Shri Guest House & Roof Top Restaurant

Staying with Abhay at the Shri Guesthouse was a great experience. Abhay is a wonderful host and made sure we were comfortable and taken care of. We also booked a tour with him to a local temple which made a daunting trip a very memorable experience. Abhay is a Varanasi local and knows everything about the area. So whatever we wanted to do, his advice was always spot on. The guesthouse is right overlooking the ghat where the main Aarti is held, and close to the shopping district. Every day we enjoyed his chai and meals. (And I have to say his mushroom masala curry was the Best curry we had in Varanasi!) Overall, I highly recommend staying with him at his guesthouse! Varanasi can be overwhelming in some ways, so it was a relief we could find a nice place to stay. And Abhay is a great guy. I know I'll be going back to stay with him.

Pros - Good Location Cons- 1. Worst Rooms 2. Worst AC 3. Worst room services 4. They will charge you to use hotel amenities such as their rooftop to view live aarti. And they will charge 200 per person which is unethical because I have already paid for the rooms. 5. Very narrow steps to climb with luggage. If you are going to book any sort of room there please visit before giving any advance

Horrible stay cozy rooms bad behavior third class food. If you don't take food then staff will disconnect electric line. Fan is not working, complain repeatedly but not give response. The hotel have a 2 feet entrance any bulky person cannot enter. building is four storied but seems to be six storied with uneven stairs. Don't book this hotel, before seeing through your eye's.

Don't fall for their location trap. Because location is the only good thing here, ACs were not working but according to owner thats how AC works. Steps were too narrow to go with luggage. Be careful before going to book here, I would say visit once then only transfer any sort of money. The owner asked me to send 100% money in advance and after complaining for almost 6-7 times, he gave me refund of 75%.

my mother and i recently went on a 4 days trip to Benaras and this was the best place to stay we could have thought of. LOCATION- starting with the location, it is just prime. located right above the Dasaswamedh Ghat, we got a clear view of everything going on there without even leaving our room. moreover, there's facilities to go up to the terrace at any hour of the day and especially during the evening Ganga Aarti, giving you a bird's eye view of the proceedings, a sight i hope no one misses out on. the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the Pashupatinath Temple are literally a walking distance away and we just strolled up to them with enough time in our hands, no rush to get back to our hotel because it was so close. STAFF and HOSPITALITY- secondly, the staff and hospitality. the owner of the place was very friendly and answered calls immediately, helping us with every problem or doubt we had about our stay and travel, without hesitation. the other staff members were also very well behaved and helpful, providing regular room service and even got us medicines in a very short notice when my mother fell sick with naseau. we had leave for our departing train at 4am and one of the member of the staff helped us walk our luggage for almost 500m till he found us an auto and also helped us get a lower rate. the owner even called to check up on us and whether we had a safe journey. there is also their own restaurant just a floor above the rooms with delicious food with a wide variety of items. the dining area too has a spectacular view of the Ghat below. SAFETY- the area is more than safe for female travellers. my mother and i sat on the Ghat till late in the night with no worries and faced no uncomfortable situation. CON- however, i cannot deny a bit of a problem with the hotel, that was the very steep stairs. while i had no problem climbing them at all, my mother however felt that they were quite steep for older people, not impossible, but just a slight inconvenience. that said, i think this is the best place to stay at for solo travellers or groups of young people when visiting Benaras. it has all the facilities you will need and they will be made available to you almost immediately by the wonderful people who hosted us. we would rate our trip and this stay a solid 5 stars, without any doubt.

I will divide my review into Pros and Cons: Pros: 1. The guesthouse rooftop has good view of the ghat. The roof top restaurant also has good ambience and view. 2. The food at the rooftop restaurant is made fresh and is good. 3. The guesthouse is right on the ghat so easy access if you want to take a dip in the Ganga. Cons: 1. The stairs to rooms are extremly steep and not well designed. If you have elderly people in your family or with knee problems then you will have a lot of problems climbing the stairs and going to your rooms. 2. There are no windows in the room that bring in fresh air, so the air in the room is always stale and damp. At times it feels suffocating so folks with astma will have a lot of problems. 3. Rooms have bunk beds.. which are difficult to climb on to. Again, elderly or old people will have a tough time to climb to the bunk beds. Also young children run into the risk of falling down in their sleep. 4. I specifically called and asked whether the rooms have attached bathrooms and the owner said yes but that is not the case. No rooms have attached bathrooms and you have to again climb the steep stairs to go to the common bathrooms. 5. The rooms are extremly overprised for that they have to offer. 6. Room service is negligible. The person will not show up once the room is alloted to you. No cleaning, No garbage collection, nothing. 7. There is no free drinking water, Either you buy bottled water from the guesthouse office or climb the stairs all the way to the restaurant and look for a guy who can fill your bottle. 8. Even as a paid guest, you are not allowed to watch the ganga arti from the roof top. They will charge you 100 Rs. per seat if you want to go the the rooftop during the time from 6pm to 7pm everyday. I think this is unethical and just greed. All in all, I will not recommend this guesthouse if you have young children or elderly people in your family. Also try finding a hotel/guesthouse that is in the city - The ghats are all walking distance plus you will save money and the hassle.

Location is the USP of this place, situated at the Dashashwamedh ghat which is closer to the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, all the famous ghats are also nearby. The rooms provide a scenic view of Ganga river and Ganga aarti is also visible from the location. Owner is helpful, rooms are neat and clean. Overall a great experience at Shri Guest House.

The location is 5 stars. Right at the ghat. It takes forever for the food to be prepared. So I suggest not to eat here if you are on the clock. Taste & cleanliness 3.5. Rooms are clean but too small. 2 stars going by the cost / benefit. Staff behaviour is friendly and they will guide you to places you want to visit. This is not a typical hotel. Very narrow and steep stairs to the rooms. There is no lift. You will have to go 3 floors equivalent to reach the rooms. 4 floors for the kitchen.