Observatory House
Windamere Hotel Darjeeling
Observatory House has been named after the
Observatory Hill on which the property lies. This is an old heritage building in Darjeeling and now part of the Windamere Hotel property.
This wonderful and mystical two storied house has 10 Superior Rooms. I stayed here in a room named Rinzing Namgyal. I was told that the Bollywood superstar Sharukh Khan too stayed in the same room for several nights during the shooting of the movie "Main Hoon Na" in 2004. Actually Khan took up the next room named Cooch Behar as well and used this one as his make up room.
The two rooms are interconnected through a common door which can be opened using a hotel key. This is quite useful when a family occupies the two rooms next to each other. There are some rooms located at the ground floor and some at the upper floor. The rooms have retained antique wooden furniture that are all well maintained.
The Observatory House, Windamere
The room 'Rinzing Namgyal' where I stayed has twin beds. On the left there was a window that opened to the Mall road and I could get wonderful view of the valley and Darjeeling town's landscape. Another window opened to the garden below.
My Bedroom in Windamere Darjeeling
Some of the highlights in the furnishing includes the dressing table with an oval mirror, fireplace which is bordered with teakwood frame, chairs of Victorian design etc. The rooms here also have television and phones as amenities that have been added for convenience. All rooms have proper room heaters. Two bottles of packaged water are given complimentary every day.
Dressing Mirror & Fireplace in my room
The bathrooms are really special. The first thing that you will notice is the small cute bathtub having golden stands. The towels hang from the stand that reflects the old British days. And the washbasin is small but intricately designed.
The bathroom with cute tub
Much of the bathroom fittings in this hotel were received from the Loreto Convent Girls School of Darjeeling that closed down its boarding school after some 130 years of operation.
In the upper floor, there are Colonial Rooms. Here you will see furniture from the British colonial days that haven't been changed so that the old colonial charm remains unaffected. In the upper floor there is a nice balcony from where you can have a great view of the Mall road and of the Mall itself. Of course the view of the valley and the Mall road from my room was superb too.
'Cooch Behar' room next to mine
At the basement of Observatory House, there are conference rooms. As you go down the grand wooden stairs, you will see a large conference room and smaller ones as well. There is a 'Directors Lounge' which is meant for smaller private meetings of senior leaders of a company. The outside area is often used to set up buffet lunch when a conference is held.
Basement and Conference Rooms
The main conference room Rhodes Hall can seat 60 persons, the lecture room Fred Pinn can accommodate 40 persons, and the Directors' Lounge seats about 10. This basement area below the stairs can also be hired for private functions and parties when the hotel even sets up a bar here on request.
Rates provided by booking.com
Contact Info
Windamere is located on Observatory hill and access is from the Mall road. It is just above the Mall (Chowrasta) and a minute walk from there.
Windamere Hotel, Observatory Hill, Darjeeling 734101, India.
Phone: +91-354-2254041 / 42
Fax: +91-354-2254043 / 2254211
Related Articles
|
Visitors' Reviews/Comments
Share your experience.
|
