Hello Chicas,
If you follow me on Instagram you must be knowing about my recent escape to the hills along with my travel bud Jyotika. If I had to choose between mountains and beaches, it will always be mountains for me. Mountains just feel so much closer to heaven to me. A couple of months back I was invited by the Mayfair Resorts to review their property in Darjeeling and Gangtok. I was super excited about the trip although it was going to be my 5th visit. That's the thing about Darjeeling, every time you visit this place it feels new and its something which I always connect to, probably because of the good old memories of the trips I have had with my family here in childhood. This time I decide to avoid doing the touristy things and soak in the beauty of picturesque hills. In this post I'll be talking about my trip to Darjeeling and my experience at the Mayfair Darjeeling Hotel; the Gangtok travel post shall be up next week.
Reaching Darjeeling
Commonly known as the "Queen of Hills", Darjeeling is a small hill station situated in West Bengal, around 620 kms from Calcutta and is particularly famous throughout the world for its production of tea. You can either catch a flight to Bagdogra, the nearest airport to Darjeeling or take a train to New Jalapaiguri station and get a taxi or a shared jeep if you're travelling on a budget. You can also catch the toy train which leaves NJP station in the morning (around 9 am) and takes about 7 hours to reach Darjeeling.
Our flight was scheduled at 1 pm however it got delayed for a couple of hours due to some technical emergency. We made the most out of the spare hours in the airport by capturing my airport look. I wore a pair of snap button track pants with plaid bomber jacket which kept me cozy without having to compromise on my style quotient. After almost an hour we landed at the Bagdogra airport and booked a taxi for INR 1600 to Darjeeling. There are a plenty of taxis available outside the airport, you just have to haggle hard to strike a good deal. Our journey from Bagdogra to Darjeeling was a pleasant one. The road was wide and smooth, with beautiful tea gardens and forests on both sides as long as we were on the plains. However, once we started to climb up the hill, the road became narrow, meandering and treacherous. The journey from Bagdogra airport to Darjeeling is approximately 80 kilometers and took us around 3.5 hours to reach our final destination.
My experience at the Mayfair Resort Darjeeling
The Mayfair hotel Darjeeling is a wonderful heritage property which used to be the summerhouse of Maharaja of Nazargunj. Located right opposite to the Governor house this beautiful property has 44 rooms, cottages and family suites offering wonderful view of the mountains and the lovely garden. Being one of the premier properties of Darjeeling, Mayfair offers all the modern amenities that you can expect.
We arrived at the hotel around 7 pm and were greeted by the staff with a sachet after which they served us Darjeeling tea. The property from the outside looked magnificent and was done in bright red and yellow colors. The resort landscape had a mix of a small temple and a vibrant garden with statues and gnomes. The Victorian clocks and antique mirrors exuded old world charm. The interiors of the resort has been done in beautiful yellow and red walls full of photo frames which took us back to the era when it was constructed. We were allotted a Deluxe room which had a wonderful view of the mountains. The room was quite spacious and had beautiful paintings and antique mirrors, the walls were done in red and yellow colors with a dash of floral furnishing which gave a vintage vibe. The furniture and decor was modern, well maintained and yet blended in perfectly with the heritage tag. The best part was the fireplace which kept us warm in the freezing weather. The staffs were very attentive and looked after all our requirements efficiently. I have to say that their room service was impeccable, a perfect blend of warm hospitality and prompt action.
We had our meals at Magnolia which served Indian, continental and Oriental food. I personally loved the breakfast and lunch buffet which has so many options to choose from. There’s a small gym across from the restaurant and a game room next to that. The hotel also has a huge library where we spent our evenings reading about the tea estates by the fire place.
If you follow me on Instagram you must be knowing about my recent escape to the hills along with my travel bud Jyotika. If I had to choose between mountains and beaches, it will always be mountains for me. Mountains just feel so much closer to heaven to me. A couple of months back I was invited by the Mayfair Resorts to review their property in Darjeeling and Gangtok. I was super excited about the trip although it was going to be my 5th visit. That's the thing about Darjeeling, every time you visit this place it feels new and its something which I always connect to, probably because of the good old memories of the trips I have had with my family here in childhood. This time I decide to avoid doing the touristy things and soak in the beauty of picturesque hills. In this post I'll be talking about my trip to Darjeeling and my experience at the Mayfair Darjeeling Hotel; the Gangtok travel post shall be up next week.
Reaching Darjeeling
Commonly known as the "Queen of Hills", Darjeeling is a small hill station situated in West Bengal, around 620 kms from Calcutta and is particularly famous throughout the world for its production of tea. You can either catch a flight to Bagdogra, the nearest airport to Darjeeling or take a train to New Jalapaiguri station and get a taxi or a shared jeep if you're travelling on a budget. You can also catch the toy train which leaves NJP station in the morning (around 9 am) and takes about 7 hours to reach Darjeeling.
Our flight was scheduled at 1 pm however it got delayed for a couple of hours due to some technical emergency. We made the most out of the spare hours in the airport by capturing my airport look. I wore a pair of snap button track pants with plaid bomber jacket which kept me cozy without having to compromise on my style quotient. After almost an hour we landed at the Bagdogra airport and booked a taxi for INR 1600 to Darjeeling. There are a plenty of taxis available outside the airport, you just have to haggle hard to strike a good deal. Our journey from Bagdogra to Darjeeling was a pleasant one. The road was wide and smooth, with beautiful tea gardens and forests on both sides as long as we were on the plains. However, once we started to climb up the hill, the road became narrow, meandering and treacherous. The journey from Bagdogra airport to Darjeeling is approximately 80 kilometers and took us around 3.5 hours to reach our final destination.
My experience at the Mayfair Resort Darjeeling
The Mayfair hotel Darjeeling is a wonderful heritage property which used to be the summerhouse of Maharaja of Nazargunj. Located right opposite to the Governor house this beautiful property has 44 rooms, cottages and family suites offering wonderful view of the mountains and the lovely garden. Being one of the premier properties of Darjeeling, Mayfair offers all the modern amenities that you can expect.
We arrived at the hotel around 7 pm and were greeted by the staff with a sachet after which they served us Darjeeling tea. The property from the outside looked magnificent and was done in bright red and yellow colors. The resort landscape had a mix of a small temple and a vibrant garden with statues and gnomes. The Victorian clocks and antique mirrors exuded old world charm. The interiors of the resort has been done in beautiful yellow and red walls full of photo frames which took us back to the era when it was constructed. We were allotted a Deluxe room which had a wonderful view of the mountains. The room was quite spacious and had beautiful paintings and antique mirrors, the walls were done in red and yellow colors with a dash of floral furnishing which gave a vintage vibe. The furniture and decor was modern, well maintained and yet blended in perfectly with the heritage tag. The best part was the fireplace which kept us warm in the freezing weather. The staffs were very attentive and looked after all our requirements efficiently. I have to say that their room service was impeccable, a perfect blend of warm hospitality and prompt action.
We had our meals at Magnolia which served Indian, continental and Oriental food. I personally loved the breakfast and lunch buffet which has so many options to choose from. There’s a small gym across from the restaurant and a game room next to that. The hotel also has a huge library where we spent our evenings reading about the tea estates by the fire place.
The serene environment, beautiful interior, delicious cuisine and warm hospitality are few of the things I loved about the Mayfair hotel and I would highly recommend you all to pay a visit to this marvelous property. The charges for the Deluxe room is INR 10,000 approximately.
Light & Shadow play outside our Deluxe Suite |