd want the luxury of privacy and anonymity. Also, the caretaker of the guest house may have the same JD as the staff in a hotel but I prefer the professional aspect in a hotel. I don't mean caretakers aren't professional, but they tend to be more personal in nature.

I absolutely agree that a lot of people might like the feeling of a home cooked meal or having a chhotu or kaka at the company guest house looking after them.

Be it for work or leisure, I also make it a point to stay only at network hotels: eg. chains such as Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Sarovar Portico, Fern have been favorites. This is basis the fact that you can always expect consistent service and experience at such hotels across locations.

Food: breakfast is always in the hotel; you get the convenience of time, choice and comfort (not having to step out, dress up and so on). With regards to dinner, most dinners end up being in the hotel, often room service.

Most name hotels don't allow delivery boys (Zomato / Swiggy) to come into the premises, you have to walk to the gate to collect the parcel. Negates the convenience.

Some experiences from my stays:

- The Concierge and restaurant head can ring up quite some offers, esp. if you're a regular - so be nice and polite to them. From room upgrades, to complimentary breakfast/meal (if your room rate doesn't include it) to offers on F&B

- When possible, book directly on the hotel website vs. aggregator. You get more flexibility on payment/cancellation, and complimentary services on check-in. You may also get packages not otherwise offered. Eg. Ramada Alleppey offered us a Room + Nehru Boat race package at a very good price when I called them directly. It wasn't listed on aggregator or their own website.

- If you book through an aggregator, always call the hotel and confirm your booking

- Generally, all the toiletries are for you to take away, even if you don't use them. But use your discretion on how much you want to take

- When staying for long / travelling for extended duration, if you need to use the Laundry, call Housekeeping and bargain hard. They might just give you crazy reasonable prices vs. what is printed

- The Hotel industry hasn't entirely recovered from the pandemic. Maintenance hasn't been a priority, staff is often on reduced pay (from pre-pandemic levels) causing an inherent stress. So, be reasonable. It also means, they'll be willing to work out offers for you

[sukhbirST]

For me company guest houses are always on top priority because you don't have to pay and provide bills later. Next is stay at a hotel but dine outside which also helps in some local shopping, visiting friends etc. Sometimes if there is less time at hand, then stay and dine at the same hotel would be the right choice.

[nda992]

Originally Posted by Chhanda Das

However, nothing beats being able to stay in government properties in North-East India when my husband was a government employee, I can say with confidence that when it comes to stays, nothing beats dak bungalows, inspection bungalows and circuit houses in that order. The old-world charm is definitely missing in most of the new-age properties. About the food, I have never seen an accurate recreation of some of the unique meals available here. I am sure that many of us have heard of Dak Bungalow Chicken and may have even consumed a modern-day version of it but how many of us can actually claim to have consumed an authentic Dak Bungalow Chicken preparation prepared by a multi-generational Khansama sitting on the porch of a Dak Bungalow ?

Totally agree with the "old world charm" part of Dak Bungalows & Circuit Houses. I am a second generation Army Officer & have been lucky to stay in these places, both during childhood as well as service life. In fact, the mention of the Khansama reminded me of a classic Satyajit Ray film "Aranyer Din Ratri" which had a very similar storyline! Regarding delicacies like 'Dak Bangla Chicken' or even the 'Railway Mutton Curry', I humbly profess to be able to cook it to a decent level, so in case anyone wants to taste the same, you are most welcome!!

[Neversaygbye]

If I'm travelling on work, the choice of hotel or stay is usually dictated by the travel budget and options available and I don't always get my preferred accommodation.

However, I have found guest houses to be the most personalized and comfy. Company guest houses in small towns especially treat the guest like a king or queen and the personalized attention and service of some of the attendants would put any hotel to shame. I remember that one expat colleague used to prefer to stay in my ex-employer's guest house rather than take a hotel (for which she was totally eligible).

Coming to hotels, when on work, one thing that I used to find odd about Indian employers was making two or more people (always of the same gender) share a hotel room. This is completely unacceptable in western culture. This was more prevalent in the early part of my career, and I always thought that it was the norm, but once I went on a company trip abroad where the booking was done by the overseas office, I realized this was not the case. Thereafter I refused to share a room and even refused to travel if I would have to share a room. All my bosses got the drift and I usually got my way - either the company sent some other folks who were fine with sharing a room or I travelled alone. I don't know whether this practice of being made to share hotel rooms with colleagues is still prevalent.

Of course, when it comes to being on per diem and short term foreign travel, a lot of folks willingly shared acco just so that they could pocket a larger part of the per diem. I could somehow never relate to this - I always booked the best room within the limit and stayed alone, even if it meant that I had less forex to save at the end of the day.

Different things are important to different people. For me, my personal space and a good night's sleep is important and as long as I get that I am not too hung up about the number of stars the hotel has. However, the room and attached toilet should be clean, there should not be bedbugs, cockroaches and the like, and hot water and room service should available. Breakfast availability in the hotel is preferable, but not mandatory as long as there are easily available options outside. The location of the hotel did not matter much on work trips since usually there was a pickup service available.

In the early part of my career, there were a lot of stays in company guest houses and I thoroughly enjoyed those. In the later part of my career, it's mostly been hotel stays and I have enjoyed those too since I have had the room to myself and most of the time got decent hotels within my eligibility. I never enjoyed staying in hotels in the early part of my career because firstly the quality of the hotels weren't that great, and secondly I had to share a room with one or more colleagues.

[NH08]

As an auditor of government organisations, I travel to places outside Delhi and stay in various places, mostly guest houses. Over the years, my experience is that staying in Guest House is more peaceful, food more healthy and atmosphere more serene than staying in hotels. Hotels are generally in commercial areas or atleast in main part of the city whereas Guest Houses are in the office complex which itself is quite big and away from the bustling city.

Rooms in guest house are big, very well ventilated and room/food charges are very reasonable, even if I am there in my personal capacity. So, only in case there is no guest house in the city, I choose hotel.

Some of such campuses:
(photos from respective orgnisation's website)

[xway]

OMG company sponsoring 5 Star hotels for stays is like a dream for us mid management guys with budget constraints. Having worked in MNCs like TCS, IBM etc. we had a strict control on how much can be afforded.

Basically we can categorize based on the price band -

The true 5 stars like Oberoi, Taj, Trident, ITC, Ashok, Leela, Lalit were totally out of bounds.

The category below like Radisson, Country Inn, Novotel, Hilton, Sheraton

Next below comes Ramada, Holiday Inn, Fern, Sarovar, Park Plaza etc.

Below these are other chains like Lemon Tree, Ginger, Ibis, Red Fox, Le roi.

We were in the 4th category hotels mostly as the companies had tie ups with them
for bulk rates and reservations, so never got to stay in these on company rolls.

In other smaller organizations even stayed in guest houses or PG type accomodations.

Personally though have been to most of these and I surely can make out the difference and the SOPs, and yes they are worth what one pays for.