Contemporary 2BHK Penthouse Apartment

The space
Overall Space
My wife and I intended our two-bedroom Apartment to be a place where we could spend time with family and friends. It was lovingly put together to suit our contemporary tastes. Real wood was used for flooring and we installed floor to ceiling sliding door/windows to take advantage of light and draw in ample sunshine.

We expect guests to really enjoy the space. Eat breakfast on the sunny 4th floor terrace or savor a great lunch on the rustic but sturdy dining table or enjoy dinner and drinks with friends/family in the Living/Dining area. Its all possible.

Our apartment is not part of a hotel or a serviced apartment. We're simply, a fully furnished apartment for rent. Therefore we have not squeezed everything into maximizing the number of rooms to increase revenue. Here in our apartment what you get is plenty of space – a precious commodity in cramped Thamel! Instead of booking two puny hotel rooms, you could spend some quality time at our 1300 sq. ft. (including two terraces) two-bedroom apartment. But be aware that because it is a tourist district, there will be some road traffic and ambient noise.

Building
The current building (built in 2010), a neo-classical and Newari fusion, was constructed in the same spot and in the same design spirit of an old house commissioned by my grandfather over a 100 years ago.

The building is designed by Nepal's top architect, Mr. Arun Pant and constructed by an ‘A' class company. It has been designed to withstand massive earthquakes. The building suffered no damage after the devastating earthquake of April 2015. A thorough check by structural engineers revealed no damage at all.

The ground floor of the building houses four shops catering to tourists. You can buy Cashmere shawls, Kashmiri handicraft and metal crafts. I'm sure they will give you a good discount if you mention that you stay on the top floor ☺

The first floor house a travel agency, the second floor is also a two-bedroom apartment listed on Airbnb as "Soundproof 2BHK Thamel Apartment." The third floor is another 2BHK Apartment listed on Airbnb as "Neo Modern 2BHK Thamel Apartment". The apartment is on the 4th and 5th floors of the building. There are no other floors above the 5th floor of the apartment.

Bedrooms
The air-conditioned 4th floor master bedroom has a queen size double bed, full size wardrobe, real wood flooring and an en suite bathroom with running hot/cold water, western style WC, hand-held toilet spray as well as an electric geyser.

The air-conditioned 5th floor bedroom is connected via a small internal real wood staircase. It has a custom-made queen size bed, a study table, a wardrobe, real wood flooring a connecting bathroom with running hot/cold water, western style WC and hand-held toilet spray. The bedroom has a full bank of sliding aluminum windows facing east and south. Suffice to say, it's like an eagle's nest with sunshine and natural light streaming in all day. It is a perfect place to coop up the entire day with a paperback thriller.

Kitchen
A few steps up after entering the apartment leads you to an open kitchen with a cute breakfast bar. The kitchen has all the amenities you would require to prepare most meals. It is intelligently designed to enable you to cook, store and clean in as little time as possible.

Items in the Kitchen:
• 4-ring gas hob
• Gas cylinders (located on a ledge outside kitchen)
• Induction Cooker
• Exhaust Hood
• Storage cabinets
• French Press
• Water Jar and Dispenser
• Fridge
• Microwave
• Toaster
• Crockery
• Wine Glasses
• Beer Glasses
• Coffee Mugs
• Cutlery
• Cooking Utensils
• Ingredient and food containers
• Hot water heater/dispenser

Living / Dining Area
Adjoining the kitchen is our favourite area – the Living and Dining area (air-conditioned) is where we like to spend most of our time while in the apartment. There are two huge banks of floor to ceiling sliding aluminum door/windows on the south and west sides which lets in a ton of light and plenty of sunshine. The windows can also be fully shaded by rolling down the bamboo blinds. The entire floor is also made of real wood.

The rustic dining table and benches are made from old reclaimed pinewood that has a great deal of character. The sofa set is styled on the classic Corbusier sofas but made locally by non-sofa craftsmen. The coffee table is made of actual 100-year-old wooden beams cut to size. A modern Tibetan rug frames the area.

Terraces
There are two terraces. The 4th floor terrace is a smaller terrace perfect for stepping out of the Living/Dining area for a breather. You could also lean your elbows on the retaining wall and observe life as it happens in Thamel below.

The 5th floor terrace is larger and wraps around the bedroom. It is great for a small get together. It affords great views towards the western hills surrounding the valley and you can catch a great sunset almost everyday in the winter. Both terraces have terracotta tiled floors.

Amenities:
We have invested in Solar Panels and large Batteries as back up to run most things within the apartment. The back up power enables lights in Living/Dining Area, Kitchen, Bedrooms, Internal Staircase, Terraces and Bathrooms. It also powers the Wi-Fi, TV, Satellite TV, DVD, Fridge and almost all power sockets.

Installed Units/Amenities:
• Solar Water Panels and Storage Tank
• Solar Panel and Battery Based Electricity Back Up
• 32" Flat Panel LED TV
• Satellite TV with all major news, sports and entertainment channels
• Music System
• DVD Player
• 5 MBPS Fibre Optic Wi-Fi
• Samsung Washing Machine
• Iron / Iron Board
• Vacuum Cleaner
• Water Pressure Pump (So that your showers and tap water comes out full force and not a mere trickle)
• Hair Dryer and Basic Toiletries
• Mosquito Repellent Units
• Yoga Mat

Guest access
The Apartment occupies the whole of the 4th and 5th floors of the building. Guests can access all portions within the Apartment consisting of Living/Dining Area, Kitchen, Bedrooms and Terraces.

Other things to note
Since the end of October 2016, Kathmandu has 24 hours power (short outages now and then is expected). But please conserve energy usage. Turn off all air-conditioning and lights when stepping out of the apartment.

Water is precious too! We have a deep bore well, from which we draw water, we filter and store in our underground storage tank. We also have two tanks on the rooftop that we replenish every day from the underground storage tank so that guests always have water.