Visitors enjoy a smoke at a hookah bar in Calcutta

Darjeeling, Sept. 11: Get a feel of a desert life and soak in the colonial ambience of the first hookah bar in the hill town.

Hotel Viceroy is set to open the first hookah bar in north Bengal within the next six months after its pilot initiative turned out to be huge success. “We have a hookah bar in a 200 sq-ft space, exclusively meant for in-house guests. We are now ready to start a full-fledged hookah bar for the public,” Manish Arneja, managing director, Hotel Viceroy, told The Telegraph. “Such bars are in-things in metros and there is no doubt it will be a success in Darjeeling as well, both in terms of economy and customer satisfaction.”

Viceroy plans to give a colonial look to the bar. “Lord Auckland built Auckland Villa — where the hotel is housed — more than a century ago. We want to retain the colonial feel of the place,” Arneja said.

The hotel plans to start with 10 to 12 hookahs and the authorities have already decided on the flavours. From the strawberry-flavoured Prince Henry to a relatively stronger tobacco-flavoured Petit Carona, the bar promises to offer the best for as little as Rs 75 to Rs 100 for half-an-hour.