A new boutique resort, Van Rasa, has opened in the hills of Kasauli. It is about 90 minutes by road from Chandigarh Airport, and seven of its 16 rooms have their own heated plunge pool.
The company calls the property “a new expression of luxury” for the hills. It is set in thick forest with wide views of the snow-capped Dhauladhar range. The name comes from the forest around it: “Van” means forest and “Rasa” means essence. The resort is built for slow, quiet getaways, with a focus on design, wellness, privacy and calm.
The company has not disclosed room tariffs.
Four room types, four design styles
The resort’s design borrows from Scandinavian, English Classic and European Neoclassical styles. Each room category has its own look:
– Amaltash: Scandinavian-style A-frame rooms with skylights
– Buransh: English Classic rooms with balconies and terraces
– Palash: Neoclassical rooms with private terraces
– Farash: warm, classic interiors
“Kasauli has a certain quiet magic to it, and building Van Rasa here felt as much about restraint as ambition,” said Vaibhv Varadhan, managing director, Van Rasa. “We didn’t want another hotel competing for attention. We wanted a place guests could disappear into, where the mountains do the talking.”
He said the team spent years working toward this experience. “Today, it’s real. We look forward to offering travellers a more considered way to experience Kasauli and the Himalayas,” he said.
Glass-walled restaurant, Moroccan-style spa
The main restaurant and bar, Syahi, faces the mountains. It has 30-foot glass walls, a glass roof and French-inspired interiors. The menu covers Indian and international food, in-house bakes and wood-fired pizzas.
Neer, the Moroccan-inspired wellness centre, has an indoor heated pool, a jacuzzi, an ice bath, steam and sauna rooms, and massage rooms lit by skylights. The resort also has a yoga deck and The Den, which houses a gym and recreation facilities.
Sangeeta Aggarwal Gupta, also a managing director of Van Rasa, said the hotel is meant to slow guests down. “A lingering breakfast on the terrace, an afternoon lost to the view, an evening by the fire. The hotel is designed around the instinct to simply be still,” she said.
“Design, for me, has always been about restraint: knowing when to let a view or a material speak for itself,” she added. “That instinct shaped every corner of Van Rasa, from the light in the rooms to the materials we chose to age gracefully with the mountains.”
Walks, picnics and Himachali Dham
Outside the resort, guests can go on nature walks with views of Chandigarh and Shimla, have English-style picnics in the hills, and try a Himachali Dham meal hosted by locals. Evenings are built around terrace bonfires and fireplaces.
