Where I stayed in Shillong, Cherrapunji & Mawlynnong

For someone who has never been to Shillong before, figuring out where to stay can be a challenge. As I mentioned in my blog post about the things to do in Shillong, traffic in the capital city of Meghalaya is a nightmare and is comparable to what you would find in Bangalore – where a 10 km drive can take up to 3 hours. So when it comes to booking a stay in Shillong, I would highly suggest choosing not one, but two or three places so that you can park your bags, explore the vicinity, move to another part of the city, and repeat.

WHERE TO STAY IN SHILLONG

Orchidale Homestay

Run by a young man, Darrell, and his wonderful aunt, Orchidale Homestay is a fantastic place to get a feel of living like a local. The homestay has two comfortable bedrooms rooms and a living room that is packed with antiques and local treasures. The host lives in the next house located within the same compound, and his aunt lives upstairs. Like most Airbnbs I’ve stayed at, the hosts are warm, and welcoming and go out of their way to help you have a smooth stay – from drawing up area-wise itineraries depending on your interests and duration of stay in Shillong to offering their phone chargers to use when you’ve left yours at home.

Also like many Airbnbs, no meals are served here, except breakfast, which is a little basic, but alright if you’re a fuss-free eater. You can bring in food from outside and ask the caretaker to heat it up or pop it in the fridge for later. The wi-fi is great and I had no problem working from here. A worship hall across the narrow lane will have you listening to beautiful Gospel singing all through the day.

I booked this hotel on the spur of the moment because I tried visiting the famous Police Bazaar for two days but could not find an inch of parking space despite circling the place for a fair bit of time. Hotel M Crown is located at the entrance of the bazaar and has parking for its guests. From a convenience standpoint, I’d rate it a 10/10, but it fell short on all other aspects. For starters, the staff tells you upon check-in that the a/c in the room is not working temporarily. This is despite the hundreds of reviews on Google and other platforms saying the a/c does not work. Obviously, something is fishy here, and it seems they have no intention of fixing the a/c. You will need to open your window (you will have a view of the generator) if you want to have some ventilation as the rooms smell a bit musty. On the plus side, the staff is pleasant and the shower is great.

Breakfast here too is quite sad. Unless you want to do some heavy-duty shopping at Police Bazaar and explore Ward’s Lake nearby, I’d suggest passing on this one. Luckily for me, I had not booked my hotel for the night, and a stay here made sense because of my itinerary for the day.