Looking for a charming boutique hotel near Kathmandu? Your search ends here
Located in Bhaktapur, where Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha was shot, the “guest house” is a wooden labyrinth housed in a 700-year-old building
The Peacock overlooks Dattatreya Square, steps away from the carved wooden peacock window that is the pre-eminent example of local arts and crafts. Calling itself a “guest house” is being overly modest. The Peacock is a charming boutique hotel – contained in a 700-year-old former pilgrims’ rest house – run by a human dynamo who combines a Singapore and British education with a ton of Nepalese charm.
What is it like on the inside? Abandon height, all ye who enter. Low, raftered ceilings, steep staircases and titchy landings and corridors make the Peacock an intriguing wooden labyrinth.
The best guest room, Baithak, overlooks the square while the trio of Varanda rooms overlook an inner central courtyard. The remaining five regular rooms are right under the tiled roof, with charismatic sloping ceilings.
As might be expected, the furniture was all made in Bhaktapur, and the rest of the décor – wooden pegs for hanging clothes, a copper jug for water, antique items in niches in the walls, elephant grass mats – fit in seamlessly. Air conditioning and TV would be intrusive, but there’s free Wi-fi throughout.