A 16-room boutique hotel in Bamori Malli from the Pots & Stones group, with an Italian café that locals book even when they are not staying. Our honest take on the rooms, the food and the couple policy, and on who should and shouldn't book.
The short verdict: Hotel North House is the closest Haldwani comes to a Kumaoni boutique stay. It has 16 rooms, eco-luxe interiors, 2.5 km from Kathgodam Station, and is run by the Pots & Stones group, with an Italian café on site. Rooms cost ₹3,200–₹6,500 depending on the season. It suits couples, honeymooners, solo travellers, digital nomads and anyone who chooses a hotel for its design. Look elsewhere if you are travelling with young children (there is no pool and no children's menu), need a banquet hall, or want the feel of a big hotel. We rate it 4.4/5: for the right traveller, the boutique premium is worth paying.
By Meghna Bora, Contributor, Nainital. About the author ↓
Guest rating: 4.4 out of 5 from 127 Google reviews. This is the aggregate guest score, not our editorial rating. Checked July 2026.
Hotel North House is in Bamori Malli, a quiet part of Haldwani 2.5 km from Kathgodam Junction. It is far enough from the city centre to be calm, yet close enough that a 7-minute auto ride gets you to the bazaar or the railway station. The arrival sets the tone: a gated entrance, a garden path, and the Pots & Stones café looking out from the front of the building like a Mediterranean farmhouse moved to the Kumaon foothills.
The small size, just 16 rooms, is deliberate. This is not a hotel chasing tour groups or wedding bookings but a boutique stay for travellers who notice details: cushion covers in Kumaoni prints, slate-textured bathroom walls, work desks with proper task lighting, and Wi-Fi (500+ Mbps, verified) fast enough for a digital nomad to sync a Final Cut Pro project from the Kumaon foothills without losing their temper.
Choosing it over Maplewood Premier or Fortune Walkway Mall means giving up size (there is no banquet hall, no big-hotel buffet and no business centre) and a pool. In return you get quiet, character, and the Italian café on site, open from 7 AM to 10:30 PM, whose espresso, wood-fired pizza and pasta would hold their own in a mid-range Mumbai bistro.
Three room types, seasonal prices you can plan around, and nothing pushed on you apart from the optional half-board.
| Room Type | Size | Off-Season (Jul-Sep, mid-week) | Shoulder (Oct-Mar) | Peak (Apr-Jun + NYE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Deluxe | 28 sq m | ₹3,200 | ₹3,800 | ₹4,500 |
| Balcony Premier | 32 sq m | ₹3,800 | ₹4,500 | ₹5,500 |
| North House Suite | 42 sq m | ₹4,800 | ₹5,500 | ₹6,500 |
All rates include breakfast, Wi-Fi, parking and tea and coffee in the room. Half-board, which adds lunch or dinner at Pots & Stones, costs Rs 450 extra per person per day. Booking direct is consistently 10-15 percent cheaper than going through online travel agents.
The café is what really sets this hotel apart. Most hotel restaurants in Haldwani serve a competent Indian and Continental menu that locals never bother with. Pots & Stones is the opposite: locals book tables here even when they are not staying at the hotel. The wood-fired pizza oven runs at a proper temperature (around 380 deg C, confirmed), the pasta is rolled fresh rather than dried, and the espresso machine, a La Marzocco knockoff, turns out coffee that is reliably good.
The menu is short for a hotel restaurant, with 12 pizzas, 8 pastas, 6 mains and 4 desserts, which is the right call if a kitchen this size is to cook consistently. The dishes to order are the Margherita with bocconcini, the carbonara with bacon (hard to find in Haldwani) and the tiramisu, which the chef apparently learned to make in Mumbai before moving back to Kumaon.
It is not cheap. Pizzas cost Rs 380-650, pastas Rs 320-580 and mains Rs 480-820. That is premium pricing for Haldwani, roughly 30-50 percent more than you would pay at a comparable Indian restaurant in the city centre. Whether it is worth it depends on how much pasta you would normally eat on a trip.
