Mishika tells you why B&Bs are becoming popular in India.

Is it a home?

Mishika often longs for some  personal attention, home cooked food and the warmth of a family, during her thang frequent trips.

But hotels run a business and the model they follow is geared towards keeping it purely business be it with their guests or even their staff.

The very reason why B&B’s anywhere in the world is to create a non hotel space. A home away from home is what they offer to guests and are a big hit with travelers these days!

According to Mishika here are a few reasons why B&Bs 
are getting popular in India.

1. Personal touch: More than a business setup, it’s a home for both the guests and the staff. Most owners are usually at the properties and for them it is not just a business; it's a way of life for them. So they go out of their way to make sure guests feel at home. Because of their presence guests receive high quality service

and personal attention by the staff. All this creates a very warm, cosy Unhotel environment !

2. Affordable: It is an affordable option compared to expensive hotels. We all love to save up a few pennies during our trips but without compromising on comfort. B&B's let you have a budget friendly stay with a homely touch.

3. Food:  An unhappy tummy may turn your holiday into a disaster. Hygienic and healthy home cooked food is your answer to avoid such situations.Homestays understand the needs of a traveler and the families. 

Simple home cooked food is what frequent travellers are looking for these days!

4. The warmth of a home: The comforts of staying at a home are unexplainable. Stay with a family, sharing stories with like minded travellers , hear their stories, make friends and be at home during your travel.

5. Accessibility: Be it in a remote place or a city, homestays always have their doors open for their visitors.Hotels often struggle to set-up in a remote location, whereas homestays have their way around. The hosts with their local tips make a new city more accessible.

6. Insights to local culture: When in Rome, behave like a Roman is the saying. Staying at a homestay will help you know and learn about the local culture. See the place through the eyes of a local.

7. Good for large families and groups: When you are travelling in a large group and want many rooms,homestays many a time give you the option of renting the entire house . Most  homestays have about 5-6 rooms and often let you rent out the whole place for yourself. Hence, making your holiday an exclusive one and very affordable.

8. Safety: Can’t get safer than a home. The owners often go out of their way to keep their home and visitors safe by avoiding last minute check-ins etc..Especially important for single women travellers.

9. Peaceful: A good nights sleep is assured when you are staying in a nice homestay. The quiet, peace, warmth and coziness of a home is one of the pluses of staying in a homestay compared to a small, windowless hotel room.

10. Unique experience:  Hotel stays are often very boring and mundane. Whereas each day is a new experience at a home and this makes your stay and trip a unique one.

The Granny's Inn - Warm bosom of an ​Indian h​ome

​The Granny's Inn Banaras is not just a cosy homestay. It is the warm 

bosom of an ​Indian h​ome. The selfless care and the doting love of two grannies, delicious home cooked food, laughter, sunshine and the simple good life of a large Indian family is what the Granny’s Inn is all about.

The concept of this homestay has brought meaning and purpose to the life of the feisty grannies and loads of self respect and dignity.  The Granny's Inn, Banaras is a cos​y, clean and safe stay option for travelers especially women travelers from around the world.

​A first of its kind in Banaras for a homestay to provide a window to the art and crafts of India. We want visitors at our inn to get to know about the delightful and intricate handicraft and art scene of Banaras. Through this we plan to promote the local artist and craftsmen​. The design brief for the inn was to capture the soul of the Granny's Inn. The design - be it the day in the life o​f a granny- poster, the pickle making or the grannies at the market poster  - is very Indian in its sensibility.

Our creative inspiration comes from children's tales and rhymes- Nani t​eri morni ko mor le gaye, baaki jo bacha tha kale chor le gaye. 

​And last but not the least , the​ rooms are all about the stories of women in our family who are important in our lives and have contributed in some way or the other to the making of the GI.

Over time we are sure our story will grow and we will have a range of merchandise, accessory and art around the Granny's Inn. 

In case you are interested in staying at the Granny's Inn or buying art from us or even starting a GI of your own ​ please drop a mail to

​ ​Cinnamonstays@gmail.com

A Trip to Banaras

Meenakari work being done on a Banarsi saree

Just back from a short trip to Banaras. We (the Cinnamon team of +shilpi singh  +Manish Sinha  and our designer friend +Shalini Baisiwala 

While much of the time was spent in running around trying to get 'Granny's Inn' started we did have our fair share of fun.

Gorged on 'Dina Chaat Bhandar' near PDR mall (Gowdolia Chowk). It's a must visit place. Recommended are - palak pakoda chaat, tamater chaat, dahi gol gappa... actually try everything. It's spicy and great taste that's difficult. to get outside of Banaras.

Bablu's meetha paan while we were hunting for utensils was a good find. Not so great on taste but definitely on presentation. Anyone with authentic paan recos, please ping!

We also found time to visit a couple of Banarsi Sari small factories. It was joyful  and magical to see the saree and the different patterns get made on the power loom. 

