I Ran a Homestay in the Mountains and Here's How It Turned Out

For me moving to Manali was a spontaneous decision. When I moved to the mountains, I didn't even have a place to stay for myself. A couple of months in Manali and I started running a homestay of my own. Who would have thought of that. Guess, life has its own ways of unfolding. And unfold it did and how.

Here are 5 lessons, I learnt by running a homestay in Manali.

1. You need to look for your tribe

You see, there is an enormous difference between running a hotel/hostel and running a homestay. When we talk of an intimate experience of a homestay, we need to remember that we will be sharing some quarters of our life with the people we are ushering inside our home. Thus, it becomes significant that we scan and honestly tell these people about the pros and cons of living in a homestay at a remote location. If there is no internet, tell them. If there is a hike up to your homestay tell them. If the view is to die for, tell them. All of this before they make it to your place. This will not only help you filter out your kind of people but will also avoid any kind of inconvenience on the guest's end. Eventually this will only turn out to be a great experience if the guests and you get along. So keep it transparent, keep it simple and keep adding new crazy folks to your tribe.

2. You are Hosting people, not Adopting them

There is a difference. If your homestay is located at an offbeat location and not in the main city people should learn to figure out a way around the place on their own. Thus, it becomes important that you show them the way a couple of times and let them explore on their own. This is just an example of any possible way that you could feel the experience tilt more towards adoption.

3. Make house rules

My mother always said that all the homes have some rules. This could be something as simple as sweeping the floor after the bathroom is used or keeping the volume low after a certain hour in the night. So figure out what works best for you and get a rule book framed. For instance, we have a few dogs at the property and we don't want folks misbehaving them. Though nobody usually does, but it is always a good idea to keep giving information to people you are going to share your life with for the next couple of days.

4. Make sure that you have back up for essentials

It's snowing outside and your guest has a chocolate emergency. Running a homestay in a remote place is nothing like running a commercial property. In the deep winters, heavy rains or even odd hours, basically all the time, you need stock everything— from groceries to water, from wood to extra power banks, from medicines to munchies. Make a list of all these essentials and always keep an extra stock.

5. Remember to enjoy yourself

Why else would you do this? Of all the people I have ever hosted, there comes a moment in the evening when all of us are sitting by the bonfire. I usually take the corner seat from where I can see the entire group. From there, I see them laughing, singing, dancing, just relaxing— forgetting all their worries, hectic city schedules, personal issues, meeting deadlines and so on.

I love this moment, when people connect with themselves looking distantly towards the mountains and the bonfire, feeling safe and happy. It fills my heart and fuels me to keep hosting my dear folks.