Some nights are the best room for three hundred kilometres. Some are a ger with a stove, warm and simple. Here is exactly what each one is.
We book the same small set of properties again and again, because we have slept in them ourselves and know which ones hold up in February. Where a journey goes somewhere none of these reach, we camp, and the itinerary tells you so.
Every journey begins and ends in the city. These are the two hotels we book, both within a few minutes of Sükhbaatar Square.
The largest hotel in the city, a short walk from Sükhbaatar Square. Rooms start at 42 square metres with floor-to-ceiling windows facing either the square and the parliament building or the Bogd Khan reserve to the south.
One hundred metres from Sükhbaatar Square and the Government Palace — the closest good hotel to the centre of the city. 198 rooms, from standard doubles up to the presidential suite.
Fixed properties on the main routes, chosen for what they are like to arrive at after a long day.
On the Orkhon river at Kharkhorin, inside the Orkhon Valley cultural landscape and within reach of Erdene Zuu. The closest comfortable base to the site of the Mongol capital.
Sixty-two kilometres out of Dalanzadgad, with the Gurvansaikhan range on the skyline. Gers to sleep in, a lodge building for everything else.
Built by Toilogt on the twin glacial lakes just south of Khövsgöl, on a peninsula reached by boat from Hatgal. Forty-five guests at most, which is what keeps it quiet.
An hour and a half from the city, and the easiest place in Mongolia to spend a first or last night on real ground.
On the bank of the Terelj river with wooded mountains on every side, fifty kilometres from Ulaanbaatar. A member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and the most comfortable room in the park.
In the Ongot area of the park, about an hour and a half east of the city. Gers rather than hotel rooms, which is the point of coming out here.
Ulaanbaatar · 19 Olympic Street, Sükhbaatar District
Four places to eat without leaving the building: Café Park for all-day dining, Naadam for Mongolian and western menus, Hutong for Chinese, and the lobby lounge for afternoon tea.
The fitness centre runs to more than 7,000 square metres and includes the 25-metre indoor pool — genuinely useful on the night you come back off the steppe.
Rooms on the Horizon Club floors include evening drinks and a separate breakfast.
Ulaanbaatar · Prime Minister Amar Street 15
Three restaurants, two conference halls with simultaneous translation, the Aroma Tera spa and sauna, and a fitness centre.
Rooms are modern and quiet for how central they are, with free Wi-Fi throughout. Several categories look onto the mountains south of the city.
We use it when the Shangri-La is full, when a group wants to be as close to the square as possible, or when a shorter city stay suits a smaller hotel.
Kharkhorin, Orkhon Valley · Orkhon river, Kharkhorin
Seventy-two wooden chalets including two suites, plus twenty-one modern gers. Every one of them has its own bathroom, which is rare this far from a city and makes a real difference.
The restaurant opens onto a terrace over the valley and cooks with what is grown and raised nearby. Breakfast is a buffet; the front desk is staffed around the clock.
Roughly 380 km from Ulaanbaatar — a long driving day, or a short flight to Kharkhorin in summer.
South Gobi · 62 km from Dalanzadgad, Ömnögovi
Each ger has its own bathroom — the single thing that most changes how a week in the Gobi feels.
The lodge holds the dining room, the bar and a terrace that is the right place to be at dusk. There is a spa and a small outdoor pool, which is a real pleasure after a day in the desert.
Mongolian cooking daily, with horse trekking and music from local performers on the evenings we arrange it.
Lake Khövsgöl · Toilogt, Lake Khövsgöl National Park
Three ways to sleep here: traditional gers, ten rooms in the lodge, and two A-frame houses for families or anyone who would like the extra space.
Reached by flying to Mörön, driving to Hatgal and then crossing by boat. That last leg across the water is part of the pleasure of arriving.
The interiors are simple and comfortable, and each building is placed for its own view rather than in a row.
Gorkhi-Terelj National Park · Terelj river, Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
A spa, a heated indoor pool, two restaurants and a café — an easy first or last night for anyone who wants the country without a long drive.
Close enough to Ulaanbaatar to use as the night before an early flight, far enough in to wake up to the Terelj river.
Gorkhi-Terelj National Park · Ongot, Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
Twenty-eight deluxe gers, thirty-two standard, and ten wooden summer houses with electric heaters and their own terraces.
There is a ger museum on site, playing fields, and evening performances. The kitchen cooks Mongolian, Asian and European menus.
A good first night out of Ulaanbaatar for anyone new to sleeping in a ger, with everything still close to hand.
None of this is fixed.
If you want the Shangri-La for the whole city stay, a ger every single night, or a private camp where there is no camp at all, say so when you enquire and we will price it that way. Availability in July and at Naadam is the one real constraint — those weeks book out a year ahead.