Bellevue Hotel

Excellent!
Friendly and helpful staff, perfect location, and decently clean.
Room charges starting from Rs.1000.

Note:
To get to the entrance, you gotta to go around it to the right side of the building, there you can see Bellevue Internet Cafe, ask the person there for hotel receptions.
Ask for Mr. Pulger's Hotel (the original Bellevue Hotel), coz at least there are 2 other Bellevues around the area.

Unique Quality: There is a rooftop with a great view of Chowrasta with Mt. Kanchenjunga which allows you to view both sunrise & sunset. This hotel also seems to be the tallest building in Chowrasta, which offers an unobstructed view of the surroundings.

Directions: It's right in the middle of Chowrasta (The Mall), the heart of Darjeeling.
The building is quite prominent, right in front of the fountain, but the entrance is a bit difficult to spot (see note above).

I had the pleasure of staying at the Bellevue Hotel Darjeeling again, in July 2009, after a break of several years. First of all, I was amazed how little had changed, meanwhile: Still this is the only hotel I know to have its reception at one of the top floors. Still staff welcomes you as if they'd known you for years and still you hardly settle at your room until you get your first pot of tea. The same pictures (mostly Buddhist religious) decorating the walls, the same handwoven Bhutanese bedspreads, candles and matches ready at your room for the next power blackout ...

On the other hand, a lot has changed: TV at every room (for those speaking Hindi or Bengali) as well as an Internet Café at the ground floor covering almost the whole hotel with WLAN are instance of global developements that did not bypass this hotel otherwise so traditional.

Rooms at Bellevue are fully equipped with wooden furnitures, clean and homelike with wood panelled walls, wooden floors and natural textiles. Wood stoves are likewise ready for the cold season.

Unique Quality: Staff - mostly Tibetans or members of the different Himalayan tribes - are true professionals. They perfectly know the needs of their global guests as well as the manner things have to be done locally. Need a permit for Sikkim? Tsering will arrange for you. Looking for a taxi to Kalimpong? Ganesh will bargain for you. Lost your umbrella? Take mine. All this doesn't take place in the submissive manner often witnessed in the plain, but simply like this. One really gets the impression to be well-liked.

Directions: At Chowrasta, the central square within the pedestrian zone, uptown Darjeeling

This is our second visit. Good value for money, even the smallest room is not small by any means. Comfortable large beds with mounds of warm covers, no chance of being cold in bed. Dining area, writing desk and enough seating for 5 people. Plenty of hot water, 35 litre tank for each room. Not every room has a wood burning stove. On a clear day you get views of Khangchendzonga from your room, the lounge and rooftop terrace. Breakfast is available.

Third visit March 2011. Stayed in a slightly smaller room, yet still spacious. Paid 800 rupees. Most rooms have TV's now and wifi is available.

Unique Quality: Great views on a clear day. Despite being on Chowrasta, it is quite in the evenings. Good location.

Directions: With the fountain behind you, look up and Bellevue is in front of you. Make sure you get the right one.