HOTEL BANARAS HAVELI — Hotel in Uttar Pradesh

I have travelled to 31 countries and stayed in dozens of hotels, from hostel to 5*. I can say, without doubt, that this was, by far, the worst hotel I have ever stayed in - from its deceptive descriptions, being extremely overpriced, its horrendous customer service (or lack thereof) and for the mediocre common facilities. If there is any advice that you should take, it’s to avoid staying here at all costs.- -LOST OUR PRE-PAID RESERVATION AFTER CONFIRMING MULTIPLE TIMES. We pre-paid, in full, 7 months in advance of booking. I reconfirmed by email and phone 1 mo prior, yet they did not have our reservation when we showed up. -CANCELLED OUR RESERVATION 4 TIMES DEMANDING MORE MONEY. We received cancellation emails 4 times stating they were canceling for “reasons beyond their control”. I would call and they would demand more money each time when other hotels were booked so we felt trapped. -FORGOT TO PICK US UP FROM AIRPORT. Per Shyam the Director they “forgot” to pick us up at airport, even after re-confirming 1 month prior. They were going to charge us Rp. 1,200 when it costs rp. 700 from airport or direct from driver so they take a huge cut. -DECEITFUL DESCRIPTION OF ROOMS AND FACILITIES. Website states: "All the rooms have big windows with panoramic view of city”. The ridiculously overpriced “Superior” room had a tiny window with a view of another building a few feet away and an extremely loud and busy alley. Their website states “soundproof rooms” but he alley and street just around the corner was very loud, especially on weekends when city doesn’t sleep until wee hours of the morning. No coffee in rooms and they didn’t provide bottled water, just a few unpackaged tea bags, so this “amenity” was useless. No bottled water in the rooms and we had to buy ourselves when they couldn’t provide. Rooftops throughout the city were far superior to this one. -TOILET IN THE SHOWER. In the tiny bathroom the toilet was literally inside the shower with no separation. Shower/toilet area was covered in mold in the corners and in no way could be considered “luxury”. Hotel initially provided 1/2 roll of toilet paper that was soaking wet as it is in the shower (not changed from last guests) and a small roll left on counter; notified them we needed it replenished and took 1+ days to get more. -INSECT INFESTATIONS. Woke up to hundreds of tiny ants crawling in and all over my toiletries and around the sink and on the floor. We had to clean this up and the hotel staff had to spray stinky. chemicals all over the bathroom. Next AM, woke up with about a dozen hard, unitchy bug bites all over my feet and ankles. I wore closed toe shoes and pants outside so it could only have happened in the bed. -BREAKFAST NOT GOOD. Food was laid out in hot room near the shoddy rooftop with flies and mosquitos everywhere. We ate elsewhere even though it was included. -UNCOMFORTABLE & UNCLEAN. Very hard, uncomfortable an uneven bed with two flat pillows. AC was loud and couldn't keep on at night. -WIFI NOT FREE AND MAKES YOU CONTINUOUSLY LOG IN. Even though advertised as free when we booked and on other websites, they charge you daily and it's useless except for short sessions as it makes you continually log back in with code. -HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Horrendous service at front desk - rude, unhelpful and uncaring. Worst service I have ever received, hands down. Director, Shyam, stated that all the issues with the cancellations and the losing our reservations had nothing to do with him, yet I presented him with email proof I had corresponded with him on multiple occasions by phone and email over the past months and had confirmed with him our booking and transfer just the month prior. They were not in the least apologetic and denied all responsibility.

I was in part staying here to "scout" for my mother as she does excursions, which they were aware of. I can say that the only good thing about staying here is that I can tell her to avoid this place at all costs;...

First of all, if one wants to stay in Varanasi/Kashi/ Benares, this hotel is the place to stay near Assi ghat. The reason is, it has a lift (especially for senior citizens), very friendly staff at the reception - all the managers Imtiaz, Shivam, Rahul (i hope i got the name right), the doorman Ram Bachan Yadav with his ever friendly smile, with the room staff - Aquib and other staff, to the restaurant staff - its an endless list of good people who helped us feel comfortable throughout the stay. The rooms are very comfortable, bed and linen very clean and fresh, they had complimentary tea coffee hot water kettle in our room. The bathrooms are a tad small but that's the case in this beautiful mystic city where the land is lesser than the people it accommodates. The AC was working very well with sound proof windows and we were on the 4th floor in the triple room 471.

The food at the restaurant is excellent. Absolutely low oil (we did ask them) very fresh vegetables and lovely lovely food.

The sunrise is easily seen from our room and the Ganges is serenely greeted every morning with the big windows in the room. Its about 100 metres from the Assi ghat (which is one the main ghats where Ganga aarti is done).

The hotel is very flexible in every way and there are lots of things available down the road in case one needs anything like daily groceries to toiletries to local eateries and some good shops to gulp some tea and shop.

