Staying in this exquisite 100-year-old French run and renovated boutique heritage property—a blend of Tibetan architecture and Provençal sensibility—is one of the most magical ways to experience Ladakh.

The ancestral home of a Ladakhi nobleman—with its distinctive Tibetan tapering walls—Nimmu House is one of the largest properties in this fertile and prosperous village, 30km west of the city of Leh, at the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar Rivers.

The family’s fortunes declined over time, and the once great house fell into disrepair, when it was discovered several years ago by Frenchman, and Himalayan veteran, Alex Le Beuan. Alex and his team worked (with the family, who have moved next door) to sensitively restore the house and convert the property into a boutique hotel.

Besides the stunning main building, where 4 rooms are currently open to guests, there are 5 luxury tents spread across the glorious gardens, full of apricot and willow trees. The property also includes stables with yaks, dzos, cows and goats, and two Buddhist temples with beautifully detailed murals within an upper floor of the main house.

The rooms would be nothing, of course, without the service to go with it, and this is where Nimmu House truly excels, with a mixture of local, national and foreign staff, who are uniformly intuitive, attentive and exceptionally friendly, catering to your needs. Add an exceptional chef to the mix, and Nimmu House become an essential stay.