Lodges We Trust in the Annapurnas

A trek is only as good as the place you sleep at the end of it. On the Annapurna circuit and sanctuary routes, the teahouse landscape has changed a great deal in the last decade — some lodges have grown into proper comfort, others have stayed honest and basic, and a few should be avoided.

In Ghandruk, the family-run lodges on the upper terraces remain our preference. The rooms are simple, the dining room is warm, and the view from the window at dawn — Annapurna South and Hiunchuli turning gold — is the reason people come to Nepal.

Higher up, in Chhomrong and beyond, the better lodges have invested in solar hot water and insulated dining rooms. The difference at 2,700 metres, after a long day's walk, is not minor. We book these in advance during the shoulder seasons; they fill.

Above the tree line, comfort gives way to necessity. The lodges at Deurali and MBC are functional, and that is enough. What matters there is the staff — the young women and men who carry gas cylinders up the trail so you can have a hot cup of tea at 4,000 metres. We know the good ones, and we tip them well.

Tell us your route and your standard, and we will place you in the right bed each night. It is one of the small things that makes a trek work.