Shalini and Aarushi
We're Shalini Kala and Aarushi Sharma, two friends from Dehradun. When we opened our first home, we found that what guests remembered wasn't the bed or the view. It was the two of us turning up with breakfast.
Fyonli Nest, Dehradun has two bedrooms: a green room and a red room, each with a king bed. There's a living room with an indigo arch, teak furniture, and a courtyard that catches the morning sun. It sleeps four adults, or up to 6 guests with children aged 2–12. You can see the rooms and check your dates on the page about the home.
Fyonli Nest is registered with Uttarakhand Tourism as a bed & breakfast.
We'll meet you at the gate
We live ten minutes away. Here is what that means once you've booked.
Before you arrive
Send us your dates on WhatsApp, or send a request from the booking page. We confirm availability on WhatsApp, and there's no payment until we do. Cancellation is free until 7 days before arrival. How booking works has the steps in order.
When you get here
Check-in is from 2 pm. Tell us roughly when you expect to get in, and we'll meet you at the gate. Park in the courtyard. If you're early, message us and wait in the courtyard. For directions, ask us on WhatsApp.
Breakfast
Breakfast is on request: a pahadi breakfast of mandua roti, aloo and seasonal fruit, ₹350 per guest per morning. Tell us the night before. If you'd rather cook, there's a full kitchen.
While you're staying
If you need anything, message us on WhatsApp. We're ten minutes away. There are only a few house rules: quiet after 10 pm (the neighbours are early risers), no smoking indoors (the courtyard is yours), and check-out by 11 am. Dogs are welcome; tell us beforehand, and read what to know about bringing your dog. If you're working from the house, there's fast Wi-Fi and a desk; see longer stays and working from the house.
Our name
Fyonli is the first flower of spring in Garhwal. On Phool Dei, children lay the small yellow flower on the thresholds of homes to wish the house a full year. It's not picked to be kept. It's placed at a door, for someone else. That's what we try to do.
The flower
You'll see the name spelt a few ways: fyonli, fyoli, pyoli. Botanists call it Reinwardtia indica, or yellow flax, and it grows in the Himalayas and beyond. In the hills it comes out in late February, while it is still cold, and it is taken as the herald of spring.
There is a Garhwali and Kumaoni folk story about it. Pyoli was a girl who grew up in the forest and married a prince from the plains. She pined for the hills and died, and she was buried where the prince had first met her. Some time later a small yellow flower came up there, and it was named after her. Pyoli is the subject of many folk songs.
Phool Dei
Phool Dei is a spring festival of Garhwal and Kumaon, held at the start of Chaitra in the hill calendar. It is a children's festival: children gather flowers (fyonli, red buransh, mustard, and the blossom of fruit trees like peach, plum and apricot), then go from house to house, leaving flowers and a little rice on each doorstep and singing a blessing for the house.
The song begins “Phool dei, chhamma dei.” Spellings and translations vary. Part of it wishes the house's bhakar, the grain store, full. In return, households give the children sweets, jaggery or a little money. Some accounts describe a longer festival: groups of children, called phoolyari, bring flowers to the houses every day for about a month of the flowering season.
Phool Dei falls at the start of Chaitra, around March. In 2026 it was marked in mid-March. We'll post the 2027 date nearer the time. If you're planning a spring visit around it, ask us on WhatsApp.
Get in touch
WhatsApp is where we confirm bookings, so it's the best place to start. Any of these reach the two of us.
- +91 97627 26246
- Phone
- +91 97627 26246
- @thefyonlinest
Sources: Down To Earth, “Phool Dei: Uttarakhand’s festival of flowers” (2022); Wikipedia, Reinwardtia; Garhwal Post, “The cultural flowers of Uttarakhand”; Asianet Newsable (14 March 2026); The Better India; Colors of Uttarakhand.