What are Nepali hotels offering to tourists?

• Sushant Lama

The hospitality is one of the major components of the tourism industry. The hospitality sector has been playing a vital role in generating employment and income in Nepal.  As tourists decide on travel destinations based on accommodations including hotel rooms, food, hygiene, and other services, hospitality has become a high priority of hotel operators.

There has been a significant change in tourism accommodation, especially hotel service in the past decade in Nepal. As different types of hotels- from non-star to five-star- are providing their services in major cities of Nepal, the travellers have options to choose the hotels based on their budget and amenities preference.  According to the data released by Nepal Tourism Board in 2017, the number of star-hotels and tourist standard hotels stand 125 and 977 respectively.  The total bed capacity of the star-hotels consists of 10,697 whereas the room capacity of “tourist standard” hotels is 29,136. To meet the increasing demand, this sector is adding new hotels to the list.

The number of high-quality hotels is increasing day by day. Currently, more than a dozen five-star hotels are active in the hospitality business. They include Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Hyatt Regency, Hotel Annapurna, Hotel Radisson, Hotel Yak and Yeti, Hotel Shangri-La, Hotel Malla, Pokhara Grande, Soaltee Westend Premier, Tiger Palace Resort, Bhairahawa, Hotel Everest, Kathmandu, and Fulbari Resort, Pokhara.

The four-star hotels include the Hotel Himalaya, Lalitpur, Hotel Shanker, Kathmandu, Swiss Int’l Hotel Sarowar, Pokhara, Hotel Siddhartha View, Nepalgunj, Cygnett Inn Krishna Hotel, Nepalgunj, Hotel Opera, Mahendranagar, Hotel Ichchha, Simara, and Hotel Mystic Mountain, Nagarkot.

Along with the quantity, the service quality is also improving day by day which is comparable to international standard. In five star hotels, you will get the same facilities as you would get them in foreign countries.

The accommodations of the five-star luxury hotels include a well-furnished beautiful room, swimming pools for both adults and children, exquisite wedding location, fitness center, steam, sauna, and indoor and outdoor whirlpool bath among others.

Most of the luxury hotels have their cafe and bars where you are also able to relish all kinds of dishes of an international standard like Nepali, Italian, Continental, Chinese, etc. and have quality time. Moreover, five- star and four-star hotels here are considered good for business centers and meetings too.

Some of the hotels are situated in exotic places of Nepal from where you can rejoice the beauty of temples, monasteries, mountains, green hills, and city life. Some of them have even a tennis court and a golf course. Most of these hotels provide a free parking service.

In terms of price, the tourist has an option to choose hotels ranging from seven dollars to 250 dollars per night. And, “tourist standard” hotels in the major cities have reported that their occupancy rate is pretty good. However, hotels in rural areas struggle more to have full occupancies. Homestays and tea houses have been popular in rural areas given the decent rate price and the quality of the food and accommodation.