At Shigar Fort, the Serena suite that was once the Raja’s summer quarters has a hanging wooden latticework balcony with a view of the Shigar stream. Serena also runs Khaplu Palace and Hunza Serena; Khoj’s villas at Shigar and Shangrila’s lakeside cottages at Skardu complete the set.
Five northern stays, from their own websites, read on 2 November 2026
Stay
Where
What it is
Rooms, as published
Travel time the property gives
Serena Shigar Fort
Shigar valley
17th-century palace within a 400-year-old fort
15 rooms and five suites: 13 in the palace, seven in the Garden House
An hour’s drive from Skardu, Serena says
Serena Khaplu Palace
Khaplu, Baltistan
19th-century royal residence
21 rooms and suites: six in Yabgo Khar, 15 in the Garden House
Not given
Hunza Serena Hotel
Karimabad, Hunza
Hotel on the Silk Route
Deluxe Rooms, Heritage Suites and Executive Suites; count not given
About two hours’ drive from Gilgit Airport and six from Skardu International Airport, Serena says
Khoj Resort Shigar
Shigar
Villas on about 7 acres by the Shigar River
King Villa, Family Villa and others; count not given
45 minutes from Skardu International Airport, Khoj says
Shangrila Resort Hotel Skardu
Skardu, Baltistan
Lakeside cottages, opened in 1983
Cottages; count not given
Not given
Serena Shigar Fort
The fort is an hour’s drive from Skardu, on an old trade route to Central Asia. Its valley runs 170Serena Hotels kilometres from Skardu to Askole under the Karakoram range. The hotel is set within the 400Serena Hotels-year-old fort and its 17th-century palace, with rooms and five suites.
What we could not confirm (4)
Room rates at any of the five.
Which of the five stay open in winter, and on what dates.
How many rooms Hunza Serena Hotel and Shangrila Resort Hotel Skardu have, and how many villas Khoj has.
Drive times to Khaplu Palace and to Shangrila from Skardu International Airport.
How we checked
Checked against 7 sources, including Serena Hotels. Show sources
Thirteen of the rooms are in the original palace, which opens a window on the life of the Raja of Shigar. The Garden House holds seven more, with flat-screen televisions and room service. Rooms open onto private wooden balconies that face the Baradari monument and the Amacha Garden.
The three Heritage Suites were the chambers of the royal women and the Raja’s mid-season quarters. The summer suite has one king bed, period antiques and a Shah-e-Nasheen.
Serena Khaplu Palace
Khaplu Palace is a 19th-century royal residence of Baltistan, set against high peaks and apricot orchards. Some of its 21Serena Hotels rooms and suites date back to the 1840s.
Six of them are in the original Old Palace, Yabgo Khar: two Royal Suites, two Heritage Suites and two standard rooms. The Garden House, which Serena calls more contemporary, holds the rest, two suites among them. The Raja Suite has its own Shah-e-Nasheen. The Rani Suite has a balcony decorated with wooden latticework and a baithak.
Hunza Serena Hotel
Hunza Serena stands in Karimabad, on the old Silk Route, a 15Serena Hotels-minute walk from Karimabad Bazaar. Five peaks rise around the hotel: Ultar, Diran, Lady Finger, Golden Peak and Rakaposhi. Deluxe Rooms have a valley view and Heritage Suites mix traditional and modern design. Executive Suites have a king-size bed, a sitting area and a private balcony facing the mountains or the garden.
Khoj Resort Shigar
Khoj Resort Shigar is a group of villas on about 7 acres by the Shigar River. Khoj puts it 45Khoj Resorts minutes from Skardu International Airport and says the resort was designed with sustainability in mind from the start.
Every villa has floor-to-ceiling windows, a private porch and a lawn looking onto the river, with organic toiletries in the bathroom. The King Villa has a canopy bed and a soaking tub. One of the villa types has a private garden running down to a hammock over the river. There is also a Family Villa.
Shangrila Resort Hotel Skardu
Shangrila says it opened in 1983Shangrila Resorts as the first resort hotel in Skardu, and that its founder was the first commander of the Northern Scouts, Brig. Muhammad Aslam Khan. The cottages sit along a heart-shaped, spring-fed lake where guests can take a boat out. Meals are served at the Pagoda.
The resort also lists a café, a snack bar and a mini zoo. Its jeep safaris, with local drivers, go to Upper Kachura and to historic forts, Khaplu among them.
Getting there
Khoj’s guide to reaching Shigar lists daily PIA flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, and puts the drive on the Karakoram Highway, open all year, at about 15Serena Hotels hours. It can be done in one long day or broken with a night in Besham or Chilas.
Khoj says the N-15Serena Hotels through Naran, Kaghan and Babusar is a second road in summer. For Hunza Serena, Gilgit Airport is the nearer of the two airports, about two hours’ drive away. Confirm flights and road conditions before setting out.
Is smoking allowed in the rooms at the Serena palaces?
Not at Khaplu: Serena says only non-smoking rooms are available there. At Shigar, its page lists the Raja’s summer-quarters suite as non-smoking; the page read does not say for the other rooms.
Can a family of five share one villa at Khoj?
Yes. Khoj says the Family Villa sleeps four, with a queen bed on each of its two floors. An extra bed or cot can be added for a fifth guest.
