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The Windamere, is situated on the Observatory Hill and overlooks
the town’s main promenade. Described as "one of the three
Jewels of the Raj" by a celebrated
travel writer, was recipient of a national excellence award as a
heritage hotel for good reason. Initially established as a boarding
house for single English and Scottish tea planters, it was converted into
a hotel just before the outbreak of the Second World War.
It is situated on the Observatory Hill
and overlooks Darjeeling's
main promenade. Observatory Hill, a Darjeeling landmark, is believed to
be the focus and repository of life-enhancing cosmic energies. From
this hill, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal
and Sikkim can be
glimpsed on a clear day against a
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backdrop of
twenty of the highest peaks in the world,
While the hotel has grown with the times
and some aspects have necessarily changed to incorporate modern comforts,
it is best known for what has not changed - the old world charm and
quiet, dignified, expansive comfort.
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Accommodation
The Windamere hotel is split
into two wings: The Windamere and Little Windamere.
The
former, based in the main house called Ada
Villa, is furnished in traditional colonial style with flowery chintz
curtains and a strict embargo on the intrusion of the modern
television or telephone. This wing, whose suites have names as quaint
as their décor, includes a honeymoon cottage, the House of the Eighth
Happiness and Little Peppers.
The
Little Windamere has bowed to modern
exigencies and while it retains all the traditional qualities of
hospitality, its décor is more modern and the rooms have televisions
and telephones.
No
of rooms
37 rooms and suites
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Windamere
Windamere,
Observatory Hill,
Darjeeling, India
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Multi-cuisine Restaurant
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Bar
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Baby Sitter
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Log Fire in every room
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Library
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Windamere has its
own company of artistes, who perform "The Songs & Dances
of the Hills", in an outdoor setting; and "Ghazals", in the intimate setting of the
hotel's Bearpark Parlour
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Bagdogra 90 km
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New Jalpaiguri 88
km
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Kolkata 690 km
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Gangtok 100 km
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Kalimpong 51 km
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This extremely popular hill station has drawn people
from far and wide, mainly urban dwellers from the plains seeking
refuge from the heat. The fabulous backdrop of spectacular,
snow-capped mountain peaks and the picture-postcard perfect little
town of Darjeeling
lends to the allure for the landscape-seeking tourist, while the
trekking trails and Buddhist monasteries attract the
adventure-seekers and spiritually inclined.
Atop
a ridge at a height of 2134 metres in the
mountains, Darjeeling
is necessarily nippy even in summer and very cold in winter, so warm
clothes are required all year round.
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The 37 rooms and suites of the hotel are split between
the Windamere and Little Windamere wings which differ in character and
décor - while the former retains all the aura and ambience of its
traditional colonial past and even refuses the invasion of the
television or telephone, the latter is more modern both in décor and
in amenities. Both wings however retain the charm that characterises this 19th century old world
establishment.
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