First American chain hotel Ramada Encore in Thamel

Kathmandu: A four-star hotel with an investment of Rs 2.5 billion has come into operation in Thamel-a major tourist destination of the capital- despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

At a time when corona infection is on the rise in Nepal as well as in different countries of the world, ‘Ramada Encore by Wyndham Kathmandu’ has come into operation with the investment of Dalia Investment Company and Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA). The hotel is the first Nepali chain hotel in Ramda Encore, USA.

The four-star hotel is scheduled to be operational by the beginning of the Nepal Tourism Year 2020 BS, but it has been delayed by a year due to corona.

The hotel is targeted at the middle class to the upper class and has more than 9,200 hotels in the world. Ramada Encore has 52 chain hotels in India and more than 1,400 chain hotels in China. Ramada Encore Wyndham operates three- to five-star hotels in 80 countries around the world. Eighty percent of foreign tourists visiting Nepal go to Thamel.

The hotel operator and chairman of Dalia Investment Company Gopal Pangeni says that the newly opened Ramda Hotel Thamel is a chain hotel of the international brand. “We will soon be operating Ramda Hotel in Thamel and Sauraha in Chitwan,” says Pangeni.

The nine-storey hotel has two rooms, a spa, a swimming pool, a gym hall, and two conference halls. From the roof of the hotel, one can see the beautiful atmosphere of Kathmandu Valley. General Manager of the hotel Mahesh Phuyal Ramda says that the hotel has been providing food of its choice to local and foreign tourists through two restaurants. “We have provided Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Moroccan food through one restaurant and Panasonic and Indian food through another restaurant,” he says.

General Manager Phuyal said that the Ramda Hotel aims to move to a five-star hotel soon by adding catering and banquet halls. The number of star hotels in Nepal has reached 143 after the completion of construction. This is the number of one-star to five-star hotels in operation across the country.

According to Mohan Bahadur GC, information officer of the tourism department, there are 16 five-stars, 19 four-star, 33 three-star, 41 two-star, and 34 one-star hotels in Nepal. Similarly, two five-star hotel boutiques are also in operation.

Despite the government declaring 2020 as the Nepal Tourism Year, the program of the Nepal Tourism Year was postponed due to the spread of the Corona epidemic all over the world.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Nepal has come down due to the first and second phases of corona infection with new variants in different countries of the world.