DoubleTree by Hilton Varanasi

The staff were friendly and helpful, and the service was good, though they seemed tied down by too many rules. We had a nice stay overall. The property has a swimming pool, a kids' pool, and a play area for children. The rooms are spacious and have the necessary amenities. I liked the little sitting space by the large glass window, but the bathrooms are very small. The shower enclosure door has to open outward because there's no room inside, so water spills out. I slipped at night, fell, and hurt my knee. Breakfast was okay but repetitive, with limited choice. The dinner buffet also had few options.

We had two rooms on the ninth floor for a one-day stay at DoubleTree by Hilton Varanasi, and the hospitality was warm throughout. The rooms were comfortable and well maintained. Room 923 was the highlight, with a beautiful balcony view that felt almost like an infinity view and was very relaxing. If the view matters, I’d suggest room 923 or a similar front-facing room. Room 927 didn’t offer the same experience. We had a great stay, would recommend it, and look forward to returning.

The room was spacious, clean, and smelled lovely, and both the breakfast and dinner buffets had lots of tasty local and continental choices. On arrival, we were welcomed with a bindi as a lovely introduction to Indian culture and warm chocolate chip cookies, the best we’ve ever tried. The staff were always smiling, kind, and polite. I’m not sure why there are so many negative reviews, but I’d recommend this hotel.

The birthday cake I had booked in advance was delivered incorrectly. The flavor was wrong, and the birthday message I’d requested was missing, which spoiled the occasion. The swimming pool was badly maintained, unhygienic, and poorly managed, and there weren’t even enough bath towels. The buffet was very limited, with hardly any snack options. The rooms also looked neglected and poorly maintained. On top of all that, reception was unprofessional and unhelpful, with little basic courtesy, and the lack of valet parking was inconvenient and unacceptable for a hotel of this brand. This was a frustrating, very poor experience, especially after I took a one-year membership. Not recommended.