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In
the early days of the last century the hotel was the
family home of David Macdonald. After accompanying
the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa
in 1904 as interpreter, Macdonald was posted
to Tibet
as a British Trade Agent, serving in Yatung and
Gyantse until his retirement in 1924.
Macdonald
assisted the 13th Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet in
1910, and he was later invited to
Lhasa in 1921.
Prior to his retirement he served briefly as Britain's
Political Officer in Sikkim, in
charge of Britain's
relations with Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim.
After
he retired, with his large family grown up,
Macdonald turned the family home into a Hotel, and
it has remained in the Macdonald family ever since.
It was here that he wrote his books “Land of the
Lama” and “Twenty Years in Tibet”. For many years it
was managed by Macdonald's three eldest daughters,
Annie Perry, whose husband also served in Tibet,
Vera Macdonald and Vicky Williams. Today it is
managed by Nilam and Tim Macdonald, David
Macdonald's grandson. They have
ensured it remains,
in the words of the distinguished travel writer
James Cameron, “a collector's
piece among hotels”
and that little has changed since, except perhaps
with the addition of two
annexes, to cater
to the
growing influx of travellers. Cameron wrote, "this
is a commonplace name for a most
exceptional
place... no one was there an hour in the inescapable
community life of the place". It is
a hotel of real
charm and character, with an atmosphere redolent of
its close association with Himalayan history.
Location:
Bagdogra Airport.
Bagdogra is 50 minutes flying time from Kolkata
(Calcutta), 2 hours flying time
from New Delhi and 2
1/2 hours by car from Kalimpong. Darjeeling is 2 1/2
hours by car and
Gangtok in Sikkim is 3 hours by car
from Kalimpong. |
