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Boutique hotels seem to be all the rage in Kathmandu, with many of them sprouting up in the capital city within a relatively short time. The tourist hotspot of Thamel has been shunned by most new entrants who have opened new outlets in more residential areas to provide a “boutique” experience to their clients. So what exactly makes a hotel ‘boutique’? The term is believed to have been coined by American hotelier Steve Rubell in 1984 as he was comparing the Morgans Hotel, the first hotel he co-owned, to a boutique. Since then boutique hotels have sprung up around the world, each advertising their unique features. Petite, classy, personalized and expen­sive (mostly) are some adjectives that define a boutique hotel, even though there are no hard and fast definitions.

We feature a few hotels being marketed as boutique and let our readers decide if they want to try the ‘boutique’ experience.

Royal Empire Boutique Hotel

The Royal Empire Bou­tique Hotel in Baluwatar is getting much attention these days, largely for its hospital­ity and top-notch service. A historic building that has been restored, Royal Empire advertises itself on its Face­book page as “a luxury hotel that blends royal her­itage and modern comfort”. Reading customer reviews, this certainly seems true.

“Our hotel is a renovated Juddha Sumsher palace dat­ing back 200 years,” says Rohit Shrestha, the General Manager. “And we’ve intro­duced some of the most lux­urious modern amenities to this vintage building.” The Royal Empire has tru­ly humongous rooms, each between 400 and 1500 sq. ft, which is almost the size of most apartments. Along with emperor-sized rooms and royal décor, the hotel also has spa facilities, a multi-cuisine restaurant, an event hall and other modern amenities.

Rates: $100-$350 per night

(There’s a promotional offer with around 30 percent dis­count for limited time)

Hotel Heranya

Located at Tej Bhawan, Uttar Dhoka, Hotel Heran­ya is a two-storey palatial building that has been taste­fully redone for the com­fort of well-heeled travelers. Its 17 rooms are beautiful­ly designed, reflecting the Newar Vajrayan, or Bud­dhist architecture of the Valley. The premises have a long history of attracting international agencies like the WHO and UNICEF in the 1980s and WECS and the Peace Corps in the 1990s.

Heranya is a family-run hotel, which defines itself as an ecological enterprise. Solar-powered water heat­ers, rain-water harvesting, organic vegetables and fruits, exotic garden, all add­ed with a touch of unique and personalized service, is what Heranya is all about.

The hotel has deluxe rooms as well as studios apartments for long-term guests with a Kitchenette and added living space.

“We have tried our best to preserve the historic build­ing and added a modern touch to it in terms of facili­ties and services,” says Ravi Manandhar, the manager.

Rates: $45-65 per night

Royal Penguin Boutique Hotel

The Royal Penguin Bou­tique Hotel & Spa, situat­ed on the quieter side of Thamel, is one of the first boutique hotels in Nepal, and is completely based on modern themes. The contemporarily designed building has 20 cozy rooms, an exquisitely designed restaurant and bar, and a full-fledged spa. The hotel is unique in terms of its design as well as its services—pro­viding customized services to its clients who can choose from its “Crazy menu”. They can even order dumbbells and soft toys into their room and book business trips to Hong Kong or South Korea.

Décor at the Royal Pen­guin is an exotic fusion of art and architecture. Outlandish teak root fur­niture is complemented by multi-genre paintings and installation arts in the rooms, lobby and restau­rant. The center of attrac­tion in the décor is a stump of a petrified wood import­ed from Madagascar dating back to the pre-historic time, all of 230 million years ago.

Rates: $50-$90 per night

Maya Manor Boutique Hotel

The Maya Manor Boutique Hotel is owned and operated by the KGH Hotels group, which is one of the most reputed enterprises in the Nepali hospitality industry for over 50 years. A histor­ic mansion turned into a hotel, the quaint building that hosts Maya Manor in Durbarmarg was built in 1935, in what was the hey­day of Rana aristocracy. The building was resurrected after the 2015 earthquake and now is home to the Maya Manor Boutique Hotel.

“We have turned a heri­tage site into a hotel to give a boutique experience to our guests,” says Niraj Bajra­charya, manager at Maya Manor. “This hotel in under the KGH brand so there is no compromising on quality.” Maya Manor overlooks the Narayanhiti Museum and most parts of Durbarmarg and Naxal. The characteris­tic building stands out amid concrete structures in the area and provides a refuge in antiquity to its select cli­ents. Historic artifacts and architecture adorn the hotel premises that also has a lush garden for its guests to spend some quiet time.

