Good hotel we were upgraded to a suite food and service very good - location excellent - short trip to the Ganges for the early morning boat trip - really interesting town worth a visit - had a fantastic guide - if you want his name let me know!!!

My wife and I enjoyed the Gateway hotel very much although it is no Taj. If you are expecting a luxurious Taj Hotel experience this may not be your hotel but if you are here to see the Ganges and Sarnath the hotel will suit your needs. We stayed two nights and everybody that works there was incredibly nice and always available to help or assist with a smile. The grounds are very large which is nice because we were able to take a nice stroll in the garden and enjoy some quiet time outside. The rooms are a little dated and yes the shower will probably leak onto the floor but it has a charm and coziness that makes up for its flaws. This place really does have character and for two nights I would strongly recommend staying here.

Now for the food... Not so great. It was the worst food we had during our visit to India where we stayed at all taj hotels except for the gateway in Agra and their food was better. Food was mostly buffet and if you ordered off the buffet it was probably taken from the buffet anyways. Not terrible and certainly some dishes were better than others but it was not the quality one would expect.

We asked the front desk to get us a car to take us to the river ganges as we wanted one last venture on the river, just the two of us with no guides to protect us and no boat ride. It was a highlight of our trip and the car was incredibly clean and the driver waited for our return, all for about $40 US.

I spent a day at the Gateway Varanasi and boy, was it a throwback to the 70s. The hotel lifts were old wood and they still used keys for the rooms, not what I was expecting at a Taj. The rooms are spacious but they show their age. My toilet door even had some cracks on it. However, what makes up for this is attentive service and some really good food.

The staff were attentive, the room was large, well appointed and clean. We enjoyed the restaurant; we arrived for an early lunch and they didn't have a dish we wanted at the buffet. The hostess spoke to the chef, and they brought a large bowl of the dish for us at no additional cost. We also enjoyed breakfasts at the hotel.