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One hotel serves all of Chitral. There is a range of affordable town hotels, PTDC rest houses, and guesthouses in the Kalash valleys that cover the rest of the range. Of the hotels, there is a clear division between those at the higher end and the rest. What makes Hindukush Heights stand out in the district goes beyond facilities. It is the care and the spirit of the place.
Here we will explain what to expect in Chitral and the surrounding valleys, how to confirm what properties are available, and how to avoid disappointment due to booking something that is not what you expected.
HospitalityTours.com.pk organizes hotel bookings for Chitral as part of complete Chitral and Kalash packages from our Islamabad office. They ensure that the right property is booked for your package, room type is confirmed, along with the drives or flights, guide for the Kalash Valleys, and hotel included in the package. Contact us on WhatsApp with your travel dates and the number of persons in your group. Contact at the end.
Dolomtuz, Garamm Chashma Road, approximately twenty minutes from the center of Chitral Town.
Hindukush Heights is said to be the most prestigious boutique hotel in Chitral, and some say it is one of the best small hotels in Northern Pakistan. It is described on Page 28 of Michael Palin's book, Himalaya, as a hotel built on the side of a mountain, from which a beautiful view of the valley and Chitral can be enjoyed, with an emphasis on the use of local crafts. Hindukush Heights has been listed as one of the best hotels in the world, by the Wild Frontiers travel operator, and this was several years before its first mention in the travel journals. For many years now, this hotel has enjoyed its well-deserved reputation.
These rooms are equipped with air conditioning and are located on twenty-five hillside rooms from which mountain and valley views can be enjoyed. They also have a garden and an outdoor swimming pool. The restaurant has local and continental cuisines prepared with organic food from the hotel's own gardens. The hotel has its own hydro-electricity and uses water which is supplied from a mountain spring. In Chitral, where the grid is not reliable, this is of importance. A round trip airport shuttle is provided for free. The front desk services are available twenty-four hours a day. Throughout the lodge, the decor is of local craftsmanship and is built of wood using natural materials. Traditional rugs in the hotel are described in many of the reviews.
Being only twenty minutes away from town makes the fort, museum and polo grounds easily accessible by car instead of walking. Tirich Mir is 9.3 kilometres away. The Shahi Mosque is 7.1 kilometres and the Chitral Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the stop of interest to those interested in Gandhara and Hindu Kush heritage is 7.8 kilometres away.
The sources differ with regard to the number of rooms. Some say it’s 18 and others say it’s 25. The 25-room claim is supported by many current booking services, i.e. Almosafer and Trip.com. If the exact number if 25 is important for booking for a group, please verify.
Best suited: foreign, couple, people interested in the character of the building and the stay.. This is the place for the heritage circuit and for the people inspired by Palin’s book and travel writing to see if it’s as it has been described.
Palace Hotel
Standard city hotels suitable for travelers are found on the main road near the bazaar and the fort, and serve the needs of those who want to be central, especially travelers who do not consider the 20 minute drive to Hindukush Heights hotel as a daily inconvenience.
Mountain Inn Chitral
Mid-range option in Chitral town. Clean, well located and reliable. Most travelers want to walk to the bazaar and the fort instead of driving and therefore a town hotel is the best option.
PTDC Motel Chitral. A government run, functional rest-house level property. The PTDC network covers many of Pakistan's far flung areas and their properties are often the only options where private accommodation is lacking. Booking and operational status must be confirmed with PTDC or your operator prior to travel.
Other town hotels and guest houses. Chitral now has a developing range of mid-level hotels near the main bazaar. Quality and prices vary. The best of the new hotels have been built in response to the growing number of visitors to Chitral since the Lowari Tunnel was completed in July 2017. If neither of the above are suitable, ask your operator for the latest verified information.
Ayun is on the route to the Kalash Valleys and around ten kilometres from Chitral and thirty kilometres from Bumburet. It is the only town on this route that has organised overnight accommodation that is beyond a guest house.
Ayun Fort is a heritage hotel with a Chitrali garden and an ideal location looking over the town and the valley. This property is listed on some festival trip itineraries as an overnight stop while traveling from Chitral to the Kalash Valleys. It is ideal for travelers looking to break the trip from Chitral to Bumburet or to reach the valleys early before the day visitors come from the town.
From Ayun, bird watchers use the valley access to reach the Kalash region. The transition from the main Chitral river to the road that follows the Kalash valley is gradual, and Ayun is the staging area.
There are no standard hotels in Bumburet, Rumbur or Birir. However, there are some guesthouses that offer basic accommodation within the valleys and some that are managed by communities. They have varying standards, but they put you within the valleys rather than an hour away in Chitral town.