One of the most important part of this hotel is the inhouse guide that they provide free to the customers, who has helped us immensely in showing Benares the way it should be experienced. Mr. Ajay Pandey has been probably the person due to whom we really really enjoyed our experience in this city we visited for the first time. From coming with us to the main temple and all other temples nearby, arranging autos (bargaining fares with them) to being very sensitive to my senior citizen mother who was walking slowly with our help, he is a very kind and a considerate person. He ensured we ate all the local delicacies, toured the small bylanes of the city, shopped at a very good place (review written for KJ Sarees) and always asking after our health and well being.

I will always be grateful to Mr. Shyam Pandey (the owner) who really has thought of this service to the travellers like us who may be lost in the wonderful awe of this city.

If one is travelling for the first time to the city, pl stay at the Assi ghat so one will see all the buzz of the Morning aarti, evening aarti on the ganges, enjoy the varied chaats, lemon tea, and see the history enfolding before one's eyes- Tulsidas wrote Ramayan here, Ved Vyasa wrote Mahabharat (on the opp bank), Rani Laxmibai was born here, ancient Jagannath puri temple is about 2 mins walk and one of the Jain tirthankars birth place (Shree Parshvanath bhagwan) is also here..all close by to this hotel..all the other places like kashi vishwanath temple, sakat mochan temple are all about 2-3 kms from here and can be easily reached with local transport.. we were here for nearly 7 nights and people wondered what will be do for so many days..!!! but i guess we did see probably 20% of this wonderful place but were happy to visit the ghats every evening to see the revelry of the Ganges and feel its waters...there's a different kind of calmness and peace one experiences and even few days are not enough.

The above are the reasons i feel one must consider this hotel... For me, it was Mr. Ajay Pandey, lift and its proximity to the ghat. When you book pl make sure to ask for the river view and preferably the fourth floor rooms. They have an awesome rooftop restaurant also open to all which has a good view of...

Hotel Banaras Haveli is located very close to the famous Assi Ghat in Varanasi.

I reached Varanasi at 0100 IST by train and I did not have the patience to go through online hotel aggregator sites to book a hotel. So, I requested a autorickshaw driver to take me to a hotel nearest to the Assi Ghat.

He showed me a few hotels. Some were not good, some were good, some had bad staff who did not even have any semblance of customer service in them.

At last, I reached Hotel Banaras Haveli.

I walked in tired and apprehensive about the night shift staff's behaviour but I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the doorman, Mr.Krishna, and to be guided to the front desk, where I met the courteous front desk manager, Mr. Anchal.

Mr.Krishna was polite and ever ready to help us.

Mr. Anchal was very happy to show us the room. He made sure that we checked the room first and only then we took a decision to stay or not.

But, I was 50% won over by Mr. Krishna and Mr. Anchal's behaviour.

The room did the rest. It was spacious and well laid out. The wardrobe, the bed, the TV, the fridge and the writing table were placed perfectly.

The bathroom, too, was spacious and had all the amenities that a good hotel provides.

So, we checked in without any questions. Of course, we were very happy.

The only reason we checked in to the Hotel Banaras Haveli was Mr. Anchal's and Mr. Krishna's polite behaviour.

The next day Mr. Anchal was very helpful. He gave me helpful local tips about the places to see and the ones to eat at. He gave a brief verbal tour of the ghats. I thank Mr. Anchal for his extra efforts.

Later in the day I met the day time front desk manager and the hotel manager. Well, what to say. They were very helpful, too.

My stay was great! The staff was very co-operative and friendly.

Now coming to the hotel itself. As one has read in the above paragraphs the rooms are very good. The staff's behaviour was superb.

The hotel itself is about 200 mts or less from the Assi Ghat. This Ghat is the place where Subah-e-Banaras programme is held. Subah-e-Banaras includes the morning Ganga Aarthi followed by bhajans, dances, yoga practice, other cultural programmes.

Of course, the cultural programmes vary from day to day. But, Ganga Aarthi is a constant.

This is also the Ghat which has been patronized by the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi.

The second day stay hotel brought in another surprise for me. Mr. Anchal informed me that the Kashi Vishwanath Temple has early morning pooja / prayers which a devotee can attend. And, this pooja is regulated through a ticket entry system. He suggested that we should go to the temple in the first batch of devotees. And, guess at what time the first pooja starts?.............?.......... At 0300 IST!

So, as suggested by Mr. Anchal we got up at 0100 and got ready by 0200 amd reached the temple by 0215.

Of course, the temple entry and darshan was very good.

Mr. Anchal made our stay very pleasant.

The hotel has a roof top restaurant and a small, attached lawn.

The view from the top is nice. One can see the Assi Ghat and the river Ganga itself.

I am not sure of the parking for two and...