At Birdsong Home, get up to views of the hill cities of Kurseong, Sonada and Ghum, and the winding Hill Cart Road of Darjeeling in the gap. The lavish homestay has 4 items for friends. Two of those buildings are fully non-public, with only one room every. Of the opposite two items, one has three bedrooms, and the opposite has two. Spacious verandahs are a function in all items and every comes with sofas and a picket swing to benefit from the views. The terrace suite, for instance, is an unbiased unit that’s excellent for households, with two bedrooms, a spacious front room, a kitchen and eating desk and a big verandah, which is ideal for stargazing. All meals are both Indian or Nepali and cooked in-house by Mankar Suba, the caretaker—a Mirik native with a deep understanding of native produce. Enjoy a 1.5-hour stroll to the Ranghbhang River, stroll by way of the tea gardens close by, or take the steeper and more difficult hour-long trek to Mirik Lake or Mirik Bazaar. On gradual mornings, practise some meditation or yoga on the spacious patio. Doubles from Rs 4,500. The terrace condominium suite is priced at Rs 16,200 per night time; website. — Arundhati Ail
Ayra Farms, Guhagar, Maharashtra (AQI: 81)
Six hours from Mumbai and Pune, Ayra Farms is a slice of Konkan countryside life, constructed on ancestral land by Rajan and Sadhana Chaughule, now run with their daughter Noopur. The 2.5-acre farm grows mangoes, coconuts, kokum, pineapples, spices, and seasonal greens, bordered by a stream in the monsoon and alive with birdsong year-round. Guests keep in three easy rooms, two in the primary home and one standalone cottage, with upcycled furnishings, ensuite baths, and eco-friendly toiletries. Outside, a standard ‘haud’ doubles as a splash pool, whereas farm walks and night time safaris in the close by forests convey encounters with langurs, wild canines, and even the occasional leopard. Meals are home-style and rooted in the area. Breakfast may be fenya, rice batter steamed in leaves over a chulha, or chulhi varche pohe ready by Rajan. Vegetarian thalis brim with bhakri, dal, rice, and seasonal greens, whereas non-vegetarian variations swap in hen or fish curry. Guests are welcome in the open kitchen, the place the household cooks with seasonal produce and the farm’s personal sources. Doubles from Rs6,500; (*5*). — Arundhati Ail
Kelso House, Ooty, Tamil Nadu (AQI: 86)L
