A handsome mid-20^th century house turned boutique hotel on Srinagar’s lesser-known (but much more beautiful) Nageen Lake; Dar-Es-Salam has personality, excellent rooms and lovely gardens, making it the perfect refuge after a hard day’s shopping or sightseeing.

Accommodation in Srinagar is divided roughly into two camps: grand but impersonal 5-star hotels (exhorbitantly priced) and somewhat poky, identikit houseboats or hotels around the shores of Dal lake.

The exceptions are few and far between, and boutique hotels are still rare, despite the fact that the city is starting to come into its own after years of political unrest.

So when a room at Dar-Es-Salam is available, it’s wise to grab it with both hands.

Perched on the eastern shore of Srinagar’s Nageen lake—the serene counterpart to the city’s famous and now overcrowded Dal lake—the hotel combines history, comfort and service. No trendy upstart, the building dates from 1942, when local landowner’s son Maqsood Ali acquired the land and with the help of local masons laid the foundations for what is literally translated as the ‘abode of peace’.

Within the hotel there are wonderful traces of their family history, with upper and lower living rooms and corridors full of antiques collected over the years.

The service, too, is personal and attentive, while the guestrooms themselves are bright, spacious, clean and well-furbished, consistent with the heritage of the hotel and the demands of the 21^st century tourist.