Stay in a Darjeeling tea estate

Old-fashioned ease is the aesthetic label we would apply to bungalows on this Chamong group-owned Chiabari tea estate. Supposedly the first of several planned, this tea-garden property near Ghoom used to belong to a German gent who owned the nearby Lingia estate. Now Chamong runs tours and offers homestays with meals on the land subtended by a temple to the local deity, the goddess Tamsa. The five cottage-luxe rooms have beautiful kilims underfoot on wooded floors, old-fashioned baths that must once have been filled pail by pail but now boast a hand-held shower, crackling fireplaces and hot-water bottles in bed, and of course views of the Khangchendzonga right off the verandah. Contact: 033-30936400, chiabari.com