What is luxury lodge trekking in Nepal?

There are two ways of trekking in Nepal. The traditional type of trek is camping style. In the early days this was the only option as there were no facilities available even in the Everest region. The second way is to stay in a lodge where you enjoy the comforts of a guesthouse with a room and meals provided for you. Most lodges in Nepal are teahouse lodges often called standard lodges. There are also a small number of higher quality lodges called luxury lodges. Luxury treks in Nepal are only available in the Everest and Annapurna regions.

“Luxury” is a relative and is of course a rather subjective description of the lodges. The lodges provide a higher level of service compared to teahouse lodges. With a luxury trekking holiday in Nepal you will enjoy the scenery of the Himalaya in style. Nepalese hotel companies manage the high quality lodges and provide a consistent level of service. The staff are friendly and welcoming. You will be well looked after during your stay at one of these comfortable lodges.

The Mountain Company has organised trekking holidays in Nepal for many years. The feedback from our luxury trek groups has been very positive. You can read our AITO Traveller Reviews for Annapurna Luxury Lodge and AITO Traveller Reviews for Luxury Ama Dablam Lodge. We have inspected the lodges used by us in Nepal and have also stayed at most of them. We provide pre-trip advice based on first-hand knowledge of our luxury holidays in Nepal.

At a luxury lodge in Nepal you get home comforts such as bedrooms with attached bathrooms. There is hot water in the bathroom. It is certainly lovely to have a proper shower after a day's trekking! There are communal rooms including a dining room and sitting areas. These areas have heating in the afternoons and evenings. They are cosy places to relax and enjoy your spare time. The lodges have attractive gardens and are in superb locations with mountain views.

These lodges have extra facilities and service compared to a teahouse lodge in Nepal. We have summarised below:

• The bedrooms have attached bathrooms with hot showers (both solar and gas). They also have western style toilets.
• The bedrooms are well designed and have a proper bed with a mattress and clean sheets. You do not need to bring a sleeping bag with you.
• The rooms have heaters. Plus Everest Summit Lodges have electric blankets to keep the bed warm.
• They have heated restaurants with table service by staff trained in hotel management.
• There is safe drinking water available. You can refill your water bottle for the next day’s walk.
• There are electric power sockets in the communal areas and bedrooms. In teahouse lodges you pay extra for recharging batteries.
• There are even hair dryers available for guests on request from the reception.
• There are laundry facilities but this is weather dependent. If it is cloudy it will not be possible to wash your kit as it will not dry in time.

There are higher-end lodges located in the Everest and Annapurna regions of Nepal. In Everest, there are two chains called Everest Summit Lodge and Yeti Mountain Home. Both of these lodges are at a similarly high standard. We use both of these chains for our Luxury Ama Dablam Base Camp and Luxury Everest Base Camp treks. By knowing these lodges well we have chosen the best ones at each location.

The lodges are often situated away from other teahouse lodges in tranquil settings. The Everest Summit Lodge at Tashinga has an isolated location on a plateau above the Everest Base Camp trail. The Himalayan views are superb from this lodge to Ama Dablam, Lhotse, and Mount Everest. Whereas some of the lodges are in villages where it is interesting to see monasteries and traditional Sherpa houses.

In Annapurna, Ker & Downey Nepal operate the only higher-end lodges in this trekking region. These lodges were set up by a former British Gurkha officer and are now owned by a Nepalese company. As a result, these lodges are operated like a well-oiled military machine!  As one might expect the service is at a high standard. The Annapurna lodges are made from local materials of stone and wood. Some of them such as the main building at Himalaya Lodge in Ghandruk is a renovated local house. Ker & Downey Nepal built others by using traditional construction methods. They built Sanctuary Lodge in Birethanti and Gurung Lodge in Majgaun.

The Ker & Downey lodges have comfortable communal areas centered around a fire pit and bar. Guests sit around the fire to warm up while having a drink during Happy Hour before dinner. Take a look at our Annapurna Luxury Lodge trek. 

Luxury Ama Dablam Base Camp trek in Nepal

Luxury Ama Dablam Base Camp is an 11-day trek to Ama Dablam Base Camp at an altitude of 4,576m. We hike through the Khumbu region seeing Sherpa culture and views of Mount Everest. For this Everest trek itinerary, you stay at a higher-end lodge for every night of the itinerary. As mentioned above we use a mix of lodges operated by Everest Summit Lodge and Yeti Mountain Home. We have chosen the best lodge at each place for this high-altitude hike in the Himalayas.

