A 4-acre mountain retreat on a ridgeline in the sleepy village of Guniyalekh, at 6,900 feet, with a 180-degree view of the Nanda Devi range and a kitchen that smells of fresh millet rotis. Dev Verma, the gentle owner, answers the question of what there is to do with a single word: nothing. Dash, the resident Bhutia dog, is available to keep you company while you do it.
The question comes up early, usually on the drive in, sometimes on the 600-metre walk through the forest path that leads from the parking area to the homestay. What can you do here? Dev Verma, the owner and gentle force behind Aarish, has the answer ready, and it comes without apology: nothing.
This is not a deflection. It is the entire philosophy of a property built specifically for people who have been doing too much for too long and need the particular restoration that only genuine inactivity can provide. The first rays of sun on a personal paradise. Walks through the forest with Dash, the male Bhutia who knows these trails better than anyone. Fresh millet rotis from Deepika’s kitchen. The 180-degree sweep of the Nanda Devi range on a clear morning. The sound of pine trees in the wind. The valley lights at night, a smatter of fireflies at the foot of the ridge.
Aarish — the name means the first rays of the sun in Urdu — opened in 2021. It sits on a 4-acre ridgeline in the sleepy village of Guniyalekh, a hamlet of approximately 500 families in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand, in the Nainital district but far enough from the madding crowd of the popular lake town to feel entirely elsewhere. Far enough to require a 600-metre forest walk. Close enough to the mountains to smell the pine from every room.
The Setting
Guniyalekh sits at 6,900 feet — an altitude that gives the air its particular quality, the lungs their particular response, and the mornings their particular quality of light. The village had nothing unique to offer visitors until Dev and Deepika built Aarish: a small, neat hamlet of fields and trees and non-threatening wildlife, surrounded by the Kumaon hills in all directions.
The ridgeline position gives the property its defining characteristic. The 180-degree view of the Nanda Devi range — India’s highest entirely-within-the-country peak, visible on clear mornings in the full sweep of its snow-covered majesty — is the view that guests describe with the superlatives that large panoramas produce and that the Himalayan landscape, more than any other on earth, most consistently justifies. Below the ridgeline, a deep valley stretches away. At night, lights in the valley twinkle like a distant city seen from an aircraft.
The property is 45 kilometres from Kathgodam Railway Station, 30 kilometres from Bhimtal, 40 kilometres from Nainital, and 30 kilometres from Mukteshwar — close to the full circuit of the Kumaon lakes while remaining apart from all of them.
The Design
Aarish is described by Hushstays — the curation platform that lists it — as sunlight poured into walls. The design reflects this: mud-plastered walls that hold warmth, antique wooden beams that carry the weight of the structure with visible ease, brass details that catch the light in the afternoons, and a soothing colour palette that seems to have been chosen specifically to disappear into the landscape rather than assert itself against it.
Every room is oriented toward the view. Every space has been curated with a keen eye for local craft and material — the Kumaoni tradition of building that uses what the land provides and trusts the results. Hand-picked objects and furniture, textures that reward close inspection, a quality of attention in every detail that visitors associate with homes made by people who love the process of making as much as the result.
Dev and Deepika
Dev and Deepika Verma are the hosts, the custodians, and the reason Aarish has the warmth it has. Dev is the visible, gentle presence who tells guests they can do nothing and means it as the highest compliment the property can pay to its visitors. Deepika runs the kitchen with the authority of someone who has taken the traditional Kumaoni repertoire — pahadi dals and sabzis, millet rotis, the deeply nourishing food of the mountain household — and made it available to guests with all the care and none of the performance of a professional kitchen.
The food at Aarish is consistently described as one of its defining pleasures: home-cooked Kumaoni meals that warm the heart as much as the hearth, in the words of every guest who has sat at Dev and Deepika’s table. Fresh millet rotis that smell of the kitchen before they arrive. The kitchen garden providing what the season offers. The food that makes guests extend their stays and return the following year.
Dash
Dash — the resident male Bhutia dog, described as doing an awful lot of damage to anyone who meets him with his charm — is the property’s most frequently cited feature after the view and the food. He accompanies guests on the long walks through the surrounding forest and village trails, leading with the authority of a dog who has mapped these paths many times and knows which turns offer the best views. He is available for laps and company at all other times.
Guests who arrived without dogs leave with a specific longing for Dash. He has, in the consistent testimony of reviews, done more for Aarish’s reputation than any photograph or description could manage.
