Mountain Lodges of Nepal - Birethanti — Hotel in Annapurna

This is one of the many Ker and Downey owned lodges in Nepal, which are conveniently spaced less than one day's hike apart along the Annapurna circuit and accessed from the city of Pokhara via a drive to the trail-head. The accommodations are simple but totally adequate, with private bath and hot water. This lodge has very large rooms because it was built specifically for the Singapore police to house troops on mountain training, so there is lots of space to spread out. There is reliable electricity and reasonable Wi-Fi, although the latter is sometimes spotty. This lodge has an amazing view of Fishtail mountain (Machhapuchhree in Nepali). The routine is similar to all of the lodges - afternoon tea at 4:30, happy hour with free drinks (except for wine, which costs extra) at 6, and dinner at 7, eaten at a communal table. The food is simple, but actually very good, and you will have more than enough to eat. In the morning, people start to gather outside at 6 AM for tea and photos of the mountain at sunrise, followed by breakfast, and then heading out for the next day's hike.||||Although the lodges are billed by travel agents as a remote hike-in and hike-out alternative to tent trekking, in reality there is a road just outside the camp, so although it is scenic and remote, in case of illness or accident it is actually quite easy to get a jeep to take you back to Pokhara or up to the next lodge. In fact, local buses travel up the road all day, bringing village residents to and from the city. This isn't a negative, as you still feel quite remote, but you should know that you are not in back country off the grid. ||||We really enjoyed this and all of the other Ker and Downey lodges that we visited. It is hard to give a star rating of this, as it obviously has no commonality to a 4 or 5 star hotel in the city, but it is quite good for this type of rustic...

This was our first of several Ker & Downey Lodge stays during our Annapurna Circuit and in many ways it was the most memorable. Upon hiking in, the small group I was trekking with was instantly greeted like family... and despite only spending about 15 hours at the lodge, we truly felt like we were part of the family as we hiked out.||||It is clear that from the manager of the lodge down to the newest employees... everyone truly cares about those who come to stay at the Sanctuary Lodge. If you are considering a trek through Nepal, I would certainly recommend looking at starting with the Sanctuary Lodge. In such a short time, the Sanctuary Lodge made us feel so at home thus making it hard to hike out the next morning with the all the love & hospitality they showed us.||||Lastly, if this is your first stay... the sunrise introducing you to Fishtail Mountain for the first time is both breathtaking and one that we are unlikely to forget!||||If you have any COVID concerns, both the lodge and Nepal as a whole, seem to be in a really good place in regards to combatting the pandemic. There were never any concerns on our end relating to COVID safety. 2022 is a great year to get out to Nepal, the crowd sizes are down tremendously and the country is eager to embrace...

This was the 1st Ker & Downey Lodge that we stayed on during our 6 day trek in the Annapurna area.||The rooms are large & simply laid out but you have your own shower & toilet attached.||The hot water is a bit hit & miss-we found it better to shower in the evening as the water was hotter!||The gardens are full of plants & flowers including marigolds & poinsettias so attracted lots of butterflies which was lovely.||The views over to Fishtail mountain are simply breathtaking; the warm jackets left in our rooms meant that we could stay outside to watch both the sunset & sunrise which turned the mountain pink!||A quick wander through the gardens & you could see the glacial Modi River & along the valley.||There is no heating in the rooms but staff put a hot water bottle in the beds for you & after enjoying 'Happy Hour' we went to bed nice & toasty!||Staff were friendly & bent over backwards to help us!||Food is Nepalese in style & was delicious-we had a 3 course lunch on arrival, home made biscuits at afternoon tea, snacks with free drinks at Happy Hour & another 3 course meal for dinner-we...