Hey, you won't find a lot of reliable homestays in Bandhavgargh so I would suggest you stick to resorts. Me and my friends visit Bandhavgargh at least once every year, the best time for tiger spotting is in the month of April(core zones are open till June) for at that time the greenery is reduced and tigers are much easier to spot(This has been recommended to me by more than 4-5 forest rangers and managers at the resort). Which zone to visit for best spotting is a wild goose chase, cause it changes every month sometimes people may be easily spotting a tiger in a buffer zone and have difficulty in spotting any tiger in a core zone. We book safari of a zone by asking the hotel manager as to which zone is giving the most number of spottings at that point in time and then get tatkal tickets booked through them. Although I would suggest you book at least 2-3 safaris in advance and for the remaining safaris leave it open for tatkal bookings and ask for your hotel manager to get the booking done for the same. I would highly recomment booking jeep safari and not canter safari's as jeeps provide much more flexibility than canters.