The Windamere Hotel came out of some old British Raj buildings built back in the late 1880s, on what was called by the British, ‘Observatory Hill’. During the British Raj days, most of them were used as boarding houses for bachelor tea planters away from home, on a tour of duty as Tea Estate (or Garden) Managers. The houses, with their attached bungalows, annexe accommodation and Colonial suites,
catered to all of the needs of the guests - thus offering a “home away from home”. “Home” was most probably the United Kingdom, with young men aiming to make their fortunes here in India. Along with these tea planting aspirants, came an assortment of: engineers, teachers, civil servants and the like. They most probably stayed here on Observatory Hill and thoroughly enjoyed the communal “home life” which flourished here in those days; a life which also included the well known club activities of that era. However, they also enjoyed “the champagne of beverages” – Darjeeling Tea! Before the British arrived here, this land was all part of what was the Royal Kingdom of Sikkim. This hill was declared to have “holy and energetic powers” by a certain lama from Pemayangste Monastery in Sikkim. His name was ‘Dorje Rinzing’. He came here on a pilgrimage and laid down his shrine on this hill, where the Windamere is situated today. The local people named the area “Dorje Ling” (either “the abode of Dorje” (the lama) or “the abode of the Dorje – the thunderbolt”). This area is known as “The Land of the Thunderbolt”. At that time, the people were mostly Buddhist or aboriginal (Animists), but gradually, as the tea industry proliferated, it consisted of many faiths, but mostly Hindu and Buddhist. The shrine was eventually moved down to Ging Monastery (just down the mountain side). Today, the Hindu Pundits and Tibetan Monks disperse their many blessings to all who choose to climb up to the Temple on what we now know as ‘Observatory Hill’. The British also anglicised the name of the area to “Darjeeling”. The British came into India through ‘The East India Trading Company’, but eventually commenced their colonisation of India in a bigger way. They persuaded the King of Sikkim (Oka ‘Chogyal’) to lease them this parcel of land in order to use it for their own needs. They needed a more elevated and cooler climate to build sanitariums for their sick and wounded from the hot, sticky plains of India. Eventually, they set up their seat of government in ‘Kolkata’ (which they anglicised to ‘Calcutta’). From here, they transferred their Bengal State seat of Government to Darjeeling, during the hot, stifling heat of summer. What came with this was a complete transference of the British way of life, along with its buildings (‘bungalow’ actually is an Indian word, as is ‘jodhpur’), architecture, club life, horse racing, balls, dances, dinner parties, etc.). They held full sway, with their hierarchal society of Civil Service (‘ICS’….oka “the heaven born”) and the military. The “Box Wallahs” came later – they grew the tea and did the business – commerce had finally arrived and it thoroughly flourished! Films such as ‘Jewel in the Crown’, ‘Staying On’ and ‘Passage to India, were all based on the life and times of the Himalayan Hill Stations. In 1939, this boarding house, with its various structures, was bought from its British owner. Windamere Hotel was born! One of the partners of the hotel came from ‘Windermere’ in the Lake District (of NW England). Since in Windermere there already was a well-known ‘Windermere Hotel’, they re-named the boarding house ‘Windamere Hotel’. Around six years ago, we completely restored the “houses” to their former glory – that is, we brought them back to where they had been before (but with better bathrooms - we couldn’t buy the toilet chains anymore!)
Today, we are made up of a series of “houses”: Ada Villa, with its full planter suites, some with a 2nd bedroom; The Annexed Suites; Tinkerbelle’s Cottage (2 bedrooms, kitchen, verandah); Peppers and Little Peppers Cottage Suites; Forget-me-Not Suite; Annandale House and Observatory House. We also have a corporate Conference Centre; a Well Being Centre (‘iTaTi Institutes’); a shop (‘Z’ri’s) and last, but not least, our world famous ‘DHR Club’ (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – a club for DHR fanatics and other adventurers!). This club consists of: ‘The Lowell Thomas Library Room’ and ‘The Heinrich Harrer Room’ (the original “7 Years in Tibet” adventurer). These rooms can be used for private meetings, dinners and just “sitting, relaxing and reading”. We offer: BREAKFAST, LUNCHEON, AFTERNOON TEA & DINNER. Dinner and Lunch are 5-course offerings and guests can flit from Continental to Indian cuisine (+ other specialties) at any time. We also offer you our world famous ‘Windamere Bar’ (we also serve alcoholic beverages in the Dining Room).
