Rooms

The 14 comfortable rooms come with cosseting beds, beautiful silk counterpanes, bold lotus-shaped headboards, native local artwork and the requisite facilities (minibar, kettle, TV, fan, A/C). Although they are not the most characterful rooms in India, a few extra touches - bowls of marigolds, paintings of sadhus and a bedside copy of the Bhagavadgita (a Hindu religious text) - remind you you’re in a holy city.

It's definitely worth spending a bit more to get a river view: it's the heart and soul of the city, with a constantly changing aura and churn of activity. We stayed in the huge Shivala Suite, with its separate sitting area, large bathroom with claw-footed bathtub, and an unbeatable view of the ghats below.

All rooms are based around a shaded central courtyard, and have access to a first floor communal balcony and a sizeable rooftop terrace (watch out for monkeys).

Features include:

• Fan
• Safe box
• WiFi

Eating

Breakfast is a delicious feast, and the perfect start to a long day of exploration. Expect tea or coffee and plenty of fresh fruit (papaya, pineapple), followed by the usual eggs and toast or something more exotic if you prefer. We loved our poori baji - a classic Indian breakfast of fried bread with spiced chickpeas.

Meals are served in the haveli’s leafy courtyard, and there is often live Indian music to set the scene. Our dinner was tasty and very fresh, with a focus on Varanasi specialities like dum aloo banarasi and a superb palak paneer (the best we had in India). Other guests told us the Western offerings were not quite as expected (raisins and apples in a Greek salad, for example), so we recommend going Indian here. In accordance with local law, no meat or alcohol is served within 200 metres of the Ganges.

Features include:

• Breakfast
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby
• Room service

Activities

• Take a sunset boat ride down the river to watch the colourful nightly prayer ceremony, called aarti
  
• Wake early for a roof-terrace yoga class as the sun comes up
  
• Or book a sunrise boat ride to watch the city come to life, with ubiquitous morning ablutions in the Ganges
  
• Flag a cycle rickshaw to take you to the bustling shopping district of Godowlia (Varanasi is famous for its silk)
  
• Hire a guide and spend a day exploring Varanasi’s countless hidden temples and shrines
  
• Wander at will along the riverside ghats: it’s always entertaining and fascinating
  
• Take a taxi to leafy Sarnath Deer Park (15km), one of the most important historical Buddhist sites in the world

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Boat trips
• Historical sites
• Shopping / markets
• Traditional cultures
• Well being
• Yoga

Kids

With lots of winding alleyways, uneven surfaces, hectic crowds, open cremations and a very unhygienic river, Varanasi as a whole isn’t very family-friendly. However, for intrepid families, it is a pretty incredible cultural experience for adventurous older children. The hotel has twin rooms but no family rooms or baby cots. Kids under 11 stay for free if sharing their parents' bed.

Best for:

Teens (over 12)

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Suryauday Haveli is located right on Shivala Ghat in Varanasi. By day it is reachable via a boat ride along the river, and by night it is accessed through a series of winding narrow alleyways (Varanasi is known for it's maze of streets).

By Air:
Fly into Delhi and take an internal flight to Varanasi airport, or an overnight train.

By Train:
Varanasi is well serviced from Delhi and many other parts of northern India. From the station, we recommend taking advantage of the hotel's transfer service as it's not easily reachable by taxi.

By Road:
If touring northern India by road, we recommend hiring a car with driver - our Tailormade Tour Operator can arrange this for you.