Pilibhit House

Every evening, thousands crowd Har Ki Pauri for Haridwar's aarti. Pilibhit House guests can watch the same river from their own steps: this century-old aristocratic mansion claims the largest private bathing ghat on the Ganges, and a private Ganga snan at that ghat is on the hotel's own experience menu. It is a rare thing in India's most public of pilgrim towns, a stretch of sacred river you do not have to share.

The house

The mansion is a terraced structure that steps down towards the water, threaded with courtyards and balconies, and now part of IHCL's SeleQtions collection, with rooms the site calls elegantly restored. There are 35 rooms. Deluxe rooms of 41 square metres look into the courtyards (the twin variant adds a balcony with a swing), Premium rooms of the same size face the Ganges with their own outdoor seating, and the 81 square metre SeleQtions Suite takes the river panorama with woven fabrics and traditional materials. The Pawcations Room takes dogs seriously rather than merely tolerating them: pet bedding, feeding bowls, food by Harleys and a pet minder on request.

A city built on ritual, watched from a mansion that keeps its own ghat.

Rituals, chai and palmistry

The experience list reads like Haridwar in miniature: a street-food walk through the old lanes, cutting chai done properly, Pahadi high tea, a riverside picnic, even a palmistry session. The Dining Room handles all-day, multi-cuisine meals; The Terrace goes Pan Asian and Mediterranean; private dining can be set almost anywhere with a bespoke menu. Jiva Spa, a pool and a fitness centre cover the quieter hours, with treatments such as the 120-minute Shuddhi and Jivaniya and the 90-minute Pehlwan Malish. Delhi is about a four-hour drive, and Jolly Grant Airport at Dehradun is the closest way in. In our view this is the most graceful base in Haridwar: close enough to the fervour to feel it, and far enough to hear the river instead of the crowd.