South Indian budget hotels we tried in Nov 2015

This post shares brief review of various budget hotels we stayed at during our South India tour in November 2015.

1. Yatri Nivas Trichy- have a detailed review live here.

2. Rameshwaram- Hotel Senthil Murugan
At Rameshwaram, as we were heading towards Hotel Tamil Nadu we reached an area beyond which we are told vehicles are not allowed unless they are residents or have a room. Our first choice was to go to Hotel Tamil Nadu. We called to check butit was sold out. The traffic police who had stopped us, called someone and a guy from a hotel came to escort us to his hotel. So we checked into Hotel Senthil Murugan. Costed Rs 1800 per night for 5 pax (2 queen size beds), Non AC. Rooms are just fine. There was a smaller room for Rs 1600 and standard 2 pax room would cost Rs 900. Main temple is walkable from this hotel through a short cut. Campus has lots of parking space.


Later in the day we did go to Hotel Tamil Nadu- I checked their rate card, which was expensive than Hotel Senthil Murugan. But Hotel Tamil Nadu has a day tariff scheme wherein you can rent a room from morning to evening for a lesser fee than full 24 hours. Useful during short visits.

3. Sukanya Lodge Dindigul.
After leaving Rameshwaram, we headed to Madhurai and then Dindigul. Our destination was Erode but felt we can halt at Dindigul so that I can check out Sirimalai in the morning before proceeding further. As we were driving around Dindigul looking for accommodation, we found Sukanya Lodge. At about Rs 540 per room per day, it was pretty affordable option. We agreed to stay here without bothering to hunt for more options. Later in the night found that there're few other hotels close-by which appeared better than Sukanya.

4. Sri Saai Stay Inn, between Erode and Salem.
Our original plan was to spend a night in Erode, but most hotels we checked were either expensive or didn't have safe parking place or were sold out. So decided to drive further towards Salem and try taking a room in Salem. On my way to Salem, some 40 kms before it, spotted a Saravana bhavan and this lodge besides it. Costed Rs 1500 per night per room (AC). Room was decent and it was good enough to get a good night's rest after full day driving. Probably not the most economical option around, but felt like staying here instead of proceeding to Salem as per original plan.

All these were walk-ins, without any pre-booking. You should also check this post written in 2010 during our Nano superdrive- have reviewed more hotels in other South Indian cities we had stayed at that time.