Name: Shantidevi Ashram 's Guest House
Address: Root Institute Road | In Front of the Root Institue, Bodh Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Bodh Gaya, 824231, India
Rating: 9

Garden

Terrace

Patio

Outdoor furniture

General

Interconnecting rooms available

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Linens

Toiletries

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Iron and board

Ironing

Laundry

Iron

Services and amenities

Common kitchen

Meals

Internet access

Internet

Airport transportation

Transfer

English

French

Languages Spoken

Library

Bike rental

Sun Deck

Recreation

Offsite parking reservations required

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Location

At the guest house

Room amenities

Gaya Airport

Shantidevi Ashram 's Guest House

Bodh Gaya

Shantidevi Ashram is a beautiful guest house located in a quiet area just outside the center of Bodh Gaya, 2 minutes by tuktuk from the Mahabodhitemple. The rooms are simply but decorated with lots of taste and the bathrooms very clean. There is a beautiful hall at the top, generally available for one's personal practice surrounded by plants and reeds. The breakfast is excellent and the host is kind and always available to satisfy any request. We were supposed to stay three days, but the magic of the Mahabodhi temple and the welcome at Shanti Devi Ashram meant that our stay was extended by several days.

Perfect stay in Bodh Gaya

As I am reading now the reviews, I imagine the good ones are about Kumar the owner I suppose, and the bad ones about this Pappu, the manager. I couldn't believe when he told me breakfast could not be served before 9 am because of the cold temperature!! I didn't understand the relation. Then I thought he was living very far. But no, just behind the kitchen ! He said it takes time to cut the fruits, there are other clients, and he doesn't know at what time he will wake up because of the cold !! I got hungry and I took a strong tone; he said I should look for another guesthouse (I was supposed to stay 10 nights). The next day as I apologize for the hardness of my tone (as I thought he was telling the truth when he told me it is written on the website the hour of breakfast, that just now I am checking and see it is totally wrong!). Now I understand why he lied and told me it was from 8 to 9 or 9h30,that I misunderstood, because he knew I could check. Finally as I found the place quite far from Kalachakra, and the road very bad to pass by tuc tuc, the high price and the terrible cold of the room ( for this price they should give a heater or install an AC), the breakfast given by this bad spirit man (not even porridge), I decided to move after 3 nights. This Pappu insulted me, saying I was cheating him !! I am free to go if I don't feel good. So please believe all the bad reviews and don't come here still this Pappu is working there. To the owners I would like to say please believe us and dismiss this mad man, who behave as if he was the owner, very pretentious also. There are so many people, nice people looking for a job. Also I forgot a silver necklace with 2 white cristals, hanging carefully at the door of the bathroom. Today when I picked it up,"Pappu" of course didn't even looked at me neither said a word, and when I looked at my necklace, it was very entangled, a bit damaged!!
Owners,I really have other things to do that write this review. I do it because it is true and must be said for the other people and for yourselves. It is a pitty because the place is beautiful. Good luck :)

Bad manager called Pappu

This was a peaceful and relaxing guest house as advertised, with a nice garden in a quiet area. It is within walking distance of all the sites and seems a nice place to relax. 

The only negative aspect was the host. Within half an hour of meeting my wife and I, he gave unwanted couples advice which was quite personal and insulting, particularly to my wife. He later gave rambling opinions about life and spirituality, which again we didn't particularly want to hear. I don't quite understand the purpose of this guesthouse, but maybe couples should look at other options.

Lovely place, peculiar host

I feel like the Shantidevi is now my home in Bodh Gaya ... Kumar is now a lifelong friend. Complete professional and gentleman. Wise in his talk and helpful in his actions. I felt complete trust with him and the Shantidevi Ashram. Beautiful grounds , extremely well kept and humble calm atmosphere. Kumar was very helpful when I needed anything! He made sure I had a great driver to take me on a tour of Rajgir and Nalanda. Very fair price. I recommend anyone that loves to have a real experience with amazing people and to make friends to come here. I cannot recommend this place any higher. The best. 

