Golden Temple Inn — Hotel in Kathmandu Metropolitan City

I was passing through Kathmandu for one night and had been looking a hotels near the airport. I saw the pictures of this place and even though I thought they were unbelievable I thought that I'd give it a go. Honestly I expected that the room pics were of their best room, and that I'd get something not that good, but maybe acceptable. My flight was delayed by 3 hours, so I called ahead the the hotel to let them know, and they assured me that it would be no problem. Eventually I walked out of the airport and 1am and I was glad that Id made an online reservation because the city was dead! Everything was closed, and all the hotels were locked up. The hotel was 3 minutes, if that, in a taxi from the airport, for which i was royally ripped off. If you arrive in the day time, just walk 2 minutes down the airport access road to the main bypass road and catch a bus or jeep for 20 rupees, going right as you come out of the airport. In less that 5 minutes you come to a slight hill with lots of shops on the left and a big open field on the right, and the hotel is there on the left, on an access road parallel to the bypass, just down some steps. Or you could even walk from the airport in about 15 minutes. Their gateman was waiting for me and let me into reception without any tension or waiting, and then the night receptionist came down and checked me in without any hassle or bad attitude (I had just disturbed his sleep by arriving at 1am, and yet he was very pleasant despite that.) in about 2 minutes. I caught the elevator up to the 4th floor and stepped into my room and was blown away. I have never been in a hotel room that nice before! (I am admittedly a budget traveller!) It was as though I had stepped into the pages of a designer furniture catalogue. Just then the phone rang, and it was the receptionist checking if the room was acceptable. "Acceptable? It's amazing!" I said. The floor is laminate wood effect, and therefore very clean; no funky mouldy carpet in this hotel! The bed was out of this world. The mattress was at least 10inches thick and of superb quality, better than any bed I have ever slept in, even better than the bed at my mums house, and the bed linens were clean, crisp and fresh, and it was MASSIVE. It must have been a king size, if not bigger. I can still remember the feeling as i slid into bed; so comfortable and warm, because there wasn't some poxy Indian blanket and old sheet on this bed; there was a duvet quilt that was warm while I was naked in December in Nepal! This bed was surely imported from the best bed shops of the west! I honestly couldn't believe how good it was. All the electrical fittings were of the highest standard. There was a nice flat screen with satellite. All the furniture was solid wood; two chairs, a desk, a coffee table, 2 bed side tables and a wardrobe with hangers. 2 complimentary bottles of water. The bathroom was very nice, and large. Finished in black granite type tiles, there was a very large shower head and instant 24 hour hot water, as hot as you like for as long as you like. They included very nice towels and shower gel and shampoo. I woke up late and went down to find some breakfast, to find that breakfast was included in the price. I'm vegetarian and just went for toast, which was just the local type of bread, but which came with a generous portion of butter, HONEY(!!) and jam, with a coffee, and when Id stuffed that into my face they brought me another 3 slices, more butter honey and jam and another coffee! I found out the hotel was only 6 months old as of Dec. 2016, I hope that it stays affordable. I've run out of words for the review! I got a great price, and wished I could have stayed another day just for the bed! The staff were very professional, courteous and polite, friendly and had good moods, there wasn't a single person standing around looking like they didn't want to be there, or spacing out on their phone instead of working. I cannot recommend this hotel enough. Don't hesitate book it now! If I return to Kathmandu I will...

Would've got a much higher rating if they hadn't messed me about so much. I had good first impressions of the hotel, they bring up your bags and bring you a welcome drink, the rooms are clean and have Western bathrooms with hot water, flushing toilets and toilet paper. There's also a TV in the room and complimentary water. Wifi is also available but for the first 12 hours the connection was particularly poor. Its a good location if you need to get to the airport.

They also offer laundry services, however when you ask them how much it costs they say it depends on the clothing, so I brought my stuff down to find out how much and they took my stuff from me and told me I could back to my room and they'd phone the room, only to be phoned up later with the bill of 1800 NPR and they'd already started doing it, I'd expect to be given the price and the choice of whether or not I want it especially as it really was a small amount of clothes and just basic t-shirts and stuff.

And then as you can't pay in advance at the hotel, which I think is ridiculous in itself, I was paying on my card, their card machine then stopped working so they walked me to an ATM over 20 mins away to get cash out, bearing in mind they knew I had a plane to catch in just over 2 hours, and when we got back they were just extremely slow getting everything done, in the end the price i paid ended up being almost double the price quoted on my booking (without laundry)!! I was too stressed and concerned about missing my flight that I had no time to even question it.

I'd also requested an airport drop off (which is advertised as free btw!!) And I had mentioned it when I arrived at the hotel to ensure it was sorted and a few times after as well and they reassured me that it was, so when I'd finish the hassle of paying and everything I said about the drop off and was waiting for 10 minutes for a car and then arrived at the airport eventually only for the taxi driver to say that they hadn't paid for the ride?! He wanted 500NPR and I had about 250 on me and luckily the man let me go with that!!

Obviously this is just my unlucky experience with the hotel, like all the amenities are fine, but you don't want to be stressing about getting to your flight when Kathmandu airport is as stressful as it is, so they really did not help my situation at all, very...

First a few positives

1. yes, the hotel is located 10 mins away from the airport and Pashupatinath temple
2. It is neat and clean
3. AC and lift are there
4. They can arrange for a transport as well
5. Beds are nice and comfortable
6. 24 hhrs hot water

Now, a few negatives

1. No room service in the morning. You can't get bed tea. I wouldn't have bothered if there was a tea maker in my room. And the breakfast is available only till 9 am. So, it doesn't really feel like holiday as one needs to rush to have breakfast. It caused me great discomfort.

2. Even the dinner is available till 9:30 pm aND if you are late then it can't be helped. Strict discipline, I must say. Also, the staff in the restaurant at night in particular is slow, indifferent and curt. Another thing I noticed was that the hotel was more concerned about its guests from package tours.

3. I found the staff a little unprofessional and untrained. I asked for another dustbin for the washroom and they just said they don't have it. I was aghast to hear that.

4. The most disappointing thing which could be unrelated and may not be of any import to a tourist is that the owner has two dogs - Pluto (golden retriever) and Julie (beagle) who remain on the terrace locked 24/7. Most inhuman. Nobody goes to them, nobody engages with them. Nobody walks them. They remain there, howling, crying, playing on the terrace. Don't think anyone even cleans the terrace. It is beginning to get chilly in Nepal and these two innocent lives suffer the cold on that terrace. Whats the point of having pets if they can't be part of your lives. It says volumes about the owner. Wish someone takes these dogs away.

5. Also, the hotel is located on a dusty road and amidst a shady market...

6. No doormats, no hooks in the room, open almirah, no locker. If given a second chance I would never stay here for every single reason...