The Cultured Traveller - Third Anniversary Edition, October-November 2017 Issue 19

DWARIKA’S HOTEL When one man, Dwarika Das Shrestha, saw some ancient Nepalese carved wood pillars being burnt as firewood back in the early 1950s, it was to change the course of his life, and lead to the construction of a hotel and the birth of a hospitality group, of which Dwarika’s Hotel in Kathmandu was the first. Located in the Battisputali neighbourhood of the city, Dwarika’s Hotel is the result of the merging together of several traditional old Newari houses around a central courtyard. The resultant hotel, spread between three separate buildings, took more than thirty years to construct, and earned Dwarika’s a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Culture Heritage Conservation, recognising the Shrestha family’s achievement in successfully conserving and restoring heritage buildings.

Dwarika Das Shrestha's vision was born in Kathmandu Durbar Square in 1952. Nepal was entering a period of change, and all-around, centuries-old mud, brick and wooden houses were being demolished to make way for modern concrete structures. Legend has it that Shrestha was jogging past the ruins of an old building, in front of the ancient palatial complex of Kathmandu's Newari kings, when he saw, huddled in front of a small fire, two carpenters sawing-up ancient carved wooden pillars and using the pieces for firewood. The reduction of his heritage to fuel struck a chord, quite literally stopped Shrestha in his tracks, and he took action. First, he bought the wooden pillars from the carpenters, saving them from being burnt. In the years that followed, whenever an old building was torn down, Shrestha would buy as much of its ancient carved woodwork as he could afford. Indeed, it became his passion to collect as much as possible.

In the early 1970s, during the time of the coronation of King Birenda, all the hotels in Nepal were fully booked, and so Shrestha and his family moved into a rented house and converted their home – the first building on the site – into a make-shift guest house. This first building, affectionately known as the cow shed, today houses rooms 105 and 106 of Dwarika’s Hotel. The overwhelmingly positive feedback they received from their first foray into the hotel industry, inspired the Shresthas to build a hotel in the same style.

In 1988 Shrestha brought together his entire collection of carved wooden relics and opened the first part of Dwarika’s Hotel, the Lumbini Building.

From small beginnings the hotel grew, piece by piece, and, just before Shrestha's death in 1992, he completed the 16-room Ram Palace, employing the same stylistic elements as the first building. By now locals and tourists alike has begun to appreciate the value of Newari architecture and Nepalese heritage.

To stay in one of the hotel’s 83 individually designed rooms and suites today, is to experience genuine Nepali hospitality and culture. Meanwhile facilities now include a picturesque outdoor swimming pool, three restaurants and a spa influenced by ancient Himalayan traditions. A shop selling books, jewellery, Thangka paintings, handicrafts and Nepali Pashmina shawls completes the Dwarika’s Hotel experience, which, some would say, is utterly unique in the world of hospitality. www.dwarikas.com