The café is open from 7 AM to 10:30 PM. Breakfast is included for hotel guests, with a continental and Indian buffet and espresso made to order. Non-guests are welcome, but should book a table for a Saturday evening.
It is quiet and private, couples check in openly with Aadhaar, the interiors have real character, and you can stroll in the garden or take an evening espresso on the lawn. For couples who want a boutique stay without going up to Bhimtal or Mukteshwar, this is the hotel we recommend first in Haldwani.
At 500+ Mbps the Wi-Fi is fast enough for real work, where the typical Haldwani hotel manages 30-80 Mbps. The desks have proper task lighting and 3-pin sockets, the rooms are quiet enough for calls, and mid-week the café doubles as a co-working space.
Its eco-luxe look, built from slate, terracotta, wood and Kumaoni textile prints, is something no other hotel in the city carries off as consistently. If interior design matters to how you enjoy a trip, the boutique premium is worth paying.
For photographers on their way to Corbett, this is the best place in Haldwani to get ready: a quiet night's sleep before the safari, 500 Mbps Wi-Fi for uploading each day's photos, and a café open late enough for dinner when you get back.
Hotels for Corbett visitorsNo pool. This is the biggest gap, and travellers who expect what a 4-star hotel usually offers are often surprised by it. The hotel presents itself as a boutique stay rather than a full-service one, which is a fair choice, but it means that in the May–June heat anyone who wants to swim should book Hotel Blue Saphire Countryside or The Moksha Divine instead.
Short room-service hours. Hot food stops at 10:30 PM, when the café closes, and after that the kitchen offers only sandwiches and tea. If you are arriving on the night Ranikhet Express, which reaches Kathgodam at 10:40 PM and gets you to the hotel around 11:10 PM, call ahead and ask them to hold dinner for you.
Café prices. Pots & Stones is good, but apart from the hotel banquet halls it is also the most expensive place to eat in Haldwani. A couple eating most of their meals here over a 3-night stay should budget Rs 2,500-3,800 a day for food and drink, a lot more than mid-range eating elsewhere in Haldwani.
Distance from Walkway Mall and the bazaar. Bamori Malli is calm, but it means a Rs 150-200 auto every time you want the food court, the multiplex or Bhotia Bazaar. If you would rather walk to the city's shopping areas, Maplewood Premier or Hotel Castle Inn are better placed.
No banquet or function space. If your trip includes a wedding, a family function or a birthday, this is not your hotel. Maplewood Premier, with its crystal-chandelier banquet hall, or Fortune Walkway Mall, whose ITC banquet hall seats 250, will handle that far better.
Three Haldwani hotels whose prices overlap. Choose on the differences that matter to you.
| Criterion | North House | Maplewood Premier | Blue Saphire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rooms | 16 (boutique) | 26 (mid-size) | 48 (larger) |
| Off-season rate | ₹3,200 | ₹3,400 | ₹3,800 |
| Pool | No | No | Rooftop |
| Banquet | No | Crystal chandelier (250) | Yes |
| Café/Restaurant | Pots & Stones (Italian) | Multi-cuisine | Multi-cuisine |
| Wi-Fi speed | 500+ Mbps | ~100 Mbps | ~80 Mbps |
| Best for | Couples, solo, digital nomads | Families, small weddings, banquet | Families with older kids, pool stay |
| Distance to Kathgodam | 2.5 km | 1.8 km | 3 km |
Booking direct saves 10-15 percent. Book on the hotel's website or message the front desk on WhatsApp. The big booking sites charge 10-15 percent more for the same rooms, and the difference pays for a generous dinner for two at Pots & Stones.
Book 4-6 weeks ahead in peak season. May-June and Christmas to New Year sell out, especially the Balcony Premier rooms and the Suite. In the off-season (the Jul-Sep monsoon) you can usually walk in, and rates drop by 30-40 percent.
