About Us
Deyzor Was Never Supposed to Be a Hotel
It was not a business idea to start out with. It began as a return.
Our founder first visited Spiti in the year 2000, while competing in a motorbike race. What started as a brief trip gradually developed into more, the relationship deepening with each visit. Year after year, he returned. Sometimes to race, sometimes by himself, sometimes just because something about this place had stuck with him.
Spiti revealed itself quietly. Via long conversations, via kindness, via its layered history and stillness. It didn’t take long for that to stop feeling like a destination and start feeling like home.
It was not a business idea to start out with. It began as a return.
Our founder first visited Spiti in the year 2000, while competing in a motorbike race. What started as a brief trip gradually developed into more, the relationship deepening with each visit. Year after year, he returned. Sometimes to race, sometimes by himself, sometimes just because something about this place had stuck with him.
Spiti revealed itself quietly. Via long conversations, via kindness, via its layered history and stillness. It didn’t take long for that to stop feeling like a destination and start feeling like home.
The restaurant serves as the melting pot for guests from different parts of the world. The menu has been selected by Karanbir reflecting his love for the region and travels around the world. Deyzor is also a home for the owners Karanbir and Skalzang and they ensure that this warm and spotlessly clean retreat awaits its guests.
Hotel Deyzor is an ideal place for writers, artists and other creative people who are seeking a place conducive to their work. At Deyzor you will find the owners and staff to be friendly & helpful without being intrusive or overbearing.
Ours is the only hotel in Kaza and Spiti valley with Wifi, solar water heater and power back-up for electricity. We have now added a green house from where we use fresh vegetables for our kitchen and at our hotel is also a small shop where we sell local handicrafts and other organically produced products from Spiti.
From Then Till Now
Much has changed throughout the years, but the heart of Deyzor remains the same. Known for making the guests feel ‘at home’, at Deyzor we have tried to bring in a bit of Spiti, our travels around India and the world and our philosophy at large within its walls.
Karanbir Singh Bedi
Karan is a passionate traveller and a three time national record holder in adventure sports. One fine morning, during his days as journalist spent behind the wheels of Bentley’s and Beemers, he woke up to the beautiful sound of rain, hungover (from the night spent drinking with strangers he’d met while travelling with only rum in his boot). He felt dwarfed by his profession, and decided it was time to quit his job and follow his heart- to travel and experience life to the fullest till his last breath.
Hotel Deyzor’s inception is the thrill that comes with adventure travelling and the high from exploring places unknown and far less travelled (like the time when he dropped everything and embarked for South America, hitchhiking across 6 countries or more recently cycling 5000kms in Africa. In the last few years Karan has spent his winters cycling in Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Sumatra, Cuba and the Philippines.
In other words, Spiti is a venue to seek thrill, a way to quench one’s thirst for adventure and to travel with only a hat on your mind. And with Karan by your side, the experience and the chance to discover something new becomes inevitable.
Skalzang Dorje
Meeting Skalzang you would never guess that he is an Olympian. Having travelled to over a dozen countries representing India in Archery, Skalzang’s humility is typical of people from Spiti. His deep belief in Buddhism’s philosophy of past life seeds and impression is what he credits for him to become one of the best archers to have come out from India. For the people of Spiti and Pin valley archery is amongst the most popular of all traditional sports and Skalzang picked up archery at an early age. His talent was took him to New Delhi first and then to the Asian games in Bangkok as he reached the pinnacle of his sport when he represented India in the 1996 Atlants Olympics.
Today Skalzang lives in Kaza working in projects to encourage children of this valley to take up sport and better his achievement. An avid trekker with a mind as sharp as his arrow, Skalzang’s love for Spiti and the outdoor is his reason for starting Himalayan Shepherd with Karanbir.
A Life Chosen Slowly
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Later came cities, work and routine. Professional life in media and journalism brought our founder to cities like Bombay and Pune, and the noise of urban living never sat well. Writing became a vehicle back, stories on Spiti’s culture, people, history and landscape provided an excuse to return again and again. After walking away from that life, there was an epic journey across South America. Slow travel, pedaling through unfamiliar countries, he gradually realized that meaningful lives were not measured in speed or efficiency alone. In 2011, a call was taken, of shifting to Spiti and crafting a life based on wonder, simplicity and liberty.
Collected, Not Constructed
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Dezor was never constructed in one go.
It evolved, gently, thoughtfully, over time.
Rooms were tacked on when the appetite struck. Furniture poured in from around the world. Artifacts, books and objects found their way there with an ease that matched their place of origin, each with a story from somewhere beyond.
The poetry of Hafiz, Sadi, Tagore and Ramana Maharishi lives on the walls. The shelves are full of books about travel, culture, history and philosophy. The space evolves, as well, new details glom on, the menu shifts, the interiors breathe and grow.
It feels like a home.
It feels like a gallery.
Most of all, it feels lived in.
Come, Stay a While
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Dezor is not run from afar. It is lived in.
We are here, working with our team, taking care of the little things that define what a place feels like. Here, care is personal, unhurried and intentional.
We had heard from a lot of customers that it doesn’t feel like a hotel. It’s a house that feels as if it were packed with stories. A place where conversations last, dogs roam free and people stay longer than they intended.
If you prefer slow travel and empty beauty, places with soul, we welcome you to come, stay a while, and let Spiti whisper.
Gratitude in Every Milestone
We’re humbled to be recognized for doing what we love, taking care of our guests and our home in Spiti. Each certification is a reminder to continue serving from the heart, in warmth and gratitude.
