juSTa Luxe Kashi Parampara, Varanasi

Easy check in.

Traditional atmosphere and very polite staff.

Everything was good.

I like the hotel package which involved the boat trip in the Ganges river across all the ghats.

The only downside is that there is no elevator in this hotel

Location is good, close to Assi Ghat. Plenty of restaurants nearby too. One member of staff (Satyam) was particularly helpful and friendly, and helped us find an ATM, book a night cruise, tour guide, and provided lots of advice in general. The other staff members were not as friendly or helpful.

Hotel is way overpriced and definitely not 5-star level. I would say 3 star at best, and should be priced as such. Hygiene was not to the standard of a luxury hotel: - There were holes and stains on the bedsheets - Room service is an extra fee, I have never seen this for a luxury hotel and usually expected for free. - You need to ask every time you want extra water bottles, toilet paper, hair dryer etc. - There were some copper bottles in the room which are supposedly for guest use to store water, however they were half used by the previous guest and not cleaned after. - Room floor was littered with dead insects everyday, that crawl in from under the door gap. Room is super bright at night due to the street lights, and noisy due to the guards/staff talking outside. There was no transparency or proactive communication about events, performances etc. I had to ask over chat and in person about 3 times until I got a proper schedule. There is no such 'live Banarasi paan experience'. When I questioned them about it, I just got paan delivered to my room at night, almost as an after-thought. The service was really slow at the restaurant, and many of the menu items not available. I was quoted 1400INR nett for a airport taxi pickup to be fully paid upon arrival at the hotel, but was not informed that you would need to pay 100INR cash at the airport for parking fees. Taxi driver kept incessantly calling even while we were on the plane and after landing, despite providing our flight details, which was quite disturbing. Even after communicating we are still waiting for baggage, they kept calling. Be aware to bring cash - since upon reaching the hotel we were suddenly told payment can be in cash only - this was not informed beforehand.