Selah sits on a quiet lane in Lachaumière, close enough to walk into town and a morning's drive from the cliffs, rivers and root bridges most people come to Meghalaya for. This is how we'd spend the days around your stay, starting at our own front steps.
01
the locale
Altitude
1,524 m · 5,000 ft
Rain
About 3,000 mm a year
Area
Lower Lachaumière
The house
1970s Assam-type bungalow, first floor
In 1875 Colonel Bivar bought a large estate in the southern part of Shillong's European Ward and named it after himself. It was later renamed La Chaumière, French for the thatched cottage, and the name outlasted the thatch.
Lachaumière is still mostly homes and gardens and old trees, with the government offices of Secretariat Hill a few buildings over. The Selah house was built in the 1970s and continued to evolve as it was occupied, accomodating a growing family, tenants, and various businesses until 2025. It still is home to Anderson Consultants, a women-led architectural & structural design firm on the ground floor.
Today, guests enter Selah by climbing a small ivy-screened steel staircase that gives the feeling of approaching a tree house. The house retains its traditional structure, sloping tin roofs supported by original wood rafters, and ikra walls, which are a traditional building method that uses a lightweight bamboo lattice finished with plaster. At the entrance, a small verandah with a table and two chairs faces south, catching soft morning and afternoon light through the surrounding leaves. Inside, the hall opens into a lounge and dining space arranged around the original fireplace, and a large collection of books gathered over the decades. The bedrooms are small and cozy, layered with artistic details, while the premium amenities add understated comfort.
Perched above the ground like a songbird’s nest, Selah feels sheltered, light-filled, and alive with small, graceful details. It offers a warm setting for guests to pause before the next journey, return to after exploring Meghalaya, or spend a few unhurried days in comfort and conversation.
Named after the term for a pause, stillness, or musical interlude that allows a thought to settle found in the Book of Psalms, Selah offers premium comfort and an atmosphere shaped by genuine history rather than staged heritage. Above all, it is a place where the story of a home and the quietness of a retreat meet.
02
a day in town
Our short list, so you don't have to. Discover more in our in-room guide.
Morning
Ward's Lake
Go before nine, when the paths are nearly empty and the light is still low.
Iewduh, Bara Bazaar
The old Khasi market. Busy, narrow and enormous. Go early and wear shoes you don't mind.
Afternoon
Don Bosco Museum
Seven floors on the cultures of the Northeast, and a rooftop walk that looks back over the city.
Laitumkhrah
Cafés, small shops and the Cathedral. An easy afternoon on foot.
Evening
Police Bazaar
The middle of town at its busiest. Street food, a walk, then home up the staircase.
Live music
Shillong takes its music seriously. Check our in-room guide for more.
how far, from our door
Times in ordinary traffic. Not to scale; directions are approximate.
Police Bazaar20 min walk
Laitumkhrah20 min walk
Ward's Lake20 min walk
Iewduh10 min by car
Don Bosco Museum20 min by car
Umiam Lakeabout 40 min
Shillong airportabout 50 min
Laitlumabout 1 hr
Sohra1½ to 2 hrs
Mawlynnongabout 3 hrs
Dawkiabout 3 hrs
03
further out
Selah works best as the place you come back to. Leave after breakfast, be home by dark, and cozy up next to the fireplace.
WhereFrom our doorBest months
Umiam Lake
about 40 min
JFMAMJJASOND
The big reservoir on the Guwahati road. Stop on the way in or out, ideally near sunset.
Laitlum canyons
about 1 hr
JFMAMJJASOND
A grassy ridge that ends in a sheer drop to the valleys below. Clear winter mornings are the reason to go. Knoll takes its colours from here.
Sohra (Cherrapunji)
1½ to 2 hrs
JFMAMJJASOND
Waterfalls at full strength in the monsoon, and the double-decker root bridge at Nongriat, several thousand steps below the village. Start early.
Mawlynnong
about 3 hrs
JFMAMJJASOND
A village of swept paths and bamboo bins, with a living root bridge close by at Riwai.
Dawki and Umngot
about 3 hrs
JFMAMJJASOND
In the dry months the river runs clear enough to see the stones on its bed. Pairs well with Mawlynnong in one long day.
04
getting here
Most guests fly into Guwahati and drive up. The road climbs the whole way, and somewhere past Umiam the air changes.
Guwahati airport
about 2½ to 3 hrs
Taxis wait at arrivals. Allow longer on monsoon afternoons.
Shillong airport, Umroi
about 50 min
Fewer flights, and a much shorter drive.
Guwahati railway station
about 3 hrs
The same road as the airport, with taxis outside the station.
The staircase
An ivy-screened steel staircase takes you up to the first floor. Heavy bags? We'll help.
Registration
Meghalaya asks every visitor to register through the state tourism app. Bring photo ID and we'll walk you through it.
The address
Selah, Lower Lachaumière, Shillong Meghalaya, India, 793001
Tell your driver: Lower Lachaumière, near Malki Point.
Shillong gets around three metres of rain a year, and some days it seems to arrive all at once. Those are good days to stay put.
The fireplace
The one in the hall has been there since the house was built. Ask in the afternoon and we'll light it when possible.
The shelves
Decades of books in the lounge, including a corner on Meghalaya and on Thomas Jones, the Welsh missionary who gave the Khasi language its written script.
The verandah
A table for two facing the trees, and a kettle and tea tray in every room for when you want one out there.
The door
There's a stand for wet umbrellas and coats, for when it eases and you change your mind.
Five rooms, a fire on cold evenings, and the rest of Meghalaya a morning's drive away.
