Turning a home into a homestay

The data for homestays is thin and mostly low quality, so treat these as rough guides. A rough working range is ₹1–5 lakh per room, depending on how much work the room needs.

One source puts a two-room homestay at ₹5–10 lakh in total. Add linen, towels, signage and a contingency of 5–10%.

Guests expect an attached bathroom with reliable hot water. Adding a new bathroom costs far more than refreshing an old one, because it needs plumbing, drainage and waterproofing. Bathroom fixture costs we found are not India-specific, so get local quotes.

• Check water pressure and hot-water capacity for several guests at once.
• Waterproof properly before tiling, especially on upper floors.
• Choose fittings you can get spares for locally.

Start with a walk-through and list what each room needs. That is the quickest way to see which end of the range you are in.

Keep the character of the house where you can. Guests often choose a homestay because it feels like a home, not a hotel. Spend on comfort first: a good mattress, blackout curtains, a working fan or AC, plenty of sockets and a reading light by the bed. Decorative extras can wait until you see what guests ask for.

Think about common areas too. A shared sitting room, a dining space or a garden can lift what you charge, but each adds cleaning and upkeep. If you plan to serve meals, a home kitchen is usually enough for a few rooms. A larger operation may need a proper commercial kitchen and the food licences that come with it.

Most states have a homestay or bed-and-breakfast registration scheme, run by the tourism department. Rules, room limits and fees vary by state and change. In Himachal Pradesh, for example, the 2025 rules set fees of up to ₹18,000 a year in municipal-corporation areas. Check the current rules on your state tourism portal.

• Fire extinguishers and clear escape routes.
• Safe electrical wiring and earthing.
• Guest records, as your state requires.
• A fire NOC where your state or building size calls for one.

For a refresh, a good contractor and perhaps an interior designer are enough. Bring in an architect if you are adding rooms or bathrooms, changing the structure, or need drawings for approvals. Add a structural engineer if you are adding a floor above an existing one.

Work out your total spend, then divide by what one room earns in a month after costs such as cleaning, laundry, utilities and booking commissions. That tells you how many months each room takes to pay back. Be realistic about how many nights a month you will fill, especially off-season.

If you are borrowing for the work, include the EMI in your monthly costs. On the GST side, works contracts are charged at 18% and input credit on building work is generally blocked. Confirm your position with a CA.