Where to stay

The hotels, reviewed by the people who book them weekly.

Real nightly bands, which rooms earn the price, and the allocation games of peak season — plus stay+tour bundles that skip the queues.

Skardu & Shigar

The red-roofed postcard that started Skardu tourism.

Sleep in the 17th century, wake to Karakoram light.

Skardu's design-forward boutique above the valley floor.

The dependable mid-range on Skardu's main artery.

The polished newcomer by the airport road.

Garden cottages on the quiet side of the valley.

The water-front glass suites on Attabad's impossible turquoise.

Terraced gardens with the whole amphitheatre on stage.

Karimabad's balcony mid-ranger with the million-dollar axis.

The grandest royal house in Baltistan, under Masherbrum.