The differences between Luxury lodges and Teahouse lodges in Nepal
Updated July 2021:
The Comfort/luxury lodges are excellent for social distancing and small personal bubbles as they won’t be crowded.
The standards of luxury lodges in the Everest and Annapurna regions are far higher than regular teahouse lodges with their landscaped gardens. They are often in superb locations with mountain views. Their comfortable dining room and bedroom with attached bathroom, including a hot shower and western toilet, are some of the “luxuries – by Himalayan standards.” The staff is professionally trained in hospitality. The highest level of service is provided to our customers.
You can get a room with a private bathroom in some of the standard teahouse lodges. The newer lodges are being constructed with these amenities these days. In contrast, only significant settlements like Namche Bazaar on the Everest Base Camp trail or Manang on the Annapurna Circuit trail had rooms with ensuite bathrooms in the recent past. The standard lodges often have basic rooms with plywoods for walls with a dining room with wood or yak dung burning heater to warm the communal area in the evenings. Most lodges have shared showers, ranging from Solar-heated or gas-heated water, while in the higher elevations, you get a bucket of hot water for an extra cost. The cost of the showers can be as high as US$5.
What will toilet and bathroom facilities be available on a Nepal trek? For example, is it possible to wash your hair?
The quality, service, and standard of the regular teahouse lodges range widely. The wide range depends on the location; for example, the lodges in the higher elevations or places where the flow of trekker traffic is low have more basic amenities.
What sort of food is served at the luxury lodges?
The range of food in a standard lodge’s menu ranges from local staples such as dal bhat (boiled rice, lentil soup, and seasonal vegetable curry), momo (dumplings that are filled with meat – when available, primarily vegetables, canned tuna, cheese etcetera) and if you are the Everest region, the well known Sherpa stew.
These days the menu is getting more varied. You can also get international food such as spaghetti, macaroni, burgers, french fries, chow mien, fried rice, and even pizza. In addition, they have oat porridge, granola, muesli, toast (if you are in a busy area and during the primary season), chapattis, Tibetan bread, and eggs prepared in various ways for breakfast. Some advice for all trekkers is: Although the menu’s food is similar to what you are familiar with, expect it to taste different from what you are used to back in your home country. Also, avoid eating meat in the Everest region, as the animals are slaughtered a few days before reaching the trekking lodges.
The food in a luxury lodge will be similar; however, it will be of much higher quality and serve meat dishes that are safe to consume. In addition, they usually do dessert after dinner. One of the benefits of the luxury lodges is being served unlimited hot tea or coffee, and you might even get a cake with your hot drink in the afternoons.
Responsible Adventures has a comprehensive program of luxury treks in Nepal, such as Everest Luxury Lodges, Annapurna Luxury Lodges, and Luxury Kathmandu Valley Rim. The Luxury Everest Base Camp trek we offer combines luxury lodges lower down and the best available standard teahouse lodges higher up near Base Camp.
Whether you choose our regular or luxury lodge treks, our team enhances your experience by providing nutritious meals that include superfood as part of our value-added Wellness trekking vacations. As a result, our overall “outside the box” experiences are an unmatched luxury.
We also organize an extensive choice of standard trekking packages in Nepal. Please get in touch with us if you need more information or further advice.