Being on cloud nine assumes its true meaning during your stay at the ‘Glasshouse Celeste’, a paradisical getaway in the Basot village in Uttarakhand’s Ranikhet. The place is cocooned within mist-shrouded mountains, overlooking the gorgeous Kumaon landscape. As the Gurugram-based couple behind the homestay point out, the homestay was a corollary of their quest to find an antidote to the hustle of city life. They scoured the length and breadth of India’s terrain before saying yes to this particular piece of land that hugged a cliff in Ranikhet.

What convinced them? Sourabh Upadhyay, an IT professional, credits the mountains for working their magic. He and his wife, Vishala Katta Upadhyay, a marketing professional, have always had a soft corner for the great outdoors. The couple, now in their forties, recalls their intrepid youth — trekking, mountaineering, and biking adventures filled most of those years.

No matter the destination, they found solace in the mountains. So, when it came to picking a spot for a holiday home, Uttarakhand was the natural choice. “This piece of land was secluded, with a beautiful view of the snow-clad mountains,” Sourabh explains, underscoring this as the main criterion while picking the land, “That, and the fact that there are no neighbour’s homes blocking the view,” he jokes.

The couple was ecstatic when they zeroed in on their nest. And now, they are inviting you in for a cup of tea.

Glasshouse Celeste: Where you befriend the heavens

The views are flattering, to say the least, from the........

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