The Walks and the Surroundings
The surrounding trails — through the pine and oak forest, along the ridgeline, into the village and the fields below — are the primary physical activity at Aarish, and they are excellent. The forest path from the parking area to the homestay is itself a 600-metre encounter with the landscape: staff meet arriving guests at the road, assist with luggage, and walk them through the forest to the house. This arrival is, by all accounts, the moment when the transition from ordinary travel to Aarish becomes complete.
Longer walks through the Kumaon countryside — to viewpoints, through terraced fields, past temples and village springs — are available with or without Dash’s company. Birdwatching in the surrounding forest, with its diversity of Himalayan species, is available throughout the year.
The Kumaon circuit is accessible for day excursions: Bhimtal, Naukuchiatal, Sattal, and Khurpatal — the five lakes circuit — offer a half-day of quiet beauty. Mukteshwar’s apple orchards and the Mukteshwar temple, with its Shiva shrine and extraordinary views, are a short drive. Nainital itself, for those who want the familiar, is 40 kilometres away. The Ramgarh Fruit Bowl, known for its peaches, plums, and apricots in season, is in the vicinity.
Why It Stays With You
One guest, who came to Aarish from Nainital by way of Delhi, described finding in the simple, unhurried rhythm of the place something she had not been able to find in any hill station she had visited previously: the ability to stop. The food, the view, Dash, Dev’s particular quality of welcome that makes no demands on the guest’s time or energy — these combined into an experience she described as the first holiday in years that felt like a holiday.
That is what Aarish is: a ridgeline at 6,900 feet where the Nanda Devi range fills the horizon and the first rays of the sun arrive each morning into rooms designed to receive them. Dev will answer your questions about what there is to do with a single word. Dash will show you exactly where to walk. Deepika will cook you millet rotis that smell of the mountains.
Nothing has never been more sufficient.
Plan Your Visit
Address: Village Guniyalekh, Nainital District, Uttarakhand (6,900 feet · 40 km from Nainital · 45 km from Kathgodam) Phone / WhatsApp: +91 98180 03410 Instagram: @aarish_kumaon Booking: Via Instagram / Hushstays (hushstays.com) · Also on Airbnb (search Aarish Kumaon)
Hosts: Dev and Deepika Verma Established: 2021 Resident: Dash (male Bhutia dog — forest walk guide and general mascot)
Property: 4 acres · Ridgeline position at 6,900 feet · 180-degree view of Nanda Devi range · Pine forest surrounds · 600-metre forest walk from parking area to homestay (staff assist with luggage)
Accommodation: 4 bedrooms · Mountain retreat — exclusive use basis for parties · Mud-plastered walls, antique wooden beams, brass details, soothing colour palette, handpicked local craft and furniture throughout
Meals: Home-cooked traditional Kumaoni and pahadi cuisine · Deepika’s kitchen · Millet rotis · Seasonal local produce · Farm-to-table · All meals included
Experiences: Long nature walks with Dash through forest and village trails · Birdwatching · Valley and Nanda Devi range viewpoints · Sunrise and sunset watching from ridgeline · Kumaon lakes day circuit (Bhimtal, Naukuchiatal, Sattal) · Mukteshwar day trip
Getting There — Kathgodam Railway Station: approximately 45 km — around 1.5 hours. Regular trains from Delhi Anand Vihar (6–7 hours on Ranikhet Express or similar). — Pantnagar Airport: approximately 65 km — around 2 hours. — From Delhi by road: approximately 330 km — around 6–7 hours via Moradabad and Haldwani. — From Nainital: approximately 40 km — around 1.5 hours by road. — From Bhimtal: approximately 30 km — around 1 hour. — From Mukteshwar: approximately 30 km — around 1 hour. — The final approach to Guniyalekh village leads to a parking area; from there a 600-metre forest walk brings guests to the homestay. Staff meet guests at the road and assist with luggage. Coordinate exact approach and arrival time with Dev before arriving.
Nearby — Bhimtal: 30 km · Mukteshwar: 30 km · Nainital: 40 km · Naukuchiatal: 35 km · Sattal: 30 km · Ramgarh (Fruit Bowl): 20 km · Kathgodam: 45 km
Best Time to Visit: October to June · October to December for post-monsoon clarity and the Nanda Devi range at its most vivid · January to February for snow and the warmth of Deepika’s kitchen in full winter operation · March to May for the spring bloom and the apple and peach orchards of Ramgarh · The property is particularly beautiful in all seasons — each one offers a different version of the same view
