Seclude Shimla Taraview

For 150 years this colonial bungalow sat above Old Shimla watching the town change, and only recently did it start taking guests. Two lion statues guard the garden, the walls are lime plaster, and a glazed verandah runs along the front with the Shimla skyline laid out below it. Taraview is in Kasumpti, on the Chotta Shimla side of town, at a remove from the crowds but with Mall Road, Jakhoo Temple, Christ Church and Kufri all easily reached from the door.

Six rooms named for the night sky

There are six bedrooms, sleeping up to 18 in all, each named for something celestial: Cosmos, Milky Way, Nebula, Shooting Star, Sunbeam and Super Moon. They are genuinely different rooms rather than one design repeated. Super Moon is the master bedroom, with a wicker bed head and big glass windows catching the sunset, and it is the only room with hot and cold air conditioning. Shooting Star keeps a traditional Dhajji wall; Cosmos has a spiral poster bed; Milky Way tucks a study table into a nook, which the house cheerfully pitches at writers. Nebula goes vintage colonial with frill trim on the bed, and Sunbeam, the first room on the first floor, keeps its old-world detailing and warm wooden interiors.

On clear nights the sky opens up properly here, which explains the galaxy names better than any design brief.

A house that switches off at ten

Meals are home-cooked and served in the heritage dining area, three a day, and a comforting Himachali Dham sits on the experience list. There is no outside catering and the kitchen is not guest-accessible, which tells you the model: this runs as a home, not a hotel. All services pause at 10 pm and resume at 8 am, and quiet hours start at 9.30 pm. Evenings are for the glazed verandah, or for the sky; with an open skyline and little city light around, stargazing is the house speciality.

Getting there is a commitment worth making: Delhi is 416 km and about 7 hours by road, Kalka station 92 km, and little Jubbarhatti airport 23 km. Our advice is to arrive before sunset; the place makes its best first impression in evening light.