Lumbini Heritage Home The Patan Insider Experience

Experience Issue 200 Jul, 2018
Text by ECS Staff

Lumbini Heritage Home bed & breakfast is the kind of place that you probably wouldn’t find if you didn’t know it was there. This, however, is a good thing. Tucked away in Nag Bahal, behind the Golden Temple and just a few minutes’ walk from Patan Durbar Square, it puts you right in the heart of the old city.

The house that Lumbini Heritage Home is in is over 100 years old, the ancestral home of a Shakya family, and is a sort of mixed Malla-Newari style architecture. It has been lovingly restored and also updated by the b&b’s owner, Aman Pariyar. His passion is infectious, as is his belief in the project and the potential of the area to be a hub for tourists who are looking for a place to stay that will truly give them the feeling of being not just anyplace, but in the real heart of the Kathmandu Valley, in Nepal.

Each room looks like the sort of place you’d love to stay in—they are bright, open and airy, and many of them overlook the large square of Nag Bahal, which is spacious and green. From these windows you can sit and watch daily life unfold in this hidden corner of traditional Patan. Everywhere in the rooms there are clever touches that accentuate local culture: the red and black of the curtains, the brass sinks in the bathrooms, and the bedroom doors themselves, old authentic doors that Aman bought when people were rebuilding their homes post-earthquake and no longer wanted them.

On the roof there’s an even better view—the entire neighborhood is spread out in front of you, and again that feeling peacefulness and yet still being part of everything that’s going on in the community around. Lumbini Heritage Home opened in November 2017, so it’s continuing to evolve and upgrade. The rooftop will be a central theme, particularly for the local cooking classes they’ve begun holding, which are already a big hit. Another activity is an ‘alternative or hidden Patan walk,’ taking visitors to places in the area not covered by the standard guidebooks. Both the walks and cooking classes are open to all, not just guests at the b&b. Within the coming months, there’ll also be steam baths and traditional massages, sure to be a hit with trekkers coming back achy and in need of pain relief.

There’s so much to see and do in Patan, and staying here will place you right in the middle of it. A charming place with friendly and enthusiastic staff, Lumbini Heritage Home is for the discerning traveler who wants to immerse themselves in the local culture.

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