Resort The Elgin Darjeeling (Darjeeling, India)

Over 125 years old and once the summer residence of the Maharaja (King) of Cooch Behar, The Elgin Darjeeling is now a luxury Heritage Hotel. The hotel is situated in the heart of Darjeeling town, 6,000 feet up in the Himalayas. A celebration of the elegance and grace of the Colonial Era in the Queen of Hill Stations, located in the majestic Himalayan ranges, the Elgin is very much a part of Darjeeling's colonial history. As you enter, The Elgin warmth hugs you and makes you feel at home with a glass of sparkling cherry liquor and a silken Khada (scarf) draped around your neck. The Elgin has been restored to its original grandeur, snug and cozy in an interior decked with etchings of G. Douglas, lithographs of Daniell, period Burma teak furniture, oak floor boards and paneling, crackling fireplaces, candle-lit tables and strains of music from the grand piano. You realize the meaning of palpable 'old world charm' which has played host to dignitaries like the US Ambassador and the Crown Prince of Sikkim to Dominique Lapierre and Mark Tully. The hotel has stories to tell from the time of its first owner, The Maharaja of Cooch Behar to Nancy Oakley in the 1950s.