Indians are very skeptical about living in a home stay. But to be honest, all the stays are beyond what money can buy and safer than a hotel and a lot more peaceful and fun. So when it comes to places which are traveller based like Ladakh, Spiti Valley and North East, etc these are the best places to live a night and experience the local culture. 

Home stay Wi-Fi 

Yes, you read the point correct, the amenities in a home stay will pretty much out beat any 3 star hotel. The reason being life after Covid-19, there are more tech amenities in a house than ever before. Most stays have high speed fibre Wi-Fi. While star hotels will have the staff but they won’t have the Wi-Fi speed, since the internet will be shared with more than 50+ devices.  

Freedom

All luxury resorts have rules and regulations while a stay is a family that wants to be a part of the tourism eco system. So the rules will be home rules which ain’t as crazy as what the luxury hotels have. A simple example: washing your clothes, which isn’t possible in a luxury hotel. You have to avail for the laundry service. While in a home stay you have a choice of both.  

Location 

Remember that first the village was there and then the hotels came. So by the default the best location or rather than most convenient location is of the stays. They aren’t far away from the city centre, most of the stays will be located in the city centre, so it’s easy to wander about without having to hire a vehicle.  

Vibe 

Homely is the best way to describe the vibe of a home stay. A friendly family where the elders in the family are mature enough to understand the freedom that comes with being on a holiday is the kind of crowd that will set up a stay.  So by default you will get a happy vibe.  No one will be rude to you in a stay.  

Cleanliness

Plain and simple. No one will ever start a stay and keep their house dirty or messy. So take note, that regardless of how clean or unclean a luxury hotel will be, a stay will be a million times cleaner.  

Cost 

This is the biggest game changer.  A stay will cost a fraction of what a luxury hotel will cost.  It’s purely because the more luxurious the hotel, the more the staff and hence more the cost.  While a stay is run by the family.  

Experience

Home stays will always win. It is 10 out of 10 times in this area.  There isn’t any question or comparison between a luxury hotel who only cares about the money and service. While the home stay family cares about user experience which is far greater than money can ever buy. 

Food 

Luxury hotels will serve your food typical of what a hotel serves you. But at the home stay, you will be surprised by the taste and quality of the food. Since most of what’s served on your plate is grown in house or produced locally. The chances of not liking the food is nil.  

Hacks and Tips 

Home stay owners are local people who have been born and raised in the land. While the staff of a luxury hotel has just come to work will have very limited knowledge of the location that they are in.  So the hacks and tips that are possible from a home stay are not at all possible from a luxury hotel help desk. Travel hacks vs tourist tips are very big differences between the two. 

Knowledge

This isn’t just limited to the place you are in or the locality, but over all destination knowledge of a home stay owner will be in depth, full proof and up to date. Since a homestay owner will always be upto date with work what’s happening in and around his home.

Friendship

It’s a personal connect that you will end up developing with the owner of your home stay. In the post Covid-19 year everyone is now online. So via social handles, you will be able to stay connected with everyone much faster and longer than ever before. Having a friend in every part of the country is an asset.  

Life learnings

From learning the language, to local games and even maybe getting an opportunity to hop into a local function through your house owner. The learnings which will come through a home stay are simple but helpful.