The Kyichu Hotel is a delight; we stayed twice in a month and the people were charming as is the hotel and it has a very very good restaurant and garden. Our first room needed a space heater which they brought but our second room had heat and was almost a suite. The location is an easy walk to the Jokhang Temple and Barkor Square where we spent most of our time, not in the Chinese area which is intrusive and stridently modern. The Tibetans are a warm strong people . WE love Tibet!

The Kyichu Hotel is a well run hotel with excellent staff that speak great English to help you hail a pedicab, give you directions for the correct bus to ride, or direct you to the easiest way to get to your destination.

We (my teenage daughter and mother) stayed for 7 days after arriving in Lhasa shortly after the torch relay. Even though they had no foreign guests since the March riots, they were willing to open their doors to us - even when many other hotels had closed. Felt very safe traveling on our own, especially when staying at the Kiyuchi. Inner courtyard was a quiet retreat and the front doors remained locked and guarded through the night.

The location is right off the Bhakor and there is a large supermarket and many restaurants very close by. It is also very close to the airport bus terminus. Waking each morning to the smell of incense in the halls in a warm and comfortable bed with hot running water made our journey all the better.

I was very pleased with this hotel. The location is walking distance from the main square (the Jokhang Temple) and the staff are incredibly friendly. Our room was large, clean, quiet and bright and had hot water. The courtyard was very pleasant and relaxing. This hotel also has the best restaurant we found in Lhasa - which was really nice because at this elevation you don't want to walk far for good food. In April it is still quite cold in the evening and our heater did not work but when we told the staff they brought up a space heater that worked great. I recommend getting a room on the 1st or 2nd floor because there is no elevator. In all, I would love to stay here again.

Great Location and very good service...the staff is very friendly..the rooms are clean with a homely feel..the location is in the old city-has a great garden

Wonderful location - we were able to walk around and see all the sights with occasional pit stops back at the hotel during the day since it was so close. We had a room on the 4th floor - and I'd recommend asking for a lower floor - because at that altitude the climb to the 4th floor was a bit breathtaking every time! Aside from that, though, a terrific place.

This is a wonderful hotel. The combination of the location, food, internet access, and room quality make this hotel well worth the money. You are right on the edge of old central Lhasa - the Barkhor circuit and the Jokhang temple are a very short walk, as are numerous wonderful resturants (including Tibetan, Chinese, Indiana, Nepali and even American-style foods) and shops. Be sure to stop by and support Dropenling - a great store stocked with various artisan crafts - all made by and returned to Tibetans.

Also, I would strongly recommend stopping by Sera monastery to witness the morning debates in the dharma grove. What an incredible sight.

The location is perfect, round the corner from Jokhang & Barkhor and a short walk from the Potala Palace. The rooms are clean, nothing very fancy, but very comfortable. There is a small garden in the middle of the hotel which is a good place to hang out as well as have some tasty Tibetan meals. But most of all, the staff are extremely friendly and helpful, service with a smile at all times, even for an extra early breakfast which they gladly arranged for us when we had an early departure. In short, an outstanding hotel, our stay there was a great experience. Would most definately stay there again.

I asked my travel agent to change my reservation from the Lhasa hotel to this one after reading reviews. However, I was very disappointed in the service. When we arrived we found out that they didn't have a room available for us because someone was sick. Understandable. They helped us lug our luggage down the road to the Shangbala Hotel. Next day we had to lug our luggage back to the Kyichu hotel where we spent a couple more nights. However, the day before we were scheduled to leave we were once again kicked out of the hotel. This time it was because they had several tour groups staying in the hotel who needed our room. Apparently, the members of the tour group were more important than a couple of independent travelers. So, we had to lug our luggage back to the Shangbala. Our travel agent made our reservations well in advance, I would have thought that the Kyichu would have known there would be a problem before we arrived. It would have been nice if we could have stayed at the Shangbala, which was in a better location, had elevators, cute cats, and a nice staff. Overall, I would recommend staying at the Shangbala over the Kyichu, especially if you are an independant traveler.

Don't expect miracles. This small hotel has a very family run feel to it and doesn't have all the western luxuries many are expect in a hotel. Having said that they do try very hard to make your stay a good one. There are no lifts in the building which is hard work whilst you are still acclimatising but after 24 hours is only a problem for the seriously unfit. Our room was on the top floor and we were rewarded with a tantalising glimpse of the Potala over the rooftops from our window and another tantalising glimpse of the Jokhang from the window in the corridor outside our room.

Location wise, you will struggle to beat it. Just around the corner from the Jokhang and about 20 minutes walk to the Potala it's an ideal base.

The laundry service is efficient and quite cheap, just send anything expensive to be cleaned as I suspect they have a more robust approach to cleaning than most places. my clothes were returned absolutely gleaming and neatly pressed the same day.

The rooms are basically decorated with handmade fixtures and cupboards. Something which really lends to the personality of this hotel.

Our room had 2 singles and not a double bed which made snuggling up in the cold of the night more fun!

All the rooms have a wall heater cum A/C unit. I couldn't get mine to work properly as all the controls are in Mandarin. The staff did their best to help but mostly through my own ignorance and urge to fiddle with everything we had to do without any heating whilst we were there. During the day, if the sun is out, this isn't a problem, but I was very glad of the extra blankets at night!

Breakfast is a simple affair but the food on offer is tasty and well prepared. Bizarrely the baked beans are the best I have ever tasted. Avoid the coffee though.

The Kyichu Hotel was a great place to stay in Lhasa. We stayed there 5 nights, 3 initially, and then two when we returned from touring Central Tibet. After those other hotels in Gyantse and Shigatse, we were very happy to return.

The location is great, as it is a short walk to both the Jokhang Temple area and the Potola Palace. The rooms are not 5-star by international luxury standards, but are perfectly fine and win out on a relative scale. The restaurant is really good and we ate there several times. The access to internet and the two local felines was very welcomed as well.

The staff is very friendly and attentive, I would have liked to take them home with me, but my wife probably would not go along with it.

The hotel is popular with western tourists. We saw many of the same people in Tibet throughout our stay in the Region.

Highly recommended!

Kyichu has a good location very close to the Tibetan part of the city, and equally important, it has a fantastic, sunny backyard where friends meet and meals are consumed. Indeed the best place to rest after a day of temple watching. It is owned and operated by Tibetans. The staff is very friendly and helpful, either with practicalities such as finding drivers or air tickets, but also in a more general way so that each guest feels welcomed. Having stayed in several hotels in Lhasa, I recommend Kyichu. It is the nicest place.

I stayed in the Kyichu for a week and had a wonderful time. The staff is very helpful and extremely friendly. The restaurant had great food (I'm a vegetarian) and I loved hanging out in the courtyard.

My "above average" rating is relative to Lhasa and takes into account decor, staff and food.