"A Raj-era hotel overlooking Chowrasta, where afternoon tea never stopped"
The Windamere owes its name to a spelling dodge. The hotel's own story has a group of Darjeeling businessmen turning the Ada Villa boarding house into a hotel company in 1841, though its homepage dates the villa to the late 1880s, so hold that founding year lightly. One shareholder, Mrs. Gertrude Bearpark, hailed from Windermere in the Lake District; the "er" came out, an "a" went in, and Windamere it has been ever since. The hotel stands on Observatory Hill at about 7,500 feet, overlooking the Chowrasta promenade, and says it has never renovated, only updated and restored.
Rooms are spread across Ada Villa, its Annexe, standalone cottages and The Snuggery, the neighbouring house bought in 1958 from HH The Maharajah of Cooch Behar. The names are a guest book in themselves: Begum Aga Khan, Chogyal of Sikkim, Princess of Siam, Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark among the Colonial Royal Suites, with Tea Planters Suites and cottages like Tinkerbelle's and Forget-me-Not alongside. Gallery captions show fireplaces and sitting areas rather than minibars and mood lighting.
The porridge at 'The Windamere' hotel is, I am told by unimpeachable authorities, unsurpassed in Scotland, wrote the travel writer Jan Morris.
The dining room serves Continental and Indian food daily from noon to 9 pm, and the Continental side still carries Roly Poly Pudding and cheese and onion pie; at dinner the lights drop, the music comes from the 1930s to 1950s, and the waiters wear white gloves. Coffee beans from the Baba Budan Hills are hand-roasted over charcoal. On the Snuggery grounds sits the DHR Club, a 19th century stone cottage honouring the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which a past managing director, Sherab Tenduf-La, saved from auction with his own money before it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Christmas Week, 18 December to 1 January, has by the hotel's account run without interruption since 1841, with a tradition of entertainers from London's West End performing. Bagdogra Airport is 93 km away; the Toy Train from NJP takes around 7.5 hours, and we would argue that is the way to arrive.
In Darjeeling, West Bengal. The nearest airport is Bagdogra (IXB).
The hotel sits at the top of Observatory Hill in Darjeeling. Its Snuggery wing overlooks the Chowrasta, the town's famous promenade square.
The hotel describes itself as the only truly authentic heritage property of the British Raj era in Darjeeling, with its dining tradition dating from 1841 and Ada Villa originally built in the late 1880s. It calls itself the oldest heritage hotel in the Himalayas, still operating today.
Rooms and suites are spread across heritage houses including Ada Villa and The Snuggery, in Preferred and Superior grades. Each room carries its own name and story, from the Princess of Siam and Chogyal of Sikkim to the Tenduf-La Suites, decorated in colonial cottage style.
The kitchen serves Continental and Indian cuisine, keeping Raj-era dishes such as Roly Poly Pudding, traditionally prepared porridge and cheese and onion pie. Dinner is a candlelit affair with music from the 1930s to 1950s, along with Darjeeling tea and coffee hand-roasted over charcoal; the hotel advises that reservations are necessary.
The hotel has the ITATI Institute, an in-house wellness centre with nature-inspired programmes, the Z'ri boutique gift shop, the DHR Club heritage wing for railway enthusiasts and mountaineers with a reading room, conference facilities, free WiFi and private car transfers and sightseeing arrangements.
One of the Colonial Tea Planters Suites at Ada Villa and its Annexe, with a double bed and an open fireplace with mantel mirror.
A Colonial Tea Planters Suite at Ada Villa and its Annexe; double bed, black fireplace with mirror and rugs on the floor.
A set of Colonial Tea Planters Suites, each with a sitting area and made up as double or twin; individually named — one is Faith, another Hope and Charity.
One of the Colonial Royal Suites at Ada Villa and its Annexe; twin beds and an open fireplace.
A Colonial Royal Suite with twin beds and a sitting corner with marble-topped table.
A Colonial Royal Suite with a double bed, cane-backed armchairs and twin windows.
A Colonial Royal Suite made up as double or twin, with a chaise longue and armchairs around a marble-topped table.
A Colonial Royal Suite; twin beds, floral covers and framed prints on pale walls.
A classified heritage hotel at Rohet near Jodhpur, held by the same family since 1622 and receiving guests since 1990. Frescoed rooms, a courtyard pool, a family kitchen with its own cookbook, and a Marwari stable the family calls among the country's finest.
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A lantern-lit heritage kothi near the bank of the Ganga, carved balconies, stained-glass courtyards, a rooftop pool above the river and the Triveni Sangam just up the road.
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On Dayapur Island opposite Sundarban National Park, this camp has been running cruise safaris into the mangrove waterways since 2004, you arrive by boat from Gadkhali along the Pitchkhali River. The 21 rooms, each hand-painted by a local artist and kept free of televisions, all have private balconies. Evenings bring a sundowner at the Mangrove bar and, some nights, a Bonobibi Jatra, the local play of the forest goddess.
Rates on request, usually back within the hour
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