Friends Home Stay - Agra

The owner was helpful with booking a cab to different places, ordering good food, and sharing information about nearby sights. Breakfast was included and was really good. We booked a clean, good four-bed non-AC room through booking dot com, but I'd suggest an AC room if you come to Agra outside winter. Since it's a homestay, you'll need to order food online or eat nearby. I'd recommend staying here with family.

The rooftop was a lovely place to sunbathe in the afternoon and look at the stars and moon at night. This family-run homestay is in a peaceful residential area, around a 10-minute drive from the Taj Mahal. They were generous enough to let us use their kitchen. The bedsheets were clean, the bathroom was spacious and neat, and there was plenty of cupboard storage. It's a great fit for families and backpackers looking to save money. I recommend staying here and trying their secret lassi, which I thought was the best in the world.

There's not enough here for the price, and I wouldn't recommend it. Nothing about the homestay worked for us. Breakfast was only tea, two slices of bread with jam and butter, and nobody asked if we wanted anything else. They'd be better off not including breakfast so guests could plan to eat somewhere else. The toilets were badly maintained, the bathroom lights didn't work, and there was no hot water when we wanted to bathe. You have to notify them 30 minutes to an hour ahead, and they didn't answer calls when we needed them. In winter the room felt like a freezer. There were no heaters, though the blankets were good enough for us to get through the night. Also, don't arrange sightseeing taxis through them. We found out later that other companies charge much less.

The rooms were filthy, had no amenities, and the owners' behavior was even worse. This place deserves zero stars. Don't book it through any platform. I think all the positive reviews are fake and posted by fake accounts.