Ghandruk Lodge
Ghandruk Lodge sits at 1,981m on the hilltop directly above Ghandruk, the Gurung village that supplied soldiers to the Gurkha regiments for generations and still farms the terraces below it. Annapurna South and Hiunchuli stand across the valley. It is run by Mountain Lodges of Nepal.
Worth knowing before you choose it
This is a mountain lodge, not a hotel, and the difference is the point. Rooms are simple and warm, with proper bedding, ensuite bathrooms and hot water. There is no pool and no spa. What there is instead is a library, a fire, and a hilltop with nothing between you and the range.
The road in from Pokhara winds hard and parts of it are still being built. It is comfortably drivable, but it is a mountain road and it takes longer than the distance suggests.
Evenings are cold at this height. The lodge hands out down jackets, gloves, hats and indoor Crocs on arrival, which tells you more about the climate than any description.
The property
Eighteen rooms, all ensuite with hot water. Shared spaces run to a library, a dining room and terraces facing the mountains. The hilltop position means the views are from the property rather than from a walk out of it.
Day walks leave straight from the door through rhododendron and oak toward Landruk and Tadapani. Guests continuing on foot toward Annapurna Base Camp often use it as the first proper night on the route.
Who tends to choose it
Guests who want to sleep under the Annapurnas without walking for a week to get there, and anyone who would rather stay two nights in a real village than move through six of them.
It also suits travellers who want the mountains as part of a wider journey rather than the whole of it.
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