Citrus County

A five-bedroom villa inside its own orchard at Chhauni Kalan, ten kilometres from Hoshiarpur, with the Shivalik range on the horizon and housekeeping run by Taj Chandigarh. That last detail is the point: this is amã Stays & Trails, the Indian Hotels Company's villa arm, so you get a private Punjab farmhouse with a hotel company standing behind it.

The whole house takes ten adults and three children across five ensuite bedrooms, each with a king bed. There is a private pool, an event space, a yoga deck and lawns big enough that breakfast gets laid out on them. You can also book a single bedroom rather than the entire villa, which makes this a rare orchard stay that works for a couple as well as a full family takeover.

Punjab on a plate

An in-house chef cooks Punjabi food properly, sarson ka saag included, and will run a cookery session if you ask. There is a farm and greenhouse on the property for fruit picking, barbecues in the garden, and picnics led by the villa supervisor. Beyond the gate, the villa arranges artisan handicraft tours in the city and visits to nearby villages.

A private Punjab farmhouse with a hotel company standing behind it.

We like that the place practises what the orchard setting implies: rainwater harvesting, composting back into the farm, waste segregation and locally sourced produce are all listed house policy, not brochure decoration.

Getting there is easy

Hoshiarpur railway station is six kilometres away, about fifteen minutes. Adampur Airport near Jalandhar is thirty kilometres, roughly an hour by road; Chandigarh is around three hours. The villa is pet-friendly, has parking with driver's accommodation, and check-in opens at 3pm.

In our view this is the Doaba's most convincing answer to the question of where to put three generations for a long weekend: everyone under one roof, a pool for the children, golf against the Shivaliks for the restless, and a chef who does not need supervising.