Keith

Amazing place to stay

I bookmarked this place on trip advisor and was excited to book a room for two of my friends who we visiting me for a few days. This was their first visit to India and I thought this place would be a perfect fit.

Sadly I left disappointed with the behavior of the male staff member there who I would assume was the manager. I arrived at the gate of this "ashram" and found a staff member seated at the reception area, bent over, and writing on what looked like a hotel registration book. I asked him (in Hindi) if he had any rooms available. He immediately proceeded to wave me off and said he had no rooms available without even so much as looking up to me. I found it odd that he did not ask me about the dates of my inquiry as is common practice and especially since this was the start of the off-peak season(early 
February). While still standing by the gate I asked him nicely why he dismissed me so quickly about room availability without asking the dates first and this is when he finally looked up and responded (in Hindi): "'do you know how much the rooms here cost per night?" He then mentioned a number (I believe it was between Rs 2200-Rs2400). 

I found his response utterly rude as he made assumptions about what I can or cannot afford. Moreover, his behavior was borderline racist.

Full disclosure I am Tibetan and speak Hindi because I grew up in India even though I currently live overseas. I believe he assumed I could not afford this place there because I was a "local."I left feeling upset but also disappointed that a seemingly lovely guesthouse like this in Bodh Gaya has such a poor attitude towards guests who are not white or don't fit the mole of what they deem as their "model" customers. 

My friends ended up staying somewhere else and I would caution people from supporting businesses like this. I'm not sure if this was a rare occurrence but I felt compelled to share my experience as it was so disturbing.

Poor service, borderline racist

The guesthouse is very well located, you can walk from it anywhere. But it is not in the middle of noise, which makes it very quiet and peaceful. 
The room are very clean but a recommendation is to change the shower because it is not very comfortable to use. 
The breakfast is very yummy, ask for the fruit and omelet with bread. 
Great stay at shantidevi! 

Peaceful, clean and cozy! 

We stayed here for three lovely nights. Pabu, our host could not have been kinder or more helpful. The atmosphere in this little guesthouse was charming with all sorts of stylish artefacts and details adding to the atmosphere. Breakfast was fresh fruit with an omelette and toast - pretty standard but beautifully presented. It is only a few minutes by tuktuk From the centre of Bodhgaya and there were always vehicles handy. The room was all we needed and the bathroom was great. Pabu organised everything we needed including at driver for a days trip to Nalanda. My only complaint would be the mattresses which I would have liked to be softer! 

Wonderful 

This little gem is exactly what I seek in lodging - small number of rooms, off the Main Street with peace and quiet, and clean. It exceeds in all of those categories and more.

An amazing breakfast is an option as well in a sitting area right out your bedroom door.

You won’t go wrong here.

Perfect

A beautiful house where we stayed with a group or nine people. Very clean, very nice, beautifully decorated, with tremendous charm. The place was lovely and the brothers who looked after us were wonderful too. Papu went out of his way to make us comfortable and helped in arranging our further traveling. Himalay looked after us in his own way and became a very helpful and lovable guide on a trip to the river. If you’re looking for rest in the middle of the business of Bodh Gaya and an oasis a short tuk tuk ride away from the Maha Bodhi temple, this is the place to go. Thanks again Papu and Himalay.

A wonderfully peaceful place to stay

Landscape-free, quiet, very clean, full of Indian charm, city access and Ayurvedic massage centre can be done on foot or tuck tuck - located near many monuments - The team remains available and very welcoming - Possibility of using a laundry - a filtered water fountain - typical Indian meals Free wifi access can be done at the living room level - This guesthouse works to offer daily, to the poorest children, free access to education - Bravo! Very good stay spent in this place that I can only advise - A big thank you to the whole team and especially to Betty!

Shantidevi Ashram 's Guest House

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