Closed to outsiders until the 1990s, Nepal’s former Mustang Kingdom is considered one of the most culturally preserved regions of the world. Today, guests who make the journey to its Shinta Mani Mustang hotel experience complete immersion into a thoughtfully stylised take on Tibetan Buddhist life. From the yak fur-lined bar to traditional timber-piled roofs, every corner of the newly revamped property offers a sharp sense of place – a reminder of its singularity in a world teeming with sleek new hotels.
Shinta Mani Mustang hotel, the history
In the early 2010s, architect Prabal Thapa drew up blueprints for Moksha Jomsom, a low-slung, stone-and-timber hotel designed to disappear into the rugged topography of lower Mustang. Thapa took design cues from nearby Thakali settlements, where simple stone houses feature wind-sheltered courtyards and flat roofs stacked high with cut wood – a vernacular architectural element that once measured each homestead's functional wealth in the unforgiving landscape.
On arrival, the rectangular open-air courtyard offers immediate relief from the local elements. Inside, Thapa's ‘tread lightly’ approach features passive solar design principles to reduce energy consumption and strategic building orientation to give each room views of the snow-crowned Nilgiri Range.
In 2023, in a collaboration between Nepal's Sherpa Hospitality and Bangkok-based American designer and architect Bill Bensley, the property was reborn as Shinta Mani Mustang. As part of Bensley's overhaul, the interiors have been infused with the rich, warm hues of nearby Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. Seating includes green-painted wooden chairs and burnt caramel-coloured leather sofas. Underfoot, handmade rugs sport orange tigers or swirling rainbow cloud motifs, the latter of reflecting the Buddhist symbol for wayfarers.
Come evening, the lobby is illuminated with candles. Flickering light on mountain landscapes by the late artist Robert Powell pairs well with ever-proffered warm apple brandy and a resonant soundtrack of Tibetan monk chants.
This gathering place is flanked by two more renovated spaces: Nilgiri, a matcha-green and sunset-orange restaurant with a set dinner rotation celebrating Mustang's culinary heritage, and Aara bar, where yak fur cascades from oversized lamp shades and a rustic chalkboard offers daily updates on weather and sunset times.
Bensley's refreshed palette also made its way into the 29 guest rooms, which feature glossy blacks, crisp white walls, iron oxide-orange accents, and floor-to-ceiling mirrors and windows that guide the eye toward the most jaw-dropping aesthetic of all: those Himalayan highs.
And then there's the spa. Nestled into the hillside and lined with warm wooden planks and a wall of jars stuffed with foraged herbs, the spa entrance is humble and homey. Within twin treatment rooms, steam swirls above glacier-blue pools, glass-encased saunas are positioned for massif-gazing, and massage beds stand ready for therapies designed by Tsewang Gyurme Gurung, an 11th-generation Tibetan medicine doctor.
