Selecting best Homestay in Sakaleshpura

Sakaleshpura probably has close to 100 home stays spread across the region. Along the way you will see name plates of several homestays. How to select the right home say? Here are some tips.

Things to consider while selecting a home stay:

• What is around? Some homestays are next to river, some are inside coffee plantation, some are right next to main road, some are on a hill. Depending on what interests you, you might want to chose accordingly.
• Availability: Homestays have limited rooms and availability might be tricky on weekends. If yours is a last minute plan, you may have to plan based on availability
• Dorms: Some home stays have dormitory facility where large groups can stay at less rate per person. If that suits you, you can chose that option and save some money.
• Camping: Some homestays allow camping- either with your own tents or tents provided by them. Camping will be a cheaper option and a unique experience. 
• Location: Various trekking destinations, waterfalls and viewpoints are spread across the district, so could be far from each other. You might want to check what are all close to your homestay, to minimize travel time.
• Accessibility: Almost all home stays have vehicle access so accessibility is not a concern. But Some home stays might not have good roads suitable for large vehicles or low ground clearance vehicles. You might want to ensure this is not a concern.

About 60-70 homestay owners in Sakaleshpura have formed an association and have their details listed in a website http://sakleshpurhomestay.org/

You can visit above website to know list of home stays, and contact numbers of their owners. The website is not very modern to give you real time availability, rates and booking but it is good enough. Take the homestay name, check on google about reviews, location, photos and then speak to the owner to check availability, rates and to book. Of course you can use some agency or OTA websites like MMT to book- they take 20% commission from homestay owners. So see if you can deal directly with homestay owner and negotiate some discount.

How much should you budget for homestay experience in Sakaleshpura?

• Camping in tents may cost about 1200-1500 per person
• Homestays typically cost 3000 Rs per room
• Dorms cost about 1500-1800 per person

During my visit to Sakaleshpura in March, I got to visit Kasargali Home stay, about which I have reviewed in detail here. But then selecting homestay is not an easy task. You've to consider location, availability, rates, activities and so on.

Tusker Valley (https://www.tuskervalley.in/) is another nice home stay with camping facility on the way to Hosahalli Gudda. There is a river nearby as well. Their rates start at 1900 for tents, 2800 for cottages (per head per day)

Almost all homestay rentals in Sakaleshpura include food cost. There are no restaurants nearby so it might be better idea to have lunch and meals also at the home stay. Of course you are free to plan as per your convenience and negotiate rates with homestay owner if you don't need food.

If you are spending 3-4 nights you might want to split your stay into two different homestays at different parts of Sakaleshpura- this will help you explore all the places closer to your home stay once without too much back and forth travel.

Some popular homestays in Sakaleshpura and their locations

If you prefer resorts, you can check EKA resort or Mookanana or Machaan Plantation Resort in Sakaleshpura. Eka resort has a dorm option with rates almost at par with home stays.

Detailed Sakaleshpura travel guide here.

Happy journey.