We came for two nights on the way to Munsiyari and cancelled Munsiyari. I have not slept like that since I was a child. On the third morning Kamla put a hand on my shoulder and said, in Hindi, that I looked less tired. She was right.
Guest voices from Berinag Home Stay
We came for two nights on the way to Munsiyari, and cancelled Munsiyari.
- 4.9Average, 214 reviews
- 38%Guests who return
- 2,140Guests since 2016
- 11Four-star reviews, all published
The main body
Nine, at length
These are the longer pieces — people who sat down and wrote something properly rather than leaving a line on a booking site.
As a solo woman traveller I am careful about homestays. This is a family house with a family in it. Deepak walked me to the ridge at 5 am because I wanted the sunrise and would not let me pay extra for it. Nothing here is upsold.
Honest review: the road from Kathgodam is long and the last hour is rough. The wifi drops when it rains. The bathroom water takes a minute to run hot. And it was still the best week of our year. Go knowing what it is.
I worked from the desk in the Valley Room for eleven days. Fibre held up for every call except one thunderstorm. The inverter carried the two power cuts. My colleagues thought the background was a virtual one.
My parents are 71 and 68. I was nervous about the altitude and the stairs. Deepak moved them to the ground-floor room without being asked and Kamla cooked separately for my father's blood pressure. They want to go back in autumn.
The bhatt ki churkani. I have tried to make it four times at home and it is not the same, and I now understand it never will be, because the difference is the chulha and the altitude and Kamla's hands.
Went in monsoon against everyone's advice. Cloud in the room, leeches on the trail, no mountain view for four days. Would do it again immediately. The valley in rain is a completely different place and almost nobody sees it.
Three generations, eight of us, all four rooms. The children spent five days with the neighbours' children and did not ask for a screen once. That alone was worth the drive.
I am a photographer and I have shot in Ladakh, Spiti and Sikkim. Berinag in December has the cleanest air I have worked in. Panchachuli at 6.40 am from the ridge above the tea garden — that frame paid for the trip.
My parents are 71 and 68. Deepak moved them to the ground-floor room without being asked and Kamla cooked separately for my father's blood pressure. They want to go back in autumn.
The numbers
Ten seasons, counted
Kept in a ledger by Kamla and transcribed once a year. Not rounded up.
214
Written reviewsAcross booking platforms, email and the guest book in the hall.
4.9
Average rating202 five-star, 11 four-star, 1 three-star. All published.
38%
Return rateGuests who have stayed with us more than once. The figure we are proudest of.
2,140
Guests since 2016Four rooms, ten years, one increasingly tired dog.
By kind of guest
Whose review should you read?
Reviews are only useful if the person writing wanted roughly what you want. Pick the closest.
About a third of our guests
“As a solo woman traveller I am careful about homestays. This is a family house with a family in it. Deepak walked me to the ridge at 5 am because I wanted the sunrise and would not let me pay extra for it. Nothing here is upsold.”
- Meera Bhattacharya, Kolkata, five nights
- No single supplement — we deduct ₹500 instead
- Somebody will walk with you after dark without being asked
Usually the Orchard Room
“Three generations, eight of us, all four rooms. The children spent five days with the neighbours' children and did not ask for a screen once. That alone was worth the drive.”
- The Sharma family, Lucknow, five nights
- No cots, high chairs or children's menu — Kamla simply cooks milder
- The stairs to the upper rooms are steep; say if you have under-fives
The Heritage Room
“The ground-floor room, the step-free bathroom, and the fact that nobody made a fuss about any of it. My mother is eighty-three and she felt like a guest, not a problem.”
- Nirmala Joshi, Dehradun, four nights
- Heritage Room is fully step-free including the bathroom
- Nearest hospital is Pithoragarh, 55 km, 1 hr 45
The Valley Room or the Cottage
“Fibre held up for every call except one thunderstorm. The inverter carried the two power cuts. My colleagues thought the background was a virtual one.”
- Rohan Desai, Pune, eleven nights
- 90-day speed log published on the Workation page
- One three-hour outage in two years, and we say so
The guest book
Two hundred pages
in the hall
It has been on the same table since 2016 and it is nearly full. Some entries are a line, some are three pages, one is a drawing of the cow that is better than any photograph we have of her. It is the only record we would be genuinely upset to lose in a fire.
Short ones
A line each
★★★★★
Nine hours of sleep. Nine. I am forty-one and I have not done that since university.Arjun Rawat · Delhi · four nights
★★★★★
The tea appears. You never ask. It just appears. I think about this weekly.Farah Qureshi · London · 92 nights
★★★★★
Bhalu is a terrible guard dog and a superb personality.Kabir Sen · Mumbai · six nights
★★★★
Went in monsoon against everyone's advice. Would do it again immediately.Priya Nair · Kochi · five nights
★★★★★
Bhagwati told me, through her grandson, that I was too thin. Then she fixed it.Anne Lindqvist · Stockholm · 30 nights
★★★★★
There is no reception desk and after two days you understand why that matters.Vikram Iyer · Bengaluru · 41 nights
Why people come back
Six reasons, in their words
Thirty-eight per cent of guests have stayed more than once. We asked eleven of them why, and these are the answers that came up more than twice.
“It has not changed.”
Same four rooms, same table, same time. Two guests specifically said they came back to check we had not expanded, and were relieved.
“The second visit is different.”
You know the lane, the children know you, and you stop being a guest at about hour four rather than day three.
“A different season is a different place.”
Four of the eleven had come first in October and returned in monsoon or winter deliberately.
“I wanted my parents to see it.”
Three returns were people bringing family who had heard about it for a year.
“It is cheaper than my rent.”
Long-stay guests, who did the arithmetic and then did it again.
“Kamla's cooking.”
Said, in some form, by nine of the eleven.
214
Add one
If you have stayed with us, the guest book is still on the table in the hall, and we read every email that arrives afterwards.