The owner definitely has a vision on how to integrate a modern hotel in the Ladakhi surroundings. A few km from the centre of town but a nice, quiet location. We had high expectations but were initially somewhat disappointed with the quality of the room, and inability to take a shower after the rough 3-day road trip from Manali. After complaining we received a better room as of the 2nd of our 5 nights stay. We learned to appreciate the quality of the hotel as the days went by: good quality food, nice and friendly staff, be it somewhat inexperienced, nice garden, large room and terrace,... Only the access to the internet was somewhat erratic: very often interrupted and the desk manager was not always very willing to check if it was operational or not. The first line of defense was always: "not working today"... Overall a positive experience but still some difference between quality of the brochure (nicely done!) and reality.

The stay at Lha-ri-sa left us all thirsty for more of Ladakh.. Marvelous architecture, homely environment and spot on service made our stay one of the most memorable days of our life.. Thanks to Mr.Motup and the Lha-ri-sa Team we were able to experience Ladakh in a comfortable, genuine, friendly and intimate manner!

CANT WAIT TO GET BACK!

We had almost booked ourselves into one of the larger hotels in Leh until we chanced upon the Lha Ri Sa boutique hotel in a Conde Naste traveller issue - it looked full of character and less like a standard business hotel. We decided to take a chance and called them - and it was none other than the hotel owner himslef Mr. Tashi Motup who spoke to us. The phone call was so reassuring that we went ahead with cancelling our other booking and went ahead with Lha Ri Sa.
And truly, it met or exceeded all our expectations on everything ; from the location ( overlooking the himalayas and the pine trees) to the architecture and comfort and most importantly the team's hospitality. Everyone from the owner's family to the receptionist to the driver ensured we were well guided and all logistics taken care of. The home cooked food in Indian, tibetan, chinese or continental cuisines was always delicious and fresh! Their little bar tucked above the restaurant is great for spending an evening....that is if you havent had enough of the beautiful terrace extending from your own room!
If you are in Leh - I really dont think you need to search any further. Lha Ri Sa it is.

Leh is a pretty rugged town, but it has a handful of chic establishments. And Lha Ri Sa is one of them.

We stayed there for 7 days in August 2011 and never tired of the place--the snazzy elevated walkways, the vegetable and flower patches, the huge balconies for stargazing, the high-ceilinged lobby where we spent many hours planning our excursions and later, writing about them in postcards.

In addition to being stylish, the rooms were large and bright. We stayed in at least four different rooms and each was almost the size of what would pass for a suite in many other hotels. Each was intuitively furnished and equipped. And a good number of them have windows or balconies that look out towards snow-capped mountains. We should point out that the photos on Tripadvisor (ours included) don't really do justice to the rooms, partly because of the way they are shaped and configured. The photos on Lha-Ri-Sa's website are a lot closer to reality.

But the place is about more than just good design. Motup, the owner, welcomes his guests like they're his old friends, he worries about their health (especially those who arrive unprepared for AMS) and he goes out of his way to make sure everyone's having a good time. We thought we would have to use a travel agency to help us organise our trek and overnight trips to Pangong Tso and Nubra but when we arrived, we learned that Motup and his team could do it for as reasonable a rate as we could get anywhere else, setting us up with a great trekking guide and a very reliable driver.

It is a testament to his abilities that in resource-scarce Leh, disruptions to the electricity supply were momentary and we did not encounter any problems with the water supply.

Motup, thanks for showing us around and thanks for the great conversations. We're already planning our next trip. See you soon. :)