Inside Sitla Estate, a 12-room Himalayan retreat on 40 acres in Mukteshwar

After leaving Mumbai in 1998, Vikram Maira turned his family's holiday home and orchard in Uttarakhand's Kumaon hills into Sitla Estate, a 40-acre retreat with only 12 rooms. The focus is on thoughtful cooking, a close-knit local team and personal attention rather than expansion. Guests can join naturalist Raju Mehta on walks through the Mukteshwar reserve forests, even tracking leopard signs.