I stayed in Green’s Guesthouse for a week recently and had a great experience. I’d recommend it if you want a quiet, clean, safe guesthouse at a good price. It was NOT a perfect guesthouse though, so below I’ll go through the details so you can see if this guest house is right for you.
Green’s Guesthouse Review (Auroville): I give 8.6 out of 10 if you’re wanting basic accommodations that do really well with the fundaments [cleanliness, quiet, comfortable]. The wifi is reliable and steady. The overall vibe is warm and friendly but not intrusive. The location is close enough to Auroville that you can walk, yet outside of the township which may not appeal to some. Overall, I enjoyed my stay and would go back.
| Amenities | Rating [10 is best, 1 is worst] |
| Clean | 9 |
| Friendly | 9 |
| Safe | 8 |
| Location | 8 |
| Managers | 8 |
| Room | 7 |
| Size | 7 |
| Bed | 7 |
| Quiet | 8 |
| Wifi | 9 |
| Bathroom | 7 |
| Restaurant | 8 |
| Outside | 9 |
| Price | 9 |
| Total Average | 8.6 out of 10 [Very Good 👍👍] |
Let’s go through each of these categories and I’ll share the details of my experience:
Overall Review of Green’s Guesthouse
I enjoyed my stay at Green’s Guesthouse and I would stay again. The room was clean when I entered and the property was clean throughout. It has a large rock garden with statues and there are picnic tables to meet other guests or do some online work.
The two managers were both effective at helping me and friendly enough. I extended my stay a couple of times and had no problems doing that.
I felt safe in my room and leaving my belongings in there. The area was safe enough.
I was close enough to walk to Auroville’s Visitor’s Parking Lot, or drive a scooter just a couple minutes to park there. There was also a restaurant next door that had good hygienic food with decent service. There was a coffee shop around the corner and a bookstore on the other side.
The room was simple and nice. It had an adequate desk to work at, a cabinet for storage and a comfortable single bed. The size was slightly cramped.
The area was quiet and I could easily get to sleep. In the entire week, there was only one period of time that was a bit noisy and that lasted for less than an hour.
The wifi was good and stable. I could work online and reliably for hours get stuff done. This was VERY HELPFUL, and rare in the places I stayed in India.
The bathroom was good. I liked the nozzle of the shower and it had most of what you would want. The hot water did NOT always work, or maybe I just did not understand how to properly work it. When the hot water did work it was hot and the shower head pressure was strong. The door to the bathroom was poorly designed though and water would leak into the room after a shower until I figured out how to avoid that.
The restaurant next door served mostly South and North Indian. The paneer butter masala was very good. The lunch thali was pretty good. The breakfast was free with a room and okay, nothing special just idli, chutney, hardboiled eggs with tea and coffee. It usually was served later than advertised. The service at the restaurant was decent
The property of the guesthouse was beautiful. Tall shade trees overhang the property and it has a really cool three-story villa-in-the-trees-kinda-look. There are rooms on the third-floor that look almost like they are built into the trees. The garden is nice and it’s a nice place to sit, if you can avoid getting bit by mosquitos.
The price is right, I paid $10 USD a night by using Booking.com and booking my room in advance. When I extended my stay I paid a couple of dollars more each night, which was a little strange, but not terrible.
Overall I enjoyed my stay and would stay again. If you want details, I’ll break down each category even further as well…
Clean
The overall property is very clean. My room was in great condition when I entered it. I never had it cleaned while I was there, but I was under the impression I could have asked someone to clean it and they promptly would have. Or I could have asked to have my sheets washed and they would have. They do offer laundry services for a reasonable rate.
There was a woman sweeping and cleaning the property throughout the day. There was a man doing maintenance and helping guests.
Overall I was impressed by the cleanliness of the place and give it a 9 out of 10 rating.
Friendly
There are two managers or employees, a man and a woman. The man roams around and seems like the owner or manager or maintenance man… either way, he was friendly but not intrusive.
The woman behind the desk was effective at her job yet not overly warm.
The guests at the property were relaxed and warm. I met one Swedish guy who had stayed for a few days and was happy to give me his impression of the guesthouse and Auroville. I met a French woman who was staying in the guesthouse to get health treatments in Auroville.
Overall it had a friendly vibe where I felt like if I wanted to meet people there were nice people to chat with and if I wanted to be left alone, no one was intruding on my silence. I give it a 9 out of 10 rating.
Safe
My overall impression was that the area was safe. There wasn’t a strict security guard present, but one morning when I was up early an employee asked me if I was staying there, as if he was making sure I had not just wandered in off the street.
I felt safe enough leaving my laptop in my room.
There was NOT a way to lock the door with my own lock. There also was NOT a security deposit box. I would have liked both of those items.
I would also have liked a nice security guard that was a bit less chill at night.
However, I did feel safe and had no problems, so I give the safety rating 8 out of 10.
Location
I was looking for a quiet place where I could be alone and read and rest, so the location was perfect for me on this stay.
Auroville’s Visitor Parking Lot is just down the road, maybe a 5-minute walk. Or just a couple minute scooter ride. I could easily walk to go explore or pay 10 rupees to park my bike in the parking lot and explore, then be home before it got too hot.
There is a restaurant right next door. There was a bookstore on the other side that had some great books. There is a coffee shop around the corner that opens pretty early and sells Americanos and cappuccinos for between 30 and 60 rupees… depending on who is selling them – the man charges 30 rupees, the woman charges 60 rupees 😆
There were 3 to 5 restaurants within walking distance that I did NOT try but it was nice to know there were options. There is a scooter rental service just a few doors down.
If you want to feel apart of Auroville, then stay at another guesthouse within the township limits.
