Varanasi is a magical place. As the oldest continually inhabited city on earth, it has a thread of ancient spirituality woven through its bustling modern streets in a uniquely trippy, symbiotic way. You will never have enough hours in the day to absorb everything happening around you: sadhus chanting, children playing cricket, chai vendors shouting their wares, the constant hum of boats bringing more people than you ever knew existed to the banks of the Ganges to pay their respects to the holy river. In the distance burn the 24-hour fires of public cremations, and you may have to pick your way through a crowd of water buffalo emerging from the river. It is a wonderful, all-consuming pandemonium.
To avoid the city from swallowing you whole, you need to find your stillness at the end of the day. Step forward Suryauday (surrey-OO-day) Haveli, the former holiday home of the Prime Minister of Nepal, and a veritable fortress of a hotel. It is one of the few places in Varanasi where you can find tranquility. From the silent bliss of its air-conditioned rooms to the leafy shade of the central courtyard, this place oozes sanctuary when you need it most.
Highs
- Unbeatable location directly on Shivala Ghat, right in the middle of the action
- Friendly and personalised service - our welcome felt totally genuine
- Rooftop terrace and communal balcony for watching the sunset over the Ganges
- Spotlessly clean when we visited (not necessarily a given in this part of the world)
- We loved the secluded inner courtyard, with live Indian music some evenings: a relaxing oasis after a day of exploration
Lows
- It’s not cheap by Varanasi's standards - but it is probably the best (and best placed) boutique hotel in the city
- Being within 200m of the holy river, no meat or alcohol can be served here
- The lovely roof terrace felt under-furnished (and under-used) on our visit
- Bring a sense of humour. Varanasi is chaotic, but much nicer if you just go with it
Best time to go
Seasons vary quite a bit in Varanasi. Winter (October to March) tends to be dry and chilly in the evenings, but comfortably warm in the daytime. Summer (April to June) can be scorching hot, but with sunny skies. The monsoon season (June-Sept) brings heavy rains, and the Ganges swells considerably in size.
Our top tips
Try and arrive by day: their private boat transfer is the perfect way to reach the hotel. After dark, you have to approach from town through a series of less than glamorous alleyways
- Boutique Hotel
- 14 rooms
- Restaurant (vegetarian)
- All ages welcome
- Open all year
- Pool
- Spa Treatments
- Beach Nearby
- Pet Friendly
- Disabled Access
- Parking
- Restaurants Nearby
- WiFi
- Air Conditioning
- Guest Lounge
- Terrace
- Garden
- Gym
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.
Airports:
- Varanasi 28.0 km VNS
Other:
- Beach 800.0 km
- Shops 0.5 km
- Restaurant 0.5 km