In Hospet, stay at Malligi Tourist Home, 6/143 Jambunatha Rd (tel 8101), a short rickshaw ride from the bus-stand. Friendly and comfortable, it has nice single/double rooms from Rs50 
(plus air-conditioned doubles at Rs250), good restaurant, bakery and ice-cream parlour, running hot water till 10 am, laundry and money-changing facilities, small library and bookshop, TV lounge and cool gardens.
Malligi can arrange all local sightseeing and advance-book all onward travel. As a fallback, try Hotel Sudarshan (tel 8574) on Station Rd. Service is poor, but rooms are reasonably priced from Rs35 (single, no bath) to Rs120 (clean doubles, with bath). Also at Hospet is the new KSTDC Hotel Mayura Vijaynagar (tel 8270) which has the best facilities and rooms from Rs200. There is a second KSTDC unit at Tungabhadra Dam, 6 km (3 3/4 miles) away. For a budget stay you can usually get a room (basic but cosy Rs20 doubles) at Hampi Power Station Inspection Bungalow, 3 km (1 3/4 miles) out of Karnalapuram.
EATING OUT
Malligi Tourist Horne has two nice restaurants. The indoor Nirmal does cheap vegetarian fare, including good standard thalis . The garden restaurant, the Eagle, is the perfect spot to co& off after a hot, dusty day in the ruins. It serves a range of tasty non-vegetarian meals, and has a bar with ice-cold beers. The Hotel Mayura has a restaurant and the Shanbag Hotel, next to the bus-stand in Station Rd, is famous for its vegetarian food, and is always crowded. Another Shanbag, on the way to College Rd, offers North Indian cuisine in more relaxed surroundings.
GENERAL INFORMATION
KSTDC Tourist Office, behind Hospet bus-stand, is open 10 am-1 pm, 2-5 pm daily. It’s fairly helpful and has a free map of the site, but Malligi Tourist Home has the better information.
There are post offices at Hospet, Hampi and Kamalapuram. State Bank of Mysore (for changing travellers’ cheques) is next to Hospet tourist office.
