Travel

Homestay - An Exciting Way to Holiday

India is growing and Indians are holidaying!! Of yes, tourism is on the rise and the average Indian is not holding on to his or her purse strings. They are more than willing to explore and experiment.

They want to work when they work and have a great time when they choose their time off. Holidays are carefully planned to suit the interests of the family. They could range from the traditional more conservative sightseeing tours to something as exciting as adventure sports like river rafting, mountaineering and paragliding to name a few.

Whatever be the choice, holiday as a concept is embraced by Indians like never before. What does this trend mean? Well this trend means that people today are not just looking for places to holiday but also looking for way and means to enhance the overall experience. They want, demand and support innovation. Concept holidays are the latest buzz word.

In keeping with this trend, homestay as a concept is today spreading its wings across all parts of India.

What is homestay? Well these are simply rooms made available within the family home. While one is largely used to the hotel experience while on the road, this experience is not without its drawbacks. Hotels are essentially commercial dwellings and they need not necessarily capture the local flavor, culture and cuisine. After all that’s why one says nothing like a good home cooked meal. Even food at five star hotels tends to be a poor second cousin to a personalized meal.

Also hotel staff can be professional and sometimes lack the personal touch. You don’t always get to sit down with a local over a cup of tea and understand their culture and lifestyle when you choose a hotel as your preferred halt.

Well this is where homestays score their brownie points. They are essentially a home which is partially opened up to visitors. These homes can range from the lovely estate houses in tea and coffee plantations to sharing a room with a family on an agricultural farm. Whatever the type of house be sure that they will represent the local culture, style of housing and décor. What more? Well you get to eat delicious home cooked meals cooked or at least supervised in most cases by the lady of the house. It is not uncommon for the family you are staying with to sit down and have meals with you.

Meals are more fun over chatter and healthy banter about their local culture, lifestyle and those lovely places you can visit which don’t always get listed in a tour guide. You also don’t have too many other guests because remember this is someone’s home and they are going to have limited number of rooms to give away. Well lucky you because here is the much needed privacy you craved for!

Imagine living on an actual plantation and exploring it without always bumping into a noisy tourist. These holidays offer something for everyone from single men and women, to couples on a romantic getaway to families with children.

The families you are staying with tend to do their best to make you feel comfortable and offer you a great personal touch. It is also quite common for these homestays to also innovate and provide additional recreational facilities ranging from sports such as badminton, shooting to a manmade lake for a lovely dive during summer. They also come at affordable cost.

Surely there is a lot stacked in favor of homestays and they are definitely here to stay. In fact if you have experienced the joy of a homestay it is likely that you will look for one every time you travel.

So it’s probably time to say bye-bye to hotels and look to enrich your holiday with a great homestay experience.