What a Dal Lake houseboat is actually like

A houseboat is on almost every Kashmir itinerary, and the experience ranges from one of the nicest nights of the trip to one you cannot wait to end. The difference is entirely in which boat you are on.

What it is

Dal and Nigeen lakes are lined with wooden houseboats, most built decades ago, many still run by the families that built them. A typical boat has three or four bedrooms with attached bathrooms, a shared sitting room and dining room heavy with carved walnut, and a verandah at the front over the water. You reach it by shikara, the flat paddled boat that also brings breakfast, the newspaper, and vendors selling saffron and papier-mache whether you asked or not.

Meals are usually cooked on board and eaten with the family's other guests. On a good boat this is a highlight. The food is home cooking, not hotel cooking.

The good

The morning is the reason to do it. Before the day boats are out, the lake is still, mist sits on the water, and the vegetable sellers row between the boats to a floating market that has run at dawn for generations. You see this from your verandah with a cup of tea. No hotel gives you that.

It is also quiet at night, once the shikara traffic stops, with just the water against the hull.

The less good

Older boats can be damp, and heating varies. In the cold months this matters a lot. Bathrooms on cheaper boats are dated and hot water can be temperamental. Some boats sit in a part of the lake with visible pollution and heavy vendor traffic, which breaks the spell quickly.

There is also the hard sell. On some boats the family runs a side trade in handicrafts and you will feel gently worked all day. On a well-run boat this does not happen.

How to pick one

• Ask exactly which boat you are booked on, by name, and look it up.
• Ask where on the lake it sits. Nigeen lake and the quieter arms of Dal are calmer and cleaner than the main Boulevard stretch.
• In winter, confirm the heating situation directly. Not "yes we have heaters" but what kind and in which rooms.
• Read recent reviews, not old ones. Boats change hands and standards drift.

We only put people on boats we have stayed on ourselves, and we tell you which one before you pay. If a houseboat is not going to be a good experience on your dates, for instance in a wet, cold spell, we will say so and suggest a night in a hotel instead. One night on the right boat beats three on the wrong one.