The Pros of the hotel are:

1. Incredible rooftop restaurant with a breath-taking view of the Ganges River and its banks.
2. Accessibility and location of the hotel. It is situated at a stone's throw away from the Assi Ghat, the only ghat that is accessible by road.
3. Small room sizes with great interior designs.
4. Bathrooms are fitted with all the necessary amenities. There is ample space inside them as well.
Cons:
1. Immature hotel staff who need a lot of training. The best they can do is smile and greet.
2. Foreigners tend to spend a long time on the rooftop restaurant, which causes an unnecessary delay to other guests. The staff will NOT say anything to them.
3. Bad sleep quality.

The location and the rooftop restaurant are the USP of this hotel. One crazy staff, the night duty one, would barge into your room after knocking the door. I mean, who does that.

They definitely need a lot of training. But the hotel overall is very good. All the rooms are designed differently. In case you are looking for good views from inside the hotel room, then there are no such rooms with great views. The best view is from the rooftop. The reception has a small aviary behind which has colorful birds inside. Its a treat to watch.

Having just returned from my trip to Varanasi, I have to complement this lovely uplifting hotel in Assi Ghat. First and foremost, her own manager Mithlesh ji who helped us out in late notice and set us up with a beautiful executive room...his genuine presence & communication, I can see, is an integral part of the ambience of this hotel. (We miss him already!) The entire smiling staff from security at front door to waiters are down to earth and helpful. Attendees were accommodating in our frequent requests. And how relieved we were to see an elevator lift! Makes such a difference given you are often climbing stairs on the ghats.

The free breakfast rooftop sittings were wonderful with a view of Ganges and the city. There’s seating options for both outdoors and inside where buffet is set up to get shelter from the sun. Food was strict vegetarian in respect to the nearness of Ganga Mata, with varied selections of porridge, fruit, curd and aloo (potato) dishes. Also bread and parantha. I can’t say nice enough things about the waiters. Shiva Shiva went the extra mile in serving us.

The room we had was very spacious and clean. Nicely equipped with fan, a/c, coffee/tea maker, shelves and a big wardrobe. Beds & bedding were soft and comfortable. So many different lighting options in the room. Bath was refreshingly modern, water stayed hot and new towels & water bottles were brought to us on request.

With all this good, I was surprised to learn that WiFi is an additional 100 rupees each day per device after initially seeing it advertised as free WiFi. Here you have to put in the code given to you at front desk frequently throughout the 24 hour contract. Not only is that a bit of a hassle having to hold onto your receipt for the code if you can’t remember it, but this should be free as part of room charge like all hotels. (To be fair, I did read hotel reply on a review sharing that they’ve often experienced big file downloads from guests that slowed down the server, I can understand that but it’s best to at least notify here the additional WiFi fee as an option to consider. Am sure other hotels have to bear the same weight).

And yes it’s true there are nights of continuous dog barking and cow mooing, but it’s all part of Shiva’s home. Dogs and cows are everywhere through the streets, secret alleyways and ghats. Come with earplugs to adjust but then settle into the ambience of Shiva. This town, including Hotel is a true blessing. Will make it a point to stay here on next trip to Kashi for sure.

Foto: a point of view from rooftop...Ganga Mata near distance