The Postcard Hotel crosses into Nepal with a 22-room jungle retreat on Chitwan's Rapti River
India's The Postcard Hotel opens its first Nepal property this November – a 22-room wildlife retreat beside Chitwan National Park, with rates from ₹85,000 a night.
India's favourite boutique-luxury label is crossing the border. The Postcard Hotel, the brand founded by Kapil Chopra, is opening its first hotel in Nepal this November: The Postcard on the Rapti River, a 22-room wildlife retreat on a bend of the Rapti, right next to the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park. Nepal becomes the brand's fourth country after India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka – and for Indian travellers, it may be the easiest jungle holiday abroad you will ever plan.
What you get for your money
There are just 22 rooms and suites, and every one comes with its own private sit-out facing either the river or the forest. You arrive through a Temple Court built around a stupa, which sets the tone: quiet, unhurried, rather grown-up. Rates start at ₹85,000 a night, and true to The Postcard's habit, breakfast is served whenever you want it and check-in and check-out work around your schedule rather than the hotel's.
Away from the room, there is a swimming pool, spa treatment rooms, a sauna and a raised viewing deck for spotting wildlife without leaving your drink behind.
Food by the fire
Two places to eat. Tree Tops is an indoor-outdoor restaurant and bar on an elevated deck looking into the forest – that is where the anytime breakfast lives. Tribal Circle is the one you will talk about later: an open-air barbecue around a bonfire, inspired by the cooking of the Tharu community who have lived in the Chitwan valley for generations.
The jungle on your doorstep
Chitwan National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best places in South Asia to see the greater one-horned rhino. Both the hotel and travel writers who have covered the opening say rhinos and crocodiles are often seen from the riverbanks, with an outside chance of a Bengal tiger or a sloth bear – no promises, this is the wild. Days are built around naturalist-led jeep safaris, guided forest walks, canoe trips on the Rapti, birdwatching and visits to nearby Tharu villages.
Getting there from India
The quickest route is a flight to Kathmandu, then a short hop of about 25 minutes to Bharatpur Airport, followed by a 40-minute drive to the hotel. If you prefer the road, the hotel puts it at about five hours from Kathmandu and about three and a half hours from Pokhara – which makes it an easy add-on to a Pokhara lake holiday.
For Indians, Nepal has always been the friendliest "abroad" there is: no long-haul flight and, now, a familiar Indian hotel brand waiting at the end of it. Bookings go through The Postcard Hotel's own website.
The FHM take
₹85,000 a night is serious money, and you could do a perfectly good Chitwan safari for a fraction of it. But that is not the point. This is for the man who wants a rhino at breakfast, a bonfire at dinner and nobody hurrying him in between. If you have already done the tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh and fancy something that feels a little further away without actually being far, put this on the list for the winter-spring season.
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