A Govt of India certified Homestay
We are a gold-standard homestay establishment certified by the Indian government's ministry of tourism under the Incredible India project. We will give you a good bed, clean bathroom, comfortable sheets, and plenty of space to rest and work (and read, if you like). Good speed, free wi-fi. We will also give you a freshly-made breakfast in the morning to get you started. Invoices if you require them. Laundry at a nominal charge of Rs 150 per cycle.
Who We Are
We are a family-run establishment: I am Sohini and I stay here. This house was built by my grandfather the late Prof Debi Prasad Chattopadhyaya, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan awardee and a professor of philosophy who taught at Jadavpur University here in Kolkata, and a former Union Cabinet minister. He came away from Bangladesh in 1946, and this is the one house he built himself. Although it is too large for us, we can't think of selling it part by part, and hence, the decision to run a B&B here
A Little Bit More
I am Sohini. That is me there, that is my grandfather, the man who built this house, and these are some of our bookshelves
I work as a writer and independent journalist. I have also conceptualised the idea of a house celebrating Bengal's books with the photographer Chirodeep Chaudhuri
The man on the wheelchair is my grandfather Prof Debi Prasad Chattopadhyaya, who built this house a quarter-century ago
Instead of putting all our books in one solid library, we have put our books all over the house in long bookshelves and squat bookshelves and little pockets of books. This is my mother, Supriya's, idea, and I love it because you can find books wherever you go in the house