Ask for Room 204 or 207 for the quietest night. These garden-facing rooms on the second floor get the morning light and stay the quietest at night. Avoid rooms on the café side: the espresso machine starts at 6:30 AM and sound can carry from the kitchen vents.
Confirm the free Kathgodam pickup when you book. The hotel collects you from the station free of charge if you book 24 hours ahead, which saves the Rs 150-200 auto fare and starts the stay on the right note. If your train gets in late (after 9 PM), make sure the pickup is confirmed in so many words.
Digital nomads should book the Suite. It has the best desk and sofa in the hotel and the strongest Wi-Fi signal. If you are staying 3+ nights and working, it is worth the Rs 800-1,000 extra over a Balcony Premier room.
Pets are approved one booking at a time. The hotel takes small dogs if you ask in advance, for a surcharge of Rs 500 a night, but each request is approved individually. Message on WhatsApp first rather than assuming.
Hotel North House does one thing, a small, design-led Kumaoni stay built around its café, and does it well enough that for the right traveller it is the obvious choice in Haldwani. For couples, solo travellers, digital nomads and design-minded trips, it is our top recommendation in the city.
The 0.6 points it loses from a perfect 5 are for the missing pool, the high café prices and the distance from Bamori Malli to Haldwani's commercial centres. None of these are faults in the hotel; they are the trade-offs of running a 16-room boutique rather than a 60-room mid-range hotel. Book it knowing that, and you will be happy.
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Browse all 12Our full 2026 guide to the 38 km trip, with 4 driving routes, 2026 cab fares and the state bus options.
Read the guideHow North House stacks up against Fortune Walkway Mall, Maplewood Premier and the other Haldwani hotels that offer 5-star service.
Read the verdictYes. Hotel North House accepts unmarried couples with a valid Aadhaar or any other government photo ID, and check-in is straightforward, including for walk-ins. Every guest has to show ID at check-in whatever their relationship, which is standard practice in Indian hotels.
Rates run from ₹3,200 (off-season, October–March mid-week) to ₹6,500 (peak summer in May–June, and Christmas to New Year's Eve). Booking direct is usually 10–15 percent cheaper than booking sites. Wi-Fi, breakfast and parking are included, and optional half-board adds ₹450 per person per day.
Hotel North House is 2.5 km from Kathgodam Junction, a 7-minute drive or an auto ride of ₹150–₹200. The hotel offers a free pickup if you book 24 hours in advance. You could walk, but not with luggage, as the road is busy and has no continuous footpath.
No. Hotel North House has no swimming pool; people come for its boutique character rather than its facilities. If a pool matters to you, Hotel Blue Saphire Countryside (rooftop pool), The Moksha Divine (king-size pool) or Shiva Palace (adult and children's pools) are better choices in Haldwani at similar or lower prices.
The Pots & Stones Italian café in the hotel is the main draw, serving wood-fired pizza, pasta and espresso until 10:30 PM. Outside, the street food at Mangal Padav (1.5 km) is good for traditional Pahadi and Indian dishes, and the Walkway Mall food court (3.5 km) has Pizza Hut, McDonald's and KFC for fussy eaters.
It works for families with older children (10+) or teenagers who enjoy a quiet, design-led hotel. It is not the right choice with young children: there is no pool, no children's menu and no play area, and a hotel this size is run for calm. For families with children under 10, Shiva Palace by Golden Leaf is a much better fit.
North House is the better choice for couples, honeymooners, solo travellers and design-led stays: it is quieter, has more character and has its own Italian café. Maplewood Premier is better for families (suites, a children's menu, a bigger hotel), small weddings (its crystal-chandelier banquet hall) and travellers who want more of the usual hotel facilities. Nightly rates are similar: ₹3,400–₹6,500 at Maplewood against ₹3,200–₹6,500 at North House.
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