We Manifested a Hotel in Pokhara

Life is always full of surprises, It happens that I opened the “Hotel Love and Light” with Amrit.

It was six months before the 7.8 mag earthquake in Nepal.  I was in the Edventure Nepal Children’s Home (ENCH), in Pokhara, Nepal.  At that moment, sitting in a room overlooking the backyard, I was chit-chatting with the ENCH Chairman, Amrit.

I was still living mobile between India and Nepal.  I remembered, I had never told Amrit the following dream, a dream that probably every traveler has had.  So I told him, “I always imagined I’d stay in a place I like and open a guesthouse one day.”  I had dreamt about this so many times since I first quit my job and traveled around the world: the Inca town in Peru; the beach in Argentina where I saw whales migrating; the little Colombian town where I volunteered for a month; the Mexican town where I met encountered indigenous people; the Tibetan colony in Northern India.

Guanajuato in Mexico.  One of the examples of the fairy-tale places I’d love to set up a guesthouse.

This dream had faded as I moved around the globe year after year.  There were too many enchanting little places in the world, how could I just choose just one?  I couldn't do it because I was too greedy.  So how about opening guesthouses in all the places I like?  I couldn’t do that either because I couldn’t be distracted.

So that day at ENCH with Amrit, I was lamenting the fading of my dream.

Most of the time, if other travelers heard me pitying myself like this, they would probably join me, “Yes, me too…”  This is a common dream indeed.  But that day, Amrit’s response was very different from what I expected, “Are you serious?”

He surprised me by asking the question.  I felt that there was more meaning in his words.  I sat straight up on my chair, shot my eyebrows and asked him, “What’s up?”

He said, “I have a friend who is constructing a new building, he wants to rent it out as a hotel.”

“Erm?” I thought, I was merely sharing a dream, it hadn’t been a suggestion.

Amrit was getting excited. With a glint in his eye he asked me, “Would you like to have a look?”

With an open mind, I said, “Why not?”

We went to this construction site of his friend (It was indeed a chaotic construction site with dust rolling around).  Upon seeing the basic foundations of this building, I couldn’t help voicing my thoughts, “If you break this wall, the cafe area would look more spacious.”, “Why don’t you connect these two rooms and make it a dorm?”, “These two rooms can be changed to common bathrooms and toilets.”, “The rooftop could be used as a meditation and yoga room!”

Soon after, I heard all these comments had been accepted by the owner.  And without me noticing, it seemed like I was partnering with Amrit to run this hotel project!

There is a saying in Chinese, “An unintended willow’s seed grows in the shade”.  And this is absolutely true for me.  Although I didn't plan to have a hotel, a hotel had come into reality anyway!

From that time onwards, it required a lot of time to turn this construction site into a proper hotel (especially I had to factor in the Nepalese pace), so I put the dream aside and went to live in India.

I came back three months later to lead the fourth work camp of Edventure Nepal.  I planned to wait until after the end of the fifth workcamp before sitting down and discussing this hotel project in detail with Amrit. 

However, on 25^th April, 2015, a once in a lifetime earthquake struck Nepal.

Nobody expected that the earthquake struck Nepal, and nobody expected that I set up Light On Charity after the earthquake.

 After the earthquake, I started to fund-raise on social networks, delivered relief materials, established a non-profit organization, “Light On” and started school rebuilding…However, in September 2015, a border blockage kicked in Nepal, trebling petrol price.  As a result, our hotel’s construction came to a pause.  So I turned my focus again to the fund-raising activities of Light On.

In March this year, the petrol crisis finally ended and the hotel building resumed.  As I was busy leading “Light On Your Path Journey” in Nepal, I then invited architect friends from Hong Kong to do the interior and exterior design.  At the same time, I also invited like-minded Hong Kong people to invest in this social enterprise hotel project.

From the beginning, ENCH has always relied upon regular or irregular donations.  Three years ago, they started a workcamp project with a Hong Kong charity, but the profits were limited.  Also after the earthquake, the workcamp has been stopped for a year.

In order to support the children all the way to university, ENCH has to have a sustainable income source.  This is the reason why Hotel Love and Light comes in existence.

20% of Hotel Love and Light’s profits go to ENCH (there are 12 little angels) as operational and educational fund.  We believe, charities cannot only rely on traditional donations anymore, they have to find ways to self-sustain themselves. 

In such way, not only we can give more flexibility into ENCH’s operation, we can also let them to preserve their dignity.

The 12 little angels of ENCH.

Besides, “Hotel Love and Light” also put emphasis on employing disadvantaged Nepalese people and pay them a decent wage.  For example, the first cleaner employed by “Hotel Love and Light” is a single mom who escaped her violent husband with her 4 years old daughter. 

In addition, if the children in Edventure Nepal would like to learn more about tourism industry, this hotel will be a perfect stepping stone for them too.

In the middle of September, the installation of all the furniture and related stuff started.  In early October, I came to Pokhara and started to install all the other hard and software with Amrit.  From choosing cushion materials, buying plants, designing name cards, establishing a website, even about which food we shall provide on our menu etc. 

Installing solar panels on the rooftop.

Choosing flowers from the nursery.

Adding Dhal Bhat (curry vegetable and rice) into our menu.

“An unintended willow’s seed grows into a shade”: this willow tree is called “Hotel Love and Light” (hotelloveandlight.com).  This name originated from a volunteer workcamp I named, “Love and Light Action--to orphans in Nepal”.  This name also reflects our project goal: we hope to bring more love and light into this world.  We believe, we are all the embodiments of love and light.  As such, we all have the capacity to radiate love and light to people around us and to the world.

Hotel Love and Light ‘s cozy Cafe.

We believe, everyone is the embodiments of love and light.

Compared with other hotel in Pokhara, “Hotel Love and Light” social enterprise project would definitely be a piece of good news for visitors, as they can contribute to good causes by staying in this hotel.

Next time, if you come to Pokhara, the city at the foothill of the Himalayas, please visit us.  We also welcome you all to give us any valuable new ideas or potential cooperative opportunities, such as yoga and meditation or to volunteer as a chef in our cafe etc.  Our contact is info@hotelloveandlight.com

Last but not least, the fact that this hotel has come to existence is thanks to many people: the Aona architect team, Charles, Ricky and Yuisze.  Besides, there should be special thanks to Amrit brother-in-law, who acted as our driver, as well as the “porter” for every single day!  Last but not least, I am really grateful that Fiona helped us to collect stuff from Hong Kong, and she also carried the huge framed photos all the way to Nepal!