If money was no object, regal Wildflower Hall would be almost anyone's top choice of lodgings in Himachal Pradesh. It looms like a modernist Bavarian Castle on a forested hilltop, 14km east of Shimla. Though built between 1995 and 2000, it exudes the very essence of colonial class, from the highly educated, costumed staff to the teak-panelled lobby-lounge, card-room and full-size snooker table.
The 20x5m indoor pool has a jacuzzi terrace outside. Rooms are all oversized and highly comfortable, with prices varying by the direction of the windows – Premier Valley category (from ₹50,000) still encompasses much of the distant but dazzlingly beautiful Kinnaur–Kailash panorama for ₹6000 less than the full-on Mountain View rooms. The restaurant terrace has spectacular clear-day Himalayan views of its own and a menu that is full of exciting culinary ideas. It is open to nonguests with advance reservations but only when hotel occupancy is low.
An earlier house on the site, 500m off the NH22 above the hamlet of Chharabra, was Lord Kitchener's summer house from 1903 to 1909. The location was a symbolic piece of one-upmanship: living at 2515m he was symbolically 'above' the viceroy in Shimla.