We have designed this Himalayan walking holiday to take you away from the busier trail to Everest Base Camp. Very few trekkers walk up to Ama Dablam Base Camp.  This is a lovely hike with incredible mountain views in all directions. On the descent from Pangboche, we walk on a different trail through the Sherpa villages of Phortse. On this trek, you see the most important monastery in the Khumbu at Tengboche.

Luxury Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal

Luxury Everest Base Camp is a 14-day trek itinerary. This is the best way of trekking to the base of Mount Everest while enjoying the comforts of better lodges. Like for Everest Luxury Lodge trek we mix staying at the two chains of the better lodges on the way up to Pangboche. Above this village there are no higher end lodges so we stay at the best available teahouse lodges. We stay at teahouse lodges for five nights on the trail to Everest Base Camp and Kalapatar.

This is a popular option as many people think it is worthwhile paying the extra to stay at the best lodges. You can read our AITO Travellers Reviews for Luxury Everest Base Camp. The less expensive option is to stay at teahouse lodges as used for our standard Everest Base Camp trek itinerary.

Annapurna Luxury Lodge trek in Nepal

Annapurna Luxury Lodge is a 6 day trek in the middle hills of Annapurna. The Annapurna trek itinerary is at a lower altitude than Everest treks. Acclimatisation to the high altitude is less of a consideration. The landscape is greener and more lush than Everest. You hike through traditional villages inhabited by the Gurung ethnic caste. You see terraced fields framed by the impressive Annapurna mountain range.

One advantage of walking in the Annapurnas is that you do not have to take a flight to a mountain airstrip. Whereas for Everest treks you fly to the STOL airstrip at Lukla, please see the YouTube video at bottom of this webpage. For Annapurna treks we take the flight to Pokhara on a larger plane than Twin Otters used for Lukla flights. Pokhara airport has a long and flat (!) runway at low altitude so it is much safer. By not relying on the Lukla flight also reduces the risk of flight cancellations if there is bad weather. It is possible to drive on the road from Kathmandu to Pokhara taking 6 to 7 hours.

Tailored private itineraries in Nepal

We can tailor a private itinerary for you based on these trek options. We can include trip extensions if you like to add more activities and places to visit on your Nepal holiday. Popular additions include rafting on the Seti river and a visit to Chitwan National Park. If you like to travel further to the west of Nepal for a jungle experience then take a look at Bardia National Park.

We have developed our own unique trekking style called Teahouse Plus+. This is a halfway house between teahouse lodge and luxury lodge treks. For Teahouse Plus+ treks, we include rooms at teahouse lodges with attached bathrooms. There is a range of facilities in the bathroom. Some lodges have a toilet only, others a toilet and a basin and others a toilet, basin and a shower. There are also some lodges that do not have any rooms with attached bathrooms. These are the lodges at high altitude near Everest Base Camp. Our itineraries show the facilities available at each lodge so you know what to expect.

We also include a hot shower for every night of the trek and a hot water bottle for use at nights. 

The advantage of Teahouse Plus+ treks is the cost for this trek style is much less than for our luxury lodge treks. We operate two Teahouse Plus+ treks in the Everest region. These are Everest Base Camp Teahouse Plus+ and Ama Dablam Base Camp Teahouse Plus+.

For Everest Base Camp Teahouse Plus+ there are rooms with attached bathrooms including showers in Namche Bazaar and Lukla. Above Namche there are rooms with attached bathrooms including only a toilet (plus a basin in some of the lodges). For two nights at Lobuche and Gorakshep lodges it is only possible to have standard rooms with shared toilets and bathrooms.

A luxury lodge trek in Nepal is a wonderful way of trekking in the Himalaya while enjoying the comforts of higher end accommodation. We organise luxury treks in Nepal to the Everest and Annapurna regions. This type of trek is a popular choice for first time trekkers as well as Himalayan old hands. If interested in joining a luxury trek in Nepal then our advice is to book early so we can secure rooms for your preferred dates. We can also tailor a private trip based on your requirements. 

We have been organising luxury lodge trekking in Nepal for many years.  Our previous groups thought it was worth paying more to have the extra facilities at a luxury lodge. If you do not have the budget then consider Teahouse Plus+ treks.