Shyam’s Shangrila

Creator of the successful Shangrila hotel group, with properties in Kathmandu, Pokhara, and soon in Chitwan and Begnas, renowned tourism veteran Shyam Bahadur Panday died last week after a long illness. 

In a double hit for Nepal’s tourism industry, we lost Ambica Shrestha the same week, another giant of first wave tourism entrepreneurs. Next generations of family carry both their legacies into the future.

Shyam had a pioneering vision for hotels that reflected the spirit of Nepal, and had the foresight to hire many of Kathmandu Valleys best expatriate artists and designers to realise his dream. 

Cleverly spotting a space in the market between Kathmandu’s five-star properties and the budget lodges that were moving from Freak Street to Thamel, he was able to procure a license due to King Birendra’s coronation. Shyam charged his friend Desmond Doig, to design the perfect mid-level Kathmandu hotel. It opened on 1 July 1979.

Desmond was an editor, author, painter, designer, photographer, expeditioner and conservationist, a Renaissance man who delighted in the Valley’s vibrant living artistry. Retiring to Nepal in the 1970s after a lifetime in journalism in Kolkata, ‘Des-la’ adapted his talents to architecture and landscape design. 

Read also: Remembering Des-la at Shangri~la, Lisa Choegyal 

Utpal Sengupta, the curly haired member of Desmond’s original entourage, managed the hotel with flair and imagination for 20 years. Former employees who cut their teeth at the Shangrila can still be found running travel agencies, resorts and restaurants in Kathmandu and beyond.

Writer Dubby Bhagat, artist Robert Powell and designer Chino Ronchoroni were amongst those who contributed their special style in upgrades and additions. Shyam, and later his sons Prasidha and Prabin, maintained a watchful eye over the decades. 

Read also: Saving what is left, Sonia Awale

The Shangrila Village Pokhara at Gharipatan followed and a site was secured in Meghauli in Chitwan. Pranay Panday proudly showed me the resort at Begnas he was building, overlooking the lake and the Annapurna peaks, faithfully following his grandfather Shyam’s original concept.

Shyam’s ‘Shang’ became a fixture for many of us local residents, as well as a friendly base for tourists, trekkers, journalists, consultants and film crews. We would often encounter Shyam lurking in the lobby, a gentle smiling presence always with time for a chat or a laugh, usually on his way to a government or industry meeting. 

Following a career in the civil service and a Masters’ degree from University of Southern California, Shyam realised his talent for business. After establishing the Shangrila group, he became instrumental in developing responsible tourism policies and regulations with the government, HAN and PATA amongst others, recognised with a lifetime achievement award in business leadership. 

Read also: The legends still live, Sraddha Basnyat

Hotelier colleague Yogendra Shakya recalls his devotion to high class hospitality: “Shyam’s contribution to the tourism sector is unparalleled.”

Lingering in the al fresco restaurant, lounging at the hiti pool, or enjoying a hot rum punch by the roaring fire in the lobby bar, one might have run into Tony Hagen the Swiss development pioneer who walked the length of Nepal, Dudley Spain long-term British Embassy implant, UNICEF’s Gordon ‘Golden’ Temple before he decamped to Bhutan, Jim Edwards the indefatigable owner of Tiger Tops, or Col Jimmy Roberts with his floppy-eared spaniels, the founder of trekking in Nepal. 

The legendary Boris Lissanevitch regularly graced the kitchens as a special guest chef, bearing bottles of flavoured vodka and bones to make his famous borscht. 

Dame Freya Stark, Arabist explorer and British eccentric, was one of the first to stay at the Shangrila. Already in her 80s and rather forgetful, she declared on arrival: “I feel we must be somewhere east of the Euphrates.” 

We arranged two treks for her in the early 1980s with her favourite hill pony named Red Balls. Freya wrote in the Shangrila guest book: “This is the finest hotel I have ever stayed in with the nicest people in it.”

Read also: Adventurers in a vanishing land, Lisa Choegyal

The great burra sahib Sir Edmund Hillary, an ardent Shangrila fan, was feted with a garden dinner by his Sherpa friends to mark the Everest Golden Jubilee 50th anniversary in 2003. Suites were named after him and Tenzing Norgay. 

Reinhold Messner stopped by between 8,000m peaks. David Breashears, maker of IMAX Everest documentary that put Sagarmatha on the trekking map, used the garden as a quiet haven to shoot interviews,  including with British film director Stephen Daldry (The Crown and Billy Elliot). 

Writer and nomadic traveller Bruce Chatwin came as one of a long line of yeti-hunters en route to the mountains. American Mikel Dunham visited annually, author of Buddha’s Warriors and my co-editor of Elizabeth Hawley’s diaries The Nepal Scene, which covered the turbulent political and social history of Nepal from 1988-2007. 

Over the years Shyam’s Shangrila Hotel hosted local weddings, rites of passage and some remarkable celebrations. Desmond arranged Utpal’s marriage to Caroline (of Chez Caroline) in 1981 amidst the terraces, fountains and newly planted marigolds in that soothing garden. 

The Prime Minister attended the 1994 reception honouring the Himalayan chronicler, Elizabeth Hawley, with 35 years of service to Reuters. Always a stickler for accuracy, to our embarrassment she kept interrupting the regional boss’ laudatory speech with factual corrections. 

Kunda Dixit had survived as Miss Hawley’s youthful journalist intern: “The Shangrila garden reminds me of Desmond Doig who was pivotal to my early career.” As Nepali Times’ publisher, Kunda chose it to mark its twentieth year and one thousandth issue in July 2020. As befitted a celebration in the time of Covid, numbers were limited, the party was muted, and hugs and handshakes were replaced by knuckle taps, elbow embraces and namastes. It would be one of the last events held there.

Read also: 1,000 weeks of Nepali Times, Mark Turin

Today the old Shangrila Hotel is a gaping hole in Lazimpath’s landscape, an empty space echoing with memories. Under the direction of Shyam’s two sons and their offspring, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Begnas are in preparation to launch under the prestigious Intercontinental (and Indigo) brands.

Whilst the family hotel properties are reincarnated to meet the changing times, founder of the dynasty late Shyam Bahadur Panday’s inheritance will continue to set benchmarks for the future.