The appeals of Bangalore are basically two – it is a really cool city to visit if you are a tourist, and it is one of the world’s major high-tech cities as well. These things combine to make the city vibrant and lively at any time of year. On top of that, it does not tend to get as hot as some other Indian cities in the summer. The official name of the city is Bengaluru, although most people just call it Bangalore, and there are sadly not as many cheap hotels in Bangalore as one might hope.
This is not to say there are not any cheap hotels in Bangalore, mind you, just that the Western-style hotels tend to have some of the highest per-night prices you may ever see. If you are willing to sacrifice some of the usual Western amenities, however, there are some very basic no-frills hotels which can fit most peoples’ budgets. They may still be more expensive than you are used to paying (especially for what you are getting), so you are advised to not compare the Bangalore hotel prices to the hotel prices elsewhere – it just gets too depressing after awhile.
Despite the fact that Bangalore is not generally considered a tourist destination, there are several temples which are worth visiting (including the Bull Temple with its amazing bull statue), the summer retreat for the Tipu sultan which dates from 1790, and a few pretty parks (which all provide a nice respite in greenery from the city outside). There are city tours which you can take to get an overview of what to see, and some of the tours even include stops at the main Bangalore attractions as well.
Some of the cheap hotels in Bangalore worth mentioning are Royal Lodge (near many local attractions, indoor parking, laundry/dry cleaning services, all rooms with TV), Church Street Inn (6 rooms, walking distance from many attractions, all rooms with AC, free WiFi, free in-house library), St. Mark’s Hotel (96 rooms, close to city center, WiFi access available, on-site restaurant & bar, fitness center), and Ginger Bangalore (20 minutes from airport, fitness center, air-conditioning, laundry services, internet access available, on-site restaurant).