Revolver, Darjeeling

Hotels : Revolver, a Beatles themed Hotel and Restaurant

We read great reviews about this small hotel and knew instantly that this has to be the place to stay in Darjeeling. In contrast to our usual style of showing up at a hotel unannounced, we called Revolver a day before we started out from Kolkata to ensure that they had a room for us and then kept calling to ensure that the room was not given away when the overnight train was about 4 hours late. When Sandeep, the boy who runs most of the errands around the hotel, showed us to our room and brought in two cups of piping hot Darjeeling tea as a welcome drink, we knew we were in for a special stay and it really was!

Revolver is in its first year of operation and is run by a lovely couple, Asenla and Vikash Pradhan. They are music fans and figured that their 2-storey hotel with 5 rooms and a fabulous restaurant would be best represented by one of their favorite bands – The Beatles. Hence the name ‘Revolver’ (the band’s seventh album)! When we were dropped off at Darjeeling station from Siliguri, many touts approached us to check if we needed a place to stay. When we said we had a booking at ‘Revolver’, they all laughed and thought that we were teasing them with a fictitious name .

The hotel is located on Gandhi road, from where almost all Darjeeling attractions are within walking distance. However, it is tucked behind a church and is not visible from the street. So we were a little surprised when Sandeep met us near Darjeeling station, walked us up to Gandhi Rd, led us into the church courtyard and then turned a corner to the hotel at the back – we would have never found it on our own! They need to have a large hoarding near the church entrance!

All the rooms of the hotel are on the upper floor with a small but nice lounge area in the front. The restaurant is downstairs as is the kitchen. Our room was called John and was decorated with fabulous posters of John Lennon. It had a comfortable double-bed and divan (day bed) propped up near the windows. A small cabinet with sliding doors provided ample storage. The bed had an electric blanket, which was a savior; we would have never survived the terrible Darjeeling cold without it! In the evenings a heater (included in the room rent!) was provided to bring some warmth into the room. The attached bathroom was small but functional and had a LPG-fueled water-heating system, which was instant and worked beautifully. The rooms have no TV but a large LCD TV with Hi-Def cable channels has been placed in the lounge area, which is a nice place to hang out with fellow guests.

The nicest part of our stay at Revolver was our interaction with Asenla and Vikash who were more than willing to give us tips on things to do in and around Darjeeling, and were generally interesting people to talk with. Sandeep’s service was always courteous and efficient. But what was even better was the food at their restaurant! Asenla’s Naga food platter with a Naga chicken dish was unbelievably yummy and one of the nicest meals we’d had for a while.
Their restaurant has a great decor and is quite tastefully furnished. A part of the area has regular dining chairs and tables while a section to the left has been furnished with wicker seating, coffee tables, reading lamps and a large, wall-mounted LCD TV. We loved this part of the hotel the most and spent a lot of time here reading from their small collection of books and magazines, including my favorite comic book Tintin, and sipping on tea!

Overall, our 4-night stay at Revolver was super comfortable and the place has made it to our list of ‘would definitely go back to’ places .

Rating: 10 out of 10