Homestay Holidays are becoming more and more popular these days especially in countries within the Asia and Oceania region. In Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia and many other countries, homestays for tourists are more than just an alternative. If you are lucky enough to get a homestay accommodation, you will experience firsthand relation with the people you are touring. Your host will guide you on where to shop, eat and even visit. Such makes the whole trip fun and memorable.
What is Homestay: The homestay in the context of tourism – allows the tourist (or family) to rent a room or the whole house from a local family in the visiting country. This helps the visitors understand the local culture, lifestyle, food, custom and improve in the local language etc. It is a form of lodging where travelers live in an individual’s home who lives in the locality they are traveling.
In order for the home-stay system to work, the modalities regarding the contract between the host and the guest must be established in advance. This mainly includes the facilities (meals, recreation, family activities, Internet-phone usage, entertainment policy, pets policy and so on) that can be consumed by the guest, when to make payment, smoking rules etc. Homestays offer all types of travellers an alternative and affordable place to stay. We have homestays all around the world.
Meet local people: When you stay in a homestay you experience something that you won’t in other forms of accommodation, not only do you meet the local people, you get to live with them too. It’s a way to live a destination, not just visit it.The home stay host and his family can really help you to get accustomed with the new land, its rules and customs and that’s a big plus to hear and learn it directly from the local people than reading books etc.
Value for money: Homestays are great value for money. Cost-wise most homestays are a lot cheaper than the hotel accommodation and it can get very cheap and affordable for long stays. Further, most homestays are in good residential areas than commercial areas of main streets. This means more peaceful and pollution free life. For those looking for longer term accommodation many of our hosts offer great weekly and monthly discounts.The most pragmatic reason to choose a homestay over a hotel is, of course, that it’s cheaper, often by half, and doesn’t come with hidden costs and a million types of taxes. Food is mostly included and your hosts can point to cheap eating options in the area.
Moving to a new city: Moving to a new destination is both daunting and exciting. On arrival, you’re in unfamiliar surroundings, and it takes time to get used to the place. Stay in a homestay and straight away you’ll have met some local people, in their home, who will quickly help you to feel more comfortable, secure and generally at ease in your new destination.
Customised Services: If you stay in a resort or a luxury hotel, they usually provide you with a menu of the services offered from which you can choose the ones apt for you depending on your budget and preference. Whereas, if you choose to stay in a homestay, you would be given the liberty to set your preferences regarding food, activities or the amenities in the home.
Authentic Homely Food: Any restaurant or resort can provide you with expensive dishes at your table. But isn’t it even better when the hosts themselves prepare your favourite dish for you while you stay at the home? Yes, you can have good homely food at homestays. Authenticity Assured Though hotels and resorts claim to serve you authentic local cuisine, you may not be sure of it as you are new to the place. Homestays can be trusted on this, they provide authentic cuisine, prepared themselves.
Share a meal: We suggest to all our hosts to include a complimentary light breakfast in the per room price (some homestays can provide other meals too by prior arrangement). The best thing about this is that you’ll share a meal with your hosts and learn more about the destination and local culture first-hand from them. And if you time is right, you could even share a Christmas dinner together, like Laura did with her Irish host family!
Menus: Menus at homestays are usually 100% local unless you are the annoying type of traveller who wants to eat chicken lasagna in Kerala. Yes, so your hosts might make chilly chicken or Maggi on demand but use this wonderful opportunity to try the local flavour of the place you are visiting. India has such a rich cuisine heritage every five miles the taste and texture of the staple dish of the state changes and this is your chance to try something new. I once had lauki soup in Ajmer, which I wouldn’t touch with a bargepole otherwise but couldn’t turn down out of politeness, and it turned out to be delicious. I then tried lauki halwa and that was amazing too. That homestay in Ajmer cured my lauki phobia.
Perfect for solo travellers: Travelling on your own can be an extremely liberating experience, and some would argue it’s the best way to travel. While there’s no doubt it’s a great way to see the world, there’s always something comforting about staying with somebody who knows a destination well when you arrive. In a homestay, you’ll meet interesting people, share stories and experiences and get to know the destination through the eyes of the locals.
Improve your language skills: If you’re on the road and you’re trying to pick up the language along the way, you need to be speaking it everywhere you go. What better way to do this than staying in a local’s house when you travel? Or if you’re a student attending a language school in another country, stay in a homestay, and you’ll get to speak the language every day with your host family.
See beyond the tourist trail: You can’t go to Lechakha in Dooars / Duars without visiting Jaldapara or visiting Gorumara and not get your picture taken at the Elephant Ride. They’re part of the experience. But wouldn’t it be great to see parts of a destination that only the locals know about? Stay in a homestay, and our hosts will be able to tell you about those hidden secrets like Buxa Fort.
Learn local cultures and customs: You can read a lot about a destination’s cultures and customs before arriving, but the only way to really get to know them is by experiencing them first-hand. Stay in a homestay, and your host will share with you an insight into local life that other forms of accommodation simply can’t offer.
A real ‘home away from home’:The phrase ‘home away from home’ is one that is used all too loosely by different accommodations around the world. While they may offer a homely atmosphere, they’re not really homes. Homestays, on the other hand, are just that. Stay in a homestay, and you really will be staying in a home away from home.
Celebrate Festivals: In a homestay environment you hardly miss celebrating your festivals. Most hosts like to celebrate the festive activities with their guests and that’s a major positive as well. It is trye for host also, they celebrate along with the guests and thus one can enjoy their rituals and rules.
Unique Activities: Homestays are managed by locals or people who have migrated from another places and settled in a tourist spot to offer the best to the travellers. Thus, they would be more in sync with the nature surrounding the home and would be better guides to suggest the unique activities you can engage in while you’re at their home. For instance, if you stay close to a waterfall in Wayanad, they would be knowing unexplored paths to the waterfall where you can enjoy the view and take a dip too
Know the Place Better Though there would be travel guides available at some of the luxury hotels in India, to know more of your surroundings and some interesting places that you could access while at the location, a homestay would be the best choice. Places like Pedong, Coorg, Darap, and Lonavala would have many such locations to explore.
Forming unlikely friendships: An ex-hunter, a reformed extremist, an old Naga lady, a recovering maharaja, you never know whom you encounter on your travels, whose home you end up staying at. Homestay owners tend to be chatty folk (people who don’t like to meet other people are unlikely to open up their home to strangers), so the conversations are entertaining and enlightening, and you might just form a new friendship for life. This is how I met Kushang Sherpa, a five time Everester.
Responsible Tourism: By staying at a homestay, you are contributing to the livelihood of the local community. Though homestays have now become quite common and are available in more cosmopolitan cities as well, in places like Sikkim, Nagaland or Orissa, often these are the only stay options, and an easy and good way of earning for the host community. During the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland, for instance, a large section of the local community depends entirely on tourism for their living. Often, you also end up buying handicraft from local artisans that your hosts may point to and, best of all, return and spread the good word around. It’s a great way of giving back to the chosen place of your travel.
Memories you’ll never forget: Most people have stayed in plenty of hostel or hotel rooms and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t remember one room or receptionist from another on your trips. Not so a homestay. Your hosts a real, genuine people and by getting to know them and their world, you’ll make memories you couldn’t get from any other kind of accommodation.
Privacy: However, homestays can have certain disadvantages too. Sometimes, there can be privacy issues when the host or his family members do not know where to draw the line. This is particularly an issue in certain Asian countries.
Contact: www.dreamwaydestinations.com & www.visittobengal.com Or Call me at +919733465000 & +919474092500 Or WhatsApp : +918617432205