Where to stay in Nepal

In the cities

• Thamel in Kathmandu and Lakeside in Pokhara are where visitors stay, and both have everything from NPR 800 dorms to proper hotels.
• Book the first night only. Once you are here, walking in gets you a better room for less, and you can see it first.
• Ask for a room off the street. Thamel is loud until late and the walls are thin.
• Hot water is a question, not an assumption, and in winter so is heating. Nothing in Kathmandu is centrally heated.
• Check the wi-fi in the room rather than in the lobby, and ask about power cuts if you need to work.

On the trails

• Teahouses are the accommodation and there is no other kind. A room is a plywood box with two beds and a blanket.
• The room is cheap or free if you eat dinner and breakfast there, which is the whole business model. Do not turn up expecting to eat elsewhere.
• Prices rise with altitude because everything is carried up: expect NPR 500 to NPR 1,500 for a room low down, and food that doubles as you climb.
• Hot showers and charging cost extra, per shower and per hour, and both get expensive high up.
• In peak season the popular villages fill by mid-afternoon. Walking further to find a bed at 17:00 at 4,000 m is how people get into trouble - start early.
• Bring a sleeping bag rated for the altitude you are going to. The blanket is not enough above 3,500 m.

Booking and season

• October and November are the busiest weeks of the year, then March to May. Everything is fuller and pricier.
• Monsoon, June to September, is quiet and wet, and lodges in the hills are cheap and half empty.
• Winter is cold but clear. Low-altitude trekking is excellent; high passes are snowed in.
• Booking.com and Agoda work in the cities. Nothing on the trails takes a booking you can rely on, and cancellations are not a concept.

Practical

• A 13% VAT and often a 10% service charge sit on top of the quoted room rate. Ask whether the price includes them.
• Fire safety is poor. Look at where the exit is before you unpack, especially in an old Thamel building.
• Bring a padlock for the teahouse doors, which have a latch and nothing else.
• Homestays in the middle hills are excellent value and are how you actually meet anyone.