Tiger Tops Tharu Lodge

Style

Pachyderm playground

Setting

Chitwan west end

Come meet the elephants by signing up for a stay at Tiger Tops Tharu Lodge, on the western edge of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park. This rustic retreat is strictly for intrepid sorts; there are few frills at this lodge, but what it lacks in tech, it more than makes up for in resident pachyderms, whose mahouts will help facilitate new friendships, as you get to know them all by name (and personality) as they roam wild in their 18-acre corrals. Days are spent rumbling in the jungle, with jeep drives out in search of Bengal tigers, one-horned rhinos and real-life Baloos (aka sloth bears). Come night, gather around the fire for social sundowners with your fellow explorers, before communal meals in the main hall.

Facilities

Rooms

21.

Checkout

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 9am, also flexible.

More Details

Rates usually include all meals.

Also

All of the rooms are on the ground floor, but the jungle terrain will be tricky for wheelchair users.

Hotel Closed

The hotel closes during monsoon season, from the middle of June to mid August.

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

At the Hotel

Free WiFi in communal areas, laundry, car park. In rooms: free bottled water, locally made bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

The lodge has rooms made using traditional Tharu techniques, and a series of jungle-flanked tents. Unless you’re really feeling the call of nature, go for the Traditional Rooms: request the one at the end for windows on every side, or, if you think you’re going to be afraid of your jungle neighbours after dark, opt for a room closest to the dining hall.

Poolside

There’s an unheated pool in the gardens.

Packing Tips

You’ll need jungle-approved attire: brown, taupe and khaki colours, long trousers and full-sleeve T-shirts, sturdy (snake-proof) shoes, fleeces for the evenings (from mid November to early March) and a head torch if you want to earn extra nerd points.

Also

Tiger Tops has its own charitable school on-site, there’s an organic farm attached and it’s also part of an anti-poaching patrol.

Children

All ages are welcome. Traditional Rooms have an extra single bed and the Safari Tents can have twin beds added on request. Babysitting is available with a day’s notice.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Swap stories with your fellow intrepid travellers at the communal table in the main hall. At lunch, eat in the garden under the mango tree.

Dress Code

Camouflage colours: you won’t even have to switch out of your adventuring gear if you don’t want to.

Hotel Restaurant

Guests all convene in the evenings following days out in Chitwan: after drinks around the fire, dinner is served either at a big communal table or in a more cosy corner if you prefer. If the weather’s fine, tables are set up outside, too. There’s no menu, but dietary requirements are taken into account. Some nights the dishes will be Nepalese, other nights they’ll be Western. All of the food is seasonal and many of the vegetables will have come straight from the grounds.

Hotel Bar

There’s no bar, but drinks are served in the main lodge – there’s a choice of imported favourites along with some local spirits. And if a regular aperitif won’t cut it, sign up for an elephant sundowner instead: join the hotel’s herd at bath time, when they play in the mud and catch up, while you watch on with your jungle juice.

Last Orders

Breakfast is available between 6am and 10am. The restaurant and bar stay open all day, until 11pm.

Planes

Bharatpur Airport is closest: the 50-kilometre drive should take an hour and 15 minutes. Hotel transfers cost 3,500 rupees a person each way. Domestic flights from Kathmandu land at Bharatpur regularly and time in the air is only 20 minutes. It’s also possible to fly down to Bharatpur from Pokhara Airport, a 20-minute flight away.

Automobiles

From Kathmandu, it’s a five-hour drive, but you need either a Nepalese driving licence or an international permit and car hire isn’t often available, plus the road conditions can be more than a little hairy – it’s easier to hire a vehicle with a private driver. There’s a free on-site car park.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Shotgun the hammock for an afternoon siesta, cool off from the jungle heat in the pool or settle in under the shade of a mango tree for a leisurely read.

This is one for the wildlife lovers – stalking the jungles of Chitwan National Park are one-horned rhinos, sloth bears (like Baloo) and Bengal tigers. Knowledgeable naturalists are on hand to accompany your jungle excursion. The hotel is Nepal's first and only place to offer responsible elephant experiences (you won't be heading off on an elephant-back safari here), and the herd's welfare is paramount. They have a whole 18-acre enclosure to themselves and live a truly peaceful pachyderm life, that you can be a fleeting part of guilt-free. The lodge can arrange open-top jeep safaris and cruises down the Narayani River, walks with your new-found elephant friends and hikes through the jungle canopies to spy some strangler vines. It can also organise trips to a neighbouring village, where you’ll be able to spend some time with the indigenous Tharu people, learn about their way of life and check out their traditional building methods (which are similar to the hotel’s, but on a much smaller scale). There’s good news for twitchers: Nepal has no fewer than 848 species of birds, and you’ll be able to spot a fair few of them here.

Further afield, Lumbini is a three-hour drive from the lodge, but it’s worth the trek to see the pilgrim site’s many temples – including Maya Devi, which is thought to be the birthplace of Gautama Buddha.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .