Homestay rooms in Honnavar: simple, with heritage bones

What the rooms are like

The rooms are in a 1960 laterite house, so they are solid, cool and plain rather than styled. Expect a wooden double bed with fresh linen and towels, the original heritage timber doors, a ceiling fan, a window, a wall-mounted TV and WiFi. Every room has its own attached bathroom with a shower, a geyser for hot water, a western toilet and terracotta tiles.

You choose between air-conditioned and non-AC when you book. In the cooler months from November to February most guests are comfortable with the fan. From March to May we suggest AC.

Photos of the rooms and the house

Which room to pick

There are two kinds of room.

• Single room, ₹1,500 a night: one double bed. Right for solo travellers and couples.
• Family room, ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 a night: a larger room with bunk beds and an extra bed, sleeping four to six, with its own bathroom. Right for families and groups of friends.
• Bigger groups can take all the rooms together. Send your group size and we will tell you honestly how many the house sleeps.

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Food

Meals are cooked at home by the family, on request. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian coastal Karnataka food are available, and breakfast is included in the packages where listed. Tell us your preferences when you book, especially for fish, which depends on the day's catch, and for children.

Check-in, check-out and arriving

Check-in is at 12 noon and check-out at 11 AM. Early check-in and late check-out are given whenever the room is free, which matters if you arrive on the 6:25 AM train from Bengaluru. There is parking for cars and bikes, and we pick guests up from Honnavar bus stand or railway station on request.

Arriving by train or bus

What is around the rooms

The house is in Tari-Bagel, on the river side of Honnavar. The backwater view points are two minutes on foot and the boat jetty about 100 metres away, so a sunrise or sunset boat ride needs no transport. Kasarkod Eco Beach and the mangrove boardwalk are about 4 km away and Apsarakonda Falls about 7 km.

Homestay with backwater boating Places to visit in Honnavar

Day trips to add to your stay

Rooms in Honnavar at our house also work as a base for the day trips that bring most guests to this stretch of coast. Murudeshwar, with its giant Shiva statue and temple, is 28 km away, about 40 minutes by road. Mirjan Fort, a 16th-century laterite fort near Kumta, is 31 km, about 45 minutes. Gokarna's beaches are 55 km, about 90 minutes, and Jog Falls, India's second-highest plunge waterfall, is 60 km, a little under two hours inland. Each is a comfortable there-and-back trip from the same room, with a car arranged through us.

October to March is the easiest season for both the rooms and these day trips: calmer seas, cooler evenings and reliable road conditions. Long weekends, Christmas and New Year fill first for rooms here, so if those are your dates, book three to four weeks ahead. The rest of the year has more last-minute availability, and the monsoon months swap a beach day for Jog Falls at its fullest instead.

Murudeshwar from Honnavar Jog Falls from Honnavar Honnavar 2 day itinerary

House rules in brief

This is a family home, so a few simple rules apply: a valid government photo ID for every adult at check-in, no smoking inside the rooms, quiet after 10:30 PM, outside visitors only with the host's permission, and pets welcome if you tell us in advance.