For Chaumos and Chilam Joshi, Festivals that take place in December and May, staying within the valleys is very important as day visitors from Chitral miss both the morning and evening prayers and activities. Staying at these festivals in Bumburet is vastly different than a simple day visit.
A guesthouse in the Kalash valleys offers you a bed, a blanket, some simple food, and a host who can easily enable your communication and integration with the local people. In comparison to a forty kilometer hotel, they cannot offer you hot water, a diverse kitchen, or a hotel room.
When you are visiting for Chaumos in the winter, where the temperature at night will definitely reach below zero, be sure to check that your operator has confirmed everything with the specific guesthouse about your basic facilities.
About a 100 km northeast of the town of Chitral, on the way to Shandur, is a Rest House operated by the PTDC (Pakistan Tourist Development Corporation), along with some smaller guesthouses, which are used by trekkers on their way to the higher valleys and by people on the route from Chitral to Gilgit through Shandur.
From Mastuj, the Yarkhun Valley takes you towards the Broghail Pass and the Wakhan Corridor. There are some basic guesthouses in Laspur and the upper valley settlements, more appropriate for trekking groups than for leisure travelers.
During the Shandur Polo Festival in July, camping at the polo site is the only available accommodation. The best solution is to arrange for a managed camp with tents and a camp cook. Sleeping at 3,720 meters in July will be quite cold, and camping supplies should be appropriate for the cold.
Hindukush Heights is open during the summer months only and confirms booking only after confirming the current season. With the Lowari Tunnel open all seasons, a winter visit to Chaumos is technically possible. Whether the hotel, pool, and garden are operational in December is confirmed before booking.
PTDC properties confirm their season at the district level. Some are open all seasons, while others offer limited services during the winter. Check directly.
The guesthouses in the Kalash valley only open when the valleys are accessible and when festivals bring people. They are not open all seasons the way a city hotel is.
When booking Hindukush Heights, please ensure that all reservations are for rooms with valley views. Some rooms face the hills, which is different from the valley views described in accounts.
When booking any hotel in Chitral, ensure that you inquire about the generator hours and coverage. Chitral’s grid power supply is unreliable throughout the year, and Hindukush Heights’ hydro-power independence is practical rather than a marketing gimmick.
When booking guesthouses in the Kalash valley, please verify the guesthouse name and the contact number of the host especially when you book for a winter visit. Please confirm the arrangements for sleeping.
When camping at Shandur, please ask who owns the camp, the specification of the tents, and the sleeping equipment they provide. A camp at this elevation (3720m) requires a sleeping bag rated to handle the temperature.
Do not book hotel accommodation in Chitral for any festival date without confirming the dates of the festival for that year. Chilam Joshi and Chaumos both change dates and shift by a few days each year.
Do not attempt to drive between Islamabad and Chitral in one day. The drive each way is about ten hours.
What is the best hotel in Chitral? Hindukush Heights, by a huge distance, and consistently so, through the decades. The combination of setting, character, food and service have been appreciated by many through the years.
Is Hindukush Heights in Chitral town? No, Hindukush Heights is on Garamm Chashma Road in Dolomtuz, located roughly 20 minutes away from Chitral town center. Guests are provided free airport shuttle.
Does Hindukush Heights have a pool? It does! An outdoor pool on various booking sites has been confirmed.
Where do visitors stay during the Kalash festivals? Visitors can stay in hotels or guesthouses in Chitral town, or in the guesthouses in the Kalash valleys, in which case guests can be in the valley to see the morning and evening rituals.
Is there accommodation at Shandur for the polo festival? It is a polo festival camping ground. An organized camp with tents and cook is the usual arrangement. Confirm the winter camping gear required for the night at 3,720 meters.
Are Chitral hotels open in winter? Chitral is accessible from the Lowari Tunnel any time of the year. It is also very much up to individual hotels if they want to operate in winter. Make sure Hindukush Heights is open during the winter before booking a December Chaumos trip.
Can you walk to the fort and bazaar from Hindukush Heights? Unfortunately no. It takes twenty minutes to drive from the town center. The hotel provides airport shuttle and can arrange transport.
Let us know the dates you need, the number of people in your group, where you are located (if you are in Chitral town or if you are traveling between Chitral, the Kalash Valleys, and Shandur), and we will confirm a hotel name and room type for you. We will also arrange the required guesthouses for you in the Kalash Valleys and take care of the logistics for camping at Shandur if the trip includes participation in the Shandur Polo Festival.
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