When we went to Nepal, mainly Pokhara, we had one whole day (2 nights) to spend in Kathmandu. We had booked our flight to Pokhara for the second day intentionally as we wanted to explore Kathmandu too. But we didn’t want to stay there for more than a day as a quick internet search revealed that it is mostly great for exploring culture, heritage, temples, monasteries and all. Something neither of us are a fan of — we’re more into natural, serene surroundings where you zone out and escape the world. So here we were, in our quest to explore Kathmandu the short and sweet way, looking for a place to crash.

1. Hotel Friend’s Home

Hotel Friend’s Home – Kathmandu, Nepal

I had found this place called Hotel Friend’s Home on TripAdvisor earlier and we unanimously decided to pre-book it after reading all the reviews. What’s important to mention here is that if you need to crash in Kathmandu, then any hotel in the Thamel area is best suited for tourists. Friend’s Home is also located in Thamel, which is just a 30 minuted drive away from the airport. Also, if you book directly through the hotel, you will get a free pick-up from the airport, which is very convenient for first-timers in Nepal. It’s very close to the Thamel market so you can get all the shopping done very conveniently.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Deepak, the very courteous manager of the hotel informed us that the room we had booked was not available as the previous occupants had extended their stay. So he offered us a room in the hotel across the street, which he called as their ‘sister hotel‘: The Maya Boutique Hotel. So the deal was fine with us and we would sleep at Maya’s and were given the option to eat at either of the hotels as per our choice.

Veg Fried Rice

Mix Vegetable Curry

Chai ❤

I didn’t get a chance to explore the rooms at Hotel Friend’s Home so I can’t really comment on that. But we had scrumptious meals at the hotel and loved every bit of it. Also the staff is kind enough to arrange city tours for you and anything else that you’d need.

Location: Thamel, Kathmandu (map)
Hotel Type: Mid-range (3.5 Stars)
Air-Conditioning/Heater: Yes
Elevator: No
Services: Breakfast included (buffet), wifi, restaurant, bar/lounge, room service, airport transfers, laundry.

2. Maya Boutique Hotel

Maya Boutique Hotel – Bedroom

This is a very comfortable and clean hotel right in the middle of Thamel. It’s located literally across the street from Hotel Friend’s Home so it made it very easy for us to choose our meals at either hotels. (We used to prefer the buffet breakfast at Friend’s Home).

The rooms are very well kept. I think the place is new on the market hence it is quite properly kept together so far. We had zero complaints about anything here and slept like babies the 2 nights we stayed here. The neighbourhood is nice and quiet so there are hardly any disturbances.

There is hot water in the bathrooms, which is a blessing as there are power outages in Kathmandu which affects the water heating system at most hotels. We didn’t face any such issue here.

The rooms are equipped with a hair dryer, a TV, bottled water, and a perfect AC/Heater. On the downside, there is no room service 😦

Thamel market is close by so you can enjoy your walks out and about in the awesome weather. There are taxis always available nearby so commuting is never an issue. Also the Garden of Dreams is just a 10 minute walk away!

Location: Thamel, Kathmandu (map)
Hotel Type: Mid-range (3 Stars)
Air-Conditioning/Heater: Yes
Elevator: No
Services: Breakfast included (ala carte), wifi, restaurant, bar/lounge, airport transfers, laundry, spa.

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There are other really great accommodations in Kathmandu if you have more time to explore. Usually people don’t fuss about some limitations in these hotels because they really just come here to sleep and are out and about all day. We did the same, so no complains here. As we had a super short stay in Kathmandu that we mostly wanted to spend sight-seeing therefore we did not want to spend much on a lavish accommodation, hence these two properties worked for us. If you are in KTM for a longer stay, you might want to explore other (maybe 4-5 Star?) accommodation options.

+ If you want to know what stuff you can do in Kathmandu, feel free to read this post I did earlier.

+ All pictures are my own work, unless otherwise credited. This is not a paid review and all opinions are my own.

+ The header image is of Garden of Dreams in Kathmandu. Totally irrelevant, I know 😛