Choosing a homestay

A homestay is a room in a family home, often with the family cooking your meals and showing you how the village works. It can be the best night of a trip. It can also be cold, noisy and short of hot water. Choosing well means asking the right questions before you pay.

What a homestay is

A homestay is usually smaller than a guesthouse. There may be one or two rooms, a shared bathroom and meals served in the family kitchen or a common room. The host is often also the farmer, the guide’s relative or the person who runs the village shop. You are a guest in their home, so the rules are theirs, and the warmth you get is real.

Questions to ask

Before you book, ask about the water. Is there hot water all day, or only at certain times? Ask about heating in the rooms and blankets for the night. Find out how far the nearest road is, and whether luggage needs to be carried. Check the meal arrangements, including what they can cook for vegetarians or people with allergies.

Ask how the homestay is registered and how guests are looked after in an emergency. A good host will answer clearly and will not mind the question.

Facilities

Expect simple facilities. A flush toilet is common, but a shared toilet block is often separate from the rooms. Power may be limited, and mobile signal can come and go. Ask about these early, so you can pack a torch, a power bank and a warm layer for the room.

Reading reviews

Reviews are useful, but they can mislead. A five-star review from someone who arrived in the dry season tells you little about a wet week. Look for detail, such as comments about the food, the bed, the water and the road. Be wary of very short reviews that say only “lovely”, and look at the dates. Reviews from the last year are more useful than older ones, because hosts change.

When a review mentions a problem, read the host’s reply. A calm, specific answer is a good sign. Silence or a defensive reply is worth noting.

Fair pricing

A homestay price should cover the host’s time, food, cleaning and the upkeep of the house. Very low prices often mean the host is struggling to make ends meet, and that can show in the quality of the stay. Very high prices for a family home should prompt a question about what is included. We check each homestay once a year, and we use the same questions every time, so the pricing on our pages reflects what the stay actually offers.