Rates: $100-$120 per night

Nepal: Then and Now juxta­poses historical and contem­porary photographs of Nepal to examine how the physi­cal and social landscape of Nepal has changed over time. The exhibit started on May 25 inside the premises of Bikalpa Art Center, Lalitpur. Bikalpa is a non-profit devoted to bring­ing art to the general public.

The photo exhibition shows the changes Nepal has under­gone in the past 100 years. The displayed photos repre­sent perspectives of eight dif­ferent photographers, each comparison representing dif­ferent interpretations of the theme of a Nepal in flux.

The participant pho­tographers were Shisang Khyungba Lama, Fritz Berger, Bipin Raj Tiwari, Katherine Cheng, Pablo Lopez, Shrijana Shrestha, Peter Gill and Ram Paudel. The exhibition ends on June 1.

When the ‘system’ is incapable of meeting people’s expecta­tions, even a puppet attached to strings starts raising its voice in revolt. This is the idea behind the name “Screaming Marionette”, the five-mem­ber band that makes metal core music and that is creating quite a name for itself in the underground scene.Screaming Marionette was formed in 2016 when the singer Nikesh Bhujel’s family shifted to Kathmandu from Pokhara, compelling him to quit his hometown band. On his arrival in Kathmandu, he enrolled at Sangeet Pathshala where he met guitarist Nabin Khadka, bassist Sulav Jung and drummer Sushan Gurung to form the current ensemble.

“We wanted to see how things would work out,” says Nikesh. “We started by playing covers of our favorite artists to check the chemistry between the band members.” All has since gone well for the band, besides a small change in the line-up with Sulav Jung leaving for abroad studies and Nimesh Nakarmi replacing him. And thus began the metal band’s musical odyssey.

But when the band decided to participate in the 13th Inter College Music Competition (ICMC) in 2017, they felt they were a guitarist short. That’s when Screaming Marionette recruited Pokhara-based gui­tarist Sajan Gurung and the band continues, with four members in Kathmandu and one in Pokhara.

There are obvious difficul­ties with this arrangement, but the band credits internet and technology to still being able to make music together despite the logistical chal­lenge. “We use the internet to add inputs to our music, share videos back-and-forth and to communicate, and it has been a relatively smooth ride for us so far,” Nabin, the guitarist, says. “For live shows, Sajan travels to Kathmandu a few days before the concert to practice with us.”

The band won the ICMC in 2017 and followed the suc­cess with the launch of its debut EP called “Corrupted Society” this year, “its greatest achievement so far”. “There is a lot of hard work, money and emotions involved in mak­ing an album,” says Nabin. “Many bands like us disman­tle even before launching an album; it’s something we can to look back upon proudly all our lives.”

At the launch of their album in Purple Haze, the band received enormous crowd support, a rarity for metal music in Nepal, the band says. Speaking about support, the band had the full backing of the families of its members. There was just one concern: their chosen genre.

“They asked us to sing songs that people actually under­stood,” says Nikesh, who does lead vocals for Screaming Mar­ionette in guttural growls that most people fail to decipher. “But they’ve given up now and have accepted the genre we’re doing,” add Nimesh, the bass player.

Financially, the band is still under stress. Reluctant to ask their families to fund their music, the band mem­bers, with the help of their day-jobs, bear all the expenses incurred in making and recording music.

“We have never asked for money to perform,” says Nabin. “But now that we have an album out, and one which is doing well, we hope things change. We want our music to cover at least some of our expenses.”

The band in the near future plans to complete its EP tour in eastern Nepal and to release its latest album online in various mediums like Spotify and Bandcamp. The goal is to get a little monetary support to be able to continue with their music.

Radio Annapurna Nepal 94.0 MHz celebrated its fourth anni­versary on May 29 by conferring senior singer Yogesh Baidya with its annual ‘Dirgha Sadhana Sam­man 2075’. The prize comprises of a commemorative plaque and a purse of Rs 25,000. Chairman of the Annapurna Media Network Captain Rameshwar Thapa con­ferred the honor on Baidya.

On the occasion, senior musi­cian Yadav Kharel lauded the AMN for honoring someone “who has tirelessly contributed to Nepali music for over five decades”.

AMN’s Group Editor Vijay Kumar Pandey said the AMN felt honored to be able to felicitate someone as accomplished as Baidya, who has not only enriched his field but also contributed to the strength­ening of nationalism. Likewise, Radio Annapurna Nepal’s Sta­tion Manager Thakur Belbase on the occasion informed that Radio Annapurna Nepal will soon be heard around the country via the 96.8 frequency “in the next two or three months”.

As their tokens of love, Suraj Thapa and Rita Maharjan, two young singers, sang renditions of two of Baidya’s songs.