Dwarika’s

Top choice in Kathmandu


For stylish design and sheer romance, this outstanding hotel is unbeatable; if you’re on your honeymoon, look no further. Over 40 years the owners have rescued thousands of woodcarvings from around the valley and incorporated them into the hotel design. The end result is a beautiful hybrid – a cross between a museum and a boutique hotel, with a lush, pampering ambience.

The hotel consists of clusters of traditional Newari buildings separated by brick-paved courtyards. All rooms are unique and some have sensuous open-plan black-slate bathrooms. Highlights include a lovely library lounge, back pool, a spa where they make their own inhouse soaps, a good Japanese restaurant and a bar in the hotel's original building. The location on a busy street east of town, a short walk southwest of Pashupatinath, is a horror, but finding a taxi is never a problem. Book well in advance.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kathmandu attractions

1. Religious Market

0.33 MILES

Pilgrims flock to this fascinating market to pick up prasad (religious offerings) and spiritual souvenirs.

2. Raj Rajeshwari Temple

0.36 MILES

If you walk south along the west bank of the Bagmati, you will pass a 7th-century standing Buddha image, next to the damaged Raj Rajeshwari Temple, with…

3. Standing Buddha Image

0.38 MILES

If you walk south along the west bank of the Bagmati, you will reach this 7th-century standing Buddha image.

4. Panch Deval

0.39 MILES

If you follow the road running south from the side entrance to the temple, you will pass this former temple complex that now acts as a social welfare…

5. Western Cremation Ghats

0.41 MILES

Despite being clogged with garbage and black with pollution, the fetid Bagmati River is actually an extremely sacred river; Pashupatinath is the Nepali…

6. Eastern Ghats

0.43 MILES

Pashupatinath's ghats are often full of life and it's worth taking some time to absorb it all. Devotees ritually bathe in the dubious-looking waters of…

7. Pashupatinath Temple

0.45 MILES

Undiminished by the earthquake, the pagoda-style Pashupatinath Temple was constructed in 1696, but has been a site of Hindu and Buddhist worship for far…

8. Ram Temple

0.45 MILES

This elaborately frescoed wooden temple is often thronged by visiting sadhus, especially during the Maha Shivaratri Festival.