We stayed at the Kantipur recently, and whilst the building and gardens looked lovely from the outside, the rooms were disappointing. We had problems getting any hot water - often freezing cold - although the manager was very apologetic and explained the water system had to be run for 2 minutes to bring the hot through.

Still, we had pre-booked the hotel and pre-paid and it was not worth the money or ranking it advertised itself as. The room was also very dark and the bed's very hard and uncomfortable. Although, having travelled around India and Nepal quite a bit, I believe that hard beds are common to these countries.

So, having said all that, the Management and Staff at Kantipur were lovely - very service orientated and wanted to make sure our stay was great. The hotel was clean and the location was great - quiet and 10mins walk to Thamel for restaurants and bars. If it was marketed at a lower price, I would consider staying there again - but not under the current price and illusion of it being a luxury hotel. It is not luxury.

After a terrible first night at Hotel Manaslu, Kathmandu (read my review), I was lucky enough to find this gem of a place right in the heart of Kathmandu. The Kantipur is an oasis of peace in Thamel. The hotel has been built in the Newari style using wood and carvings salvaged from old Nepali buildings.It has a fabulous garden with statues, flowers, lily ponds and shrines. The staff are polite, helpful and considerate. The rooms are beautifully clean and are furnished using only natural fabrics. Filtered water is brought to the room every day in brass ewers.After a day in noisy, overcrowded Thamel, you can come back and sit on the roof terrace and listen to the sound of doves.My room looked out onto a courtyard filled with terracotta tubs and carvings.

I spent over 10 nights here and would recommend it to anyone, particularly lone lady travellers, as there is a security guard outside night and day who always greets you with a salute and "Namaste!"

We stayed at the Kantipur Temple House for 3 nights over the Diwali holiday. The hotel itself used to be a temple and has beautiful architecture. There is even a rooftop area with views of the city. The location of the hotel is convenient to Thamel, which is about a 10 minute walk away. Along the way there is plenty of shopping and restaurants. The hotel itself is off of the main road is there is very little street noise.

The room we staid in was clean and there was good light. The bathrooms were not great--some mildew here and there--but the shower had great water pressure and plenty of hot water. The food at the hotel is good, though a bit on the pricey side. The hotel manager was friendly and he even invited us over to his house to observe the brother/sister holiday and have dinner. The rest of the hotel staff was very accomodating and made helpful suggestions regarding our travel itinerary and dining out. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and felt very welcome. Would definitely go back.

This hotel can only be defined as "pretentious". It claims to belong to the top league but it's sad, dark and far too expensive for what it offers. Rooms and bathrooms are very cold and with little natural light allowed in. Common areas are practically inexistent. 90 $ for a so called deluxe room is frankly far too much