Staying in a houseboat is one of the main attractions of the Kashmiri town Srinagar. The houseboat are like little villas on the Dal lake. They come in all classes from deluxe to D class (D is an official class) so everyone can find a houseboat to suit there wallet.
The problem is that there are more than 1400 houseboats in Srinagar. Many of them can house only a few people at a time so no guide book can really make reference to any certain boat. So you just have to go look for the perfect one yourself.
My perfect houseboat, Shora Palace, cost me 200 rupees a night, including breakfast and delicious dinners, snacks, my own bath with hot water and a lovingly furnished room with a big, soft double bed. Now, be warned though, this is the low season price. The official high season price from April to June is 1250 rupees a night per room. But you of course you can bargain.
Here's how you'll find your houseboat.
1. This is what the Lonely Planet recommends: hire a shikara (a small boat, costs about 100 rupees per hour) and tour the lake as long as you find what you like.
2. The above advice is alright. The problem is though that the shikaras are affiliated with certain houseboats and that's where they are going to take you unless you watch your back fervently. After what usually is either a two day drive from Leh or a one long drive from Jammu, you might not feel like arguing. So if you can, ask other travellers in Leh or in Jammu or Amritsar, if that's where you are coming from, where they stayed, how much it cost and did they like it. I know that you would normally ask other travellers about guest houses anyway but when it comes to houseboats it really is the sound thing to do as you can't just go and walk around. In addition it gives you an edge when talking to the shikara men - you'l look like you know where you want to go.
3. Once on a houseboat candidate make sure you know what's included in the price. The normal fare is meals and shikara rides back to the shore. Is there hot water in the showers? Is the food just rice and dal or do you have a choice? Who else is staying there? If you are travelling alone and feel like talking to somebody in the evening this is not a stupid question.
4. There are houseboats like the Shora Palace which can be accessed from the lakeshore by a bridge. I quite liked having the option of coming and going however I wanted to without the need to ask to be given a ride every time I wanted to go for a walk.
5. Talk to owner long enough to find out if he is knowledgeable about the area and if you actually like him. You end up seeing him quite a bit so it's essential he makes you feel right at home.
6. The price of the stay is usually half if you don't take the meals. Now, this might not be so clever as it first sounds like. I spoke to a couple of starving travellers in the old town of Srinagar who told me that there was nowhere to eat where they were staying at Nigin Lake except one fancy expensive club. On top of that it was the Ramadan, so the restaurants in town where all closed.
7. The houseboats have official price categories. At the time of writing the cheapest price category (D) was 750 rupees a night including meals. The LP promises reductions up to 70 percent in the low season, which is less than the drop I managed to bargain. Oddly enough though I was in Srinagar in September which according to the Planet is the second best season after the spring season of April-June. So as always: bargain.
8. Do not book a houseboat in Delhi! I wrote about the particular scam earlier here.
9. You will know that you've found the perfect place to stay when on top of everything the houseboat owner lends you his wife's Kashmiri style pants as your knee length skirt is too revealing to go into town during Ramadan. (in the pic on the left)
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8. Nuts Huts (left) in Loboc, a perfect setting in the middle of the jungle, if jungle is what you are looking for. Th
