Editor's note: This interview was conducted in 2011. While some market conditions have changed — Gurgaon, now officially known as Gurugram, has grown significantly as a corporate and residential hub — the insights offered here on hospitality, guest experience, and the distinctive character of the homestay model remain as relevant today as when they were first shared.
Dinesh Bharat, who has a home with three rooms for guests in Delhi's NCR area of Gurgaon, tells Holiday Home Times why guests love his home and why the presence of premium hotels in the vicinity does not trouble him in the least.
The Interview
Tell us about your homestay and how it operates.
Dinesh Bharat: Our homestay is located in Gurgaon, just south-west of Delhi and very close to the international airport. We are a Silver Category Bed & Breakfast registered with the Government of India. The homestay is managed by my wife, Mrs Vijay Lakshmi Bharat, and myself, and we have been operating long enough to have met a great many wonderful guests from across India and abroad.
The best aspect of our home is that, despite being surrounded by all the amenities that city-dwellers require, the locality itself is peaceful and calm — which is very important for guests who have come to the city for a break from their usual routine, or who are passing through en route to another nearby destination. The NH 8 Expressway leading to Rajasthan is within walking distance, which is why guests also choose to break their journey and stay with us for a day or two.
Our home is extremely well equipped, and we are glad to help our guests in whatever way we can. We have been doing this for several years and we know how to ensure that our guests enjoy their stay. Guests staying in any room have access to practically the entire house, including our air-conditioned living room, which is fitted with a large screen television in a separate viewing area.
We have three well-maintained rooms fitted with modern amenities. The rooms are well ventilated, each with an individual air conditioner. Access to each room is independent, and there is adequate storage and locker provision. For guests who prefer self-catering, we have a small kitchenette equipped with a gas stove, cooking utensils, a refrigerator, and a water dispenser. For long-term guests, we can also arrange a cook. Our double rooms can accommodate two people each, and we have an additional room for children if required.
As far as meals are concerned, we provide breakfast, which guests are welcome to share with us. Guests who are curious about Indian cooking are welcome to observe the preparation — many find this one of the highlights of their stay.
What methods do you use to attract guests?
Dinesh Bharat: We maintain a good presence online. While a significant number of our guests come through word of mouth — which is perhaps the most reliable endorsement a homestay can have — we receive a good volume of enquiries through email and telephone as well. Our guests tend to be the kind of people who have looked carefully for what we offer, rather than those who have simply booked the nearest available room. That selection effect means we very rarely have a mismatch between what guests expect and what we provide.
There are several premium hotels nearby. Why should guests choose your home over them?
Dinesh Bharat: I don't actually see it as a competition with hotels, because staying in a home is a fundamentally different experience. Our home welcomes guests who want to experience genuine Indian hospitality — to live in a family home, to share breakfast with us, to understand a little of how an Indian family lives. Having travelled internationally ourselves on many occasions, my wife and I are well placed to appreciate the sensibilities of travellers coming from outside India, and we try to make that bridge as natural and comfortable as possible.
Hotels are also, for long-term guests, quite expensive. We have had guests who could comfortably afford a long-term hotel stay but chose to be with us instead — partly because of the kitchen access, and partly because they valued the human connection that a family homestay provides in a way that a hotel simply cannot.
Our business model is also different in a fundamental way. For us, this is not purely a commercial enterprise — it is an expression of hospitality as a value. We are not trying to maximise occupancy at all costs. We are trying to provide a genuinely good experience to people who choose to spend time in our home.
We have also benefited considerably from medical tourism. Gurgaon has become home to several world-class hospitals offering high-quality treatment at very competitive costs. Patients and their families — often coming from abroad for procedures — frequently prefer to stay in a home environment during a recovery period rather than in a hospital guest facility or a hotel. We are well placed to provide the quietness, the home-cooked food, and the personal attention that those guests need.
We also invite our guests to practise yoga with us and to learn about Vedanta, the Indian philosophical tradition. It is something that many guests, particularly those from outside India, find genuinely enriching — and it is not something they would find on a hotel menu, or at least not without paying a significant premium for it.
What has surprised you most about running a homestay over the years?
Dinesh Bharat: Honestly, it is the relationships. We have guests who have returned year after year, and we have stayed in touch with families we first met when they were here for medical treatment a decade ago. The connections you build through a homestay are quite different from anything a commercial hospitality environment can create. Guests leave as acquaintances — and sometimes as genuine friends. That has been the unexpected reward of this work, beyond any financial consideration.
Editor's Observation
The model that Dinesh Bharat describes — family-run, relationship-centred, anchored in genuine cultural exchange rather than commercial transaction — represents a form of hospitality that has, if anything, grown in appeal since this conversation took place. In a market increasingly defined by professional property management, algorithm-optimised pricing, and brand-standardised experiences, the authenticity of the owner-operated homestay occupies a distinctive and increasingly valued niche. For travellers who want to understand a place rather than merely visit it, a homestay run by people like the Bharats remains one of the most rewarding options available.