RichardInSF

The best is the Taj Nadesar Palace, but i didn't book there because their reservations people were being amazingly annoying. Instead I just arrived at the Brijrama Palace. It has one thing the Taj does not -- it is directly on the Ganges and literally next door to the most important temple in a town filled with temples. The hotel has only four suites, and one "larger" room called Varuna Burj (the latter not shown on the website) that have a view of the river. All the suites were full, so I booked the Varuna Burj. I just checked in

You get here by taking a car about 50 minutes from the airport and then transfer to a 20 minute boat ride.

It's a smallish room, about 400 sq ft including the bathroom which has a shower but no bathtub. The top rooms include a free minibar and other snacks. Everything is immaculately clean. The a/c works well. BUT this is a 100% vegetarian hotel and no alcohol is served. This is probably not critical since the average stay here is either 1 or 2 nights max. I don't like that the room key must be inserted in a slot and if you take it out, all -- and I mean all -- the lights go out.

For the top level rooms, some tours, both way airport transfers, unlimited mini-bar refills, and some laundry is included in the rate. I'll add more later on. But this place has something no other nice place in Varanasi has -- location, location, location.