Sadly, the ghats were dirty and we have decided to do something about it. Getting in touch with waste warriors is high on the agenda. 

Pracheen Ram Kund - There is a small temple
in the middle( can't be seen from this angle)

Our own cook cum caretaker - Kashi
(aptly named) was excellent with ghee soaked parathas and sabzi. The local rasoo-gullahs were anyday better than Haldiram, Bikanerwala and the likes ..

Looks like this winter all Cinnamons are gaining a couple of kilos:-)

On the business front, in case you plan to visit Banaras, anytime after Dec 25, Granny's Inn is a good choice (even if we say so :-) Located in the lane opposite PDR Mall near Gowdolia chowk - it's just 10 min brisk walk to the Vishwanath temple and Dashaswamedha Ghat. 

Assi Ghat, BHU all are relatively close by.

Granny's Inn would be right at the epicentre of this boisterous yet holy city. If you are looking to dive deep into Banaras, come stay with us. Banaras cannot and should not be savoured from the quiet and distant rooms of a 5 star hotel. You have to stay where the Gods are; where the street food delights get hawked. Amidst the madness of the great Indian bazaar and the numerous babas. 

For enquiries and bookings mail us at cinnamonstays(at)gmail(dot)com We don't have room pictures to share at the moment. But we are working hard to make them look good. We won't let you down. 

Next update soon

Cheers

Team Cinnamon

Best Place to Stay While Taking a Prometric Exam in Gurgaon

 Guys in case you are travelling to Gurgaon for taking a Prometric exam at the Iris Tech park centre on Sohna road, Cinnamon is probably the closest, safest and quietest place to stay.

But please note that we are a homestay / bed & breakfast and not a hotel or a run-of-the-mill guest house!

- In a homestay, you stay in a home like environment

- You can expect delicious home cooked food (in very less oil)

- There is 24X7 power, wi-fi internet, clean comfortable AC rooms ( heater in winters)

- Our place is very safe for women students and senior citizens (in case your parents are accompanying you)

- We are child friendly as well.

However, please do not expect room service or round the clock service

- Breakfast (730 am - 10 am), lunch (1 pm - 230 pm) and dinner (8pm -10 pm) have fixed timings. We can of course be flexible but you will have to give us advance notice

- No loud music and outside guests are permitted.

- Entry to homestay after 11pm needs to be informed.

Having said that as a small business we give highly personalised and customised

service to our guests. You may read our reviews on Trip Advisor here

You can request for a packed lunch (with prior notice) and we can also arrange a pick-up and drop to the centre ( at a nominal fee)

Please tell about us to your friends and family whom you know are taking a Prometric test in Gurgaon.

August - 25% OFF for Independent Women Travellers

We are promoting August as the Cinnamon month for 'Women Travellers' ...All of August, if you are an independent women traveller you get a FLAT 25% promotional discount* on your stay at Cinnamon Stays - the No.1 Bed & Breakfast in Delhi NCR/ Gurgaon.


Please also give us suggestions on how to make your stay more women-friendly at Cinnamon. The best suggestion gets a 1 night stay completely FREE at Cinnamon Stays...


Do spread the word amongst women friends/ family who may travel to Gurgaon/ Delhi in August. Shoot us a mail at Cinnamonstays@gmail.com or call/ sms 9560550015 to make a booking!

June - One more small step!

For those of you who don't know us, we are a cosy bed & breakfast( that's a guest house in local parlance) in Gurgaon(Delhi NCR). Our website is Cinnamon Stays!


We have been running now for close to 1.5 years! Run by my wife (Shilpi) and myself(Manish). And a hard-working dedicated team of Gumaan(our manager), Yugen(okay asst manager), Zafar(the cleaning captain), Ravi(the temp help) and Rashmi(the lifeline) and of course our son Neo(in the picture with glasses and a smile, who in the beginning hated Cinnamon as it stole time reserved for him, but who now is a very enthusiastic evangelist of Cinnamon:-). If you ever drop in, do ask him to show the Cinnamon rooms!


Frankly, running a mom-an-pop service, we were/ are too busy to blog! Facebook with it's shorter, crisper updates was good enough. But a blog is better to log the small business journey, guest stories and our own diary of everyday exeperiences... So here we are!


Coming back to the story of June - this is our newest room...still under wraps:-) You can see Yogi - my partner in Jugaad Studio and Neo busy designing June - the name suggested by Amruta - one of Cinnamons facebook friends...


Check out our other rooms here and our guest reviews on Trip Advisor! In case you plan to stay in Gurgaon in the near future, give us a try! Some people find us a bit expensive than the 'run-of-the-mill-guest-house' but then we aren't one:-)


If you live in Gurgaon drop in for a cup of coffee; we also do theme brunches and support artists and causes from time to time...Okay quite a mouthful for a first post! cheers and stay tuned!