Hotel Courtyard - Kathmandu Nepal

When traveling through Nepal in 2009 Lindsay and I stayed in one of the most unique, and charming, hotels we have ever stayed in called Hotel Courtyard.  To make it even better this hotel was located in the bustling neighborhood of Thamel in Kathmandu.  There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of hotels/guesthouses to choose from in Kathmandu so I studied for hours to try and find the best one for Lindsay and I.  After numerous hours of TripAdvisor research we finally settled on the Hotel Courtyard.  When we arrived in Nepal (via India) we were meet at the Kathmandu airport by a friendly driver from the hotel.  He proceeded to drive us through the busy streets of Kathmandu before finally arriving at the hotel.  We immediately realized why they call it Hotel “Courtyard” as there is a small beautiful open courtyard at the front of the hotel full of water, gardens and sitting areas.  The Hotel itself is a beautiful old Nepalese house made of dark red brick and trimmed with black windows and roof.  It stands about 5 stories tall and has been BEAUTIFULLY restored by the owners Pujan & Michelle.  Pujan actually meet us in the lobby upon arrival and greeted us by name (which was extremely impressive).  Pujan is of Nepalese decent but has spent much of his life in the United States but came to Nepal with his wonderful wife Michelle to turn the family home into Kathmandu’s most unique hotel.  Our room was not quite ready so he gave us a tour of the hotel which included a beautiful library/reading room and an open bar (full of ice cold glass bottle Coke that he was always giving to us).  After the quick tour he told us to simply go explore for a few hours and then come back.  When we did we were then taken to our room which was absolutely gorgeous.  It had beautiful windows that opened up to the Courtyard, a four post canopy bed and amazing furniture all with a true Nepalese/Asian feel.  It really was one of the most charming rooms Lindsay and I have ever stayed in.  We were lucky enough to spend the next several days in this hotel which became more charming with each passing day.  There were numerous power outages (very common in Kathmandu) so we never really got a good view of the bathroom (it was always dark) but that just added to the charm.  I also got quite ill for a day while staying there, which is every traveler’s worst fear, but having to spend half a day in the Hotel Courtyard made this very bearable!  I remember one night Lindsay and I were just relaxing/talking as a summer storm came through Kathmandu.  The rain fell outside the windows as Lindsay and I just relaxed and watched through the open windows.  The owner of the hotel  was always asking if there was anything we could do and one night invited us out into the Courtyard to relax and eat dinner with himself, his wife and some of the other guest (including a wonderful BBC employee that we just loved).  The building, rooms and amazing owners made Hotel Courtyard in Kathmandu one of the most charming places we have ever stayed.