Pine Palace Resort

Near Gondola, Gulmarg, Jammu & Kashmir 193403

Mob: 0 84470 88882

Gulmarg, a mere 53 kms away from Srinagar, is approximately 1000 mts. higher than the capital and has become the de facto day trip for families from the city as well as tourists.  

The curious part about this wonderland is that there is no local population: all who work here come up from the 93 villages known by their district headquarters, Tangmarg, a practice even during the British Raj: all the kitchen staff of guest houses and hotels came from ‘Tangmarg’ which was actually shorthand for 100 odd hamlets that fan out from the rather modest village headquarters of Tangmarg. The pre-eminence of the district is because of the British times, when many lads from the region were co-opted to work in the guest houses and hotels that had English officers and their families staying for months on end. Almost a century later, the cooks of Tangmarg are sought-after all over Kashmir for their cooking skills.

Hotel Pine Palace Resort is just one hotel among 53 and six lodges. Built on a hillock that commands a view of the surroundings, it is constructed in the old style with wooden floors and pine panelling in the rooms. The chief reason for its popularity is the food: needless to say, the cooks are from one of the hamlets in the Tangmarg region, whose families actually worked in British guest houses. Every time we have visited the hotel, it has been crowded for lunch, as residents of other hotels in Gulmarg come here to have lunch!