I did feel a bit outside of things since I was not inside the town. Auroville has plenty of guesthouses inside that also looked cool. I was happy staying outside this time, but if I go to a workshop, maybe I will stay inside next time.
Overall the location is 8 out of 10.
Managers
They were helpful and friendly enough. They were effective at their job so I give them an 8 out of 10.
Room, Size, & Bed
The room had nice basic accommodations. There was a desk, a desk chair, a single bed, a small cabinet, a small table near the door, and a sink.
It was a touch cramped. I was not able to open the cabinet doors at the foot of the bed fully without hitting the bed. Had they hung up the cabinet, then this problem would have been solved.
One electricity outlet didn’t provide full power to my Macbook, so it would charge a little, then shut off, then charge a little more. It took a full night for it to fully charge. I would just plug it in at night and by morning it would be okay to work. If I had to work 8 hours straight, then I may have run into an issue.
The bed was comfortable enough, but nothing special.
The A/C was okay. It made the room cool enough, yet it struggled during the hot August days and I would sweat a little even when it had run for hours.
I spent a week here and it was nice. I did a lot of reading in the bed (finished the Count of Monte Cristo!) and I was comfortable. When I left, I was also happy to go to a larger room.
Overall the room, size, and bed were a 7 out of 10.
Quiet
The place was very quiet. It was a cozy place with the trees overhead and the chill people. There was no village noises nearby, nor was there any loud honking throughout the night.
The other guests were the quiet type and I never could hear them nor was I disturbed by them.
The employees were quiet as well and respectful.
There was one hour-long period on a Friday night where it sounded like some employees were outback talking loudly after work. This was mildly annoying, yet not overly troublesome since by the time I went to sleep all was quiet again.
Overall I would give the quiet rating an 8 out of 10.
Wifi
The wifi here was great for an Indian guesthouse in a rural area. I had a stable connection in my room. It was not blazingly fast, but I was getting speeds around 10 mbps. I could work on Google Docs for hours without a problem.
There were NOT long lapses in wifi service which happened at the other resort I stayed in.
There was also consistent stable service all day and night. Most hotels I’ve stayed in will have a significant lag in the evening where it may be impossible to even browse the internet, since other patrons are logging on at that time. I did not experience that here.
Also, many guesthouses will advertise free wifi, yet in your room, the wifi does NOT work or only rarely works. It may have just been my room, but the wifi worked strong the entire time.
The wifi router is on the south side of the second floor in the middle of the property. If you walk straight out of the manager’s office, look up at the end of the building and you will see it.
I would recommend getting a room near the wifi router, as I had, because I can NOT say if the wifi was also strong in the rooms that were further away.
The power did cut out often during the day, however it would usually come back within a few minutes. There were never lapses of more than 30 minutes to an hour, and mostly it would go out, then come right back.
Overall, the wifi earned a rating of 9 out of 10.
Bathroom
The bathroom was very clean with a Western-style toilet. There was a shower with a showerhead and an attached more powerful nozzle.
The showerhead did not function well. The attached powerful nozzle was amazing though, and I could direct the stream of water to get a good shower.
The hot water did NOT always work. I suspect it may have been my lack of understanding of the system, but it was NOT as clear as most hotels. In most places, you flip an obvious switch to heat the water, then in 10 minutes you take a hot shower.
There was no obvious switch for the hot water heater, so I was not sure how to turn it on.
I would turn on the A/C switch though and that seemed to work for the hot water too. But then sometimes it didn’t.
Basically about 30% of the time when I tried to shower, there was no hot water or it was NOT hot. Then 70% of the time it was very hot.
I could have asked the management about this and I believe they would have assisted to solve this but I did NOT.
Also, the door of the shower was poorly designed. If I accidentally sprayed it with water, the water would run into my room. Anytime I took a shower there would inevitably be a puddle in my room that was slippery and took 6-8 hours to dry.
On my last shower, I stopped accidentally spraying the door and I no longer had that problem.
Overall the bathroom earned a rating of 7 out of 10.
Restaurant
The location of the restaurant was perfect. The food was good. Some dishes like the Paneer Butter Masala were amazing. Other dishes like the lunch thali were also good.
The prices were reasonable. The service was prompt when ordering and delivering your food. Yet lagged considerably when trying to pay. I recommend just going up to the window and paying, instead of waiting for the server to handle the transaction.
The breakfast was just okay. It was free and a basic South Indian breakfast – idli with chutneys. It had hardboiled eggs with all the tea and coffee you could have. There was toast with butter and jam.
I like to get up early and the stated opening time was 8 AM yet it often was NOT serving at 8:30 AM.
The coffee shop around the corner did open earlier at 8 AM though and has good espresso coffees.
Overall the restaurant earned a rating of 8 out of 10.
Outside
The property of Green’s Guesthouse is beautiful and well maintained. There are cool buddha statues and fountains and a path through the rocks. There is a shaded roof over the porch with tables for guests to mingle and socialize.
I noticed one or two guests working on computers outside at the tables.
My room was on the second floor and it had a nice walkway. Walking out of my room was shaded by trees and well-maintained.
Overall I really liked the outer appearance and it earned a 9 out of 10.
Price
For $10 USD (~700 rupees) a night, the price was very reasonable. Overall it was a beautifully maintained property that scored well on the fundamentals. The wifi made it stand out for digital nomads.
I stayed at another place nearby that had some more striking features: a pool that was shaped like a violin and room service, yet I would have rated it as a worse experience than Green’s Guesthouse. There the managers were argumentative about problems versus promptly fixing them. The wifi went out for over a day at a time. The food at the restaurant was terrible. The room didn’t lock 100%. And it was not very clean.
Green’s Guesthouse made me appreciate when a place really nails the fundamentals and how important they are to making your stay comfortable and relaxing.
