Gautama Guest House

I came for 1 month and stayed for 6. Actually, I got stuck because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but I'm so glad that I choose this guest house for my unexpected, extended stay in Pokhara. The room was enormous yet very affordable with two beds. The wifi worked 90% of the time, and it was much faster than I needed. I think some rooms may have issues connecting to the AP, but I specifically picked a room close to the wifi router on the second floor and had a strong connection. They provided a padlock to the front door of my room, which was adequate for my needs. They have bars on the windows, so you can even leave the windows open when going out. There was a big ceiling fan that helped beat the heat on the really hot days. It squeaked like hell after a few months, but I mentioned it, and they just put some oil on it, and it was silent for another couple months. There was soo much hot water! In fact, I would usually have to add cold water because the water was literally so hot it would burn my skin (and I like *hot* showers), so I'm not complaining. This was so luxurious! The room has only one power outlet, so I split it. The power outlet doesn't run off the battery when the electricity goes out, but they do have one light bulb in the room that does run off battery power. If you like chinese food, they also operate a restaurant, which has lots of indoor & outdoor seating/common space. There's also a sitting area on the second floor with some tables & chairs, which gets sun half the day. And it's right next to the wifi router, so a great place to sit and work. Most importantly, Laxmi, Angali, and the family were just super friendly, welcoming, helpful, and compassionate people. My only complaint was that my room was so full of mold that my leather boots and bicycle saddle (and other organic items like clothing, down jacket, etc) kept growing mold. I ended up soaking them in vinegar, then bleach. The mold kept coming back! I guess it's growing in the walls. Anyway, it was monsoon season, so there's not much that can be done. I was offered to change rooms because of the mold, but I stubbornly made the decision not to move. So that's on me. Disclaimer: I'm laid-back guest that's easy to please. Dirt doesn't bother me. Cockroaches are expected. I don't need A/C. I've stayed at hostels with no mattresses--just a wooden plank, and I'm cool with that. No soap? No towel? No worries; I bring my own. But I do expect a couple basics that every hostel should have: lockers, a kitchen, power outlets, wifi, and some sort of common-space.