Tibet Dolma’s Home is a great hotel located near the Norbulingka in Lhasa. The owner, a local Tibetan woman named Dolma, is one of the most amazing women I have ever met. Of her 34 staff, 26 of them are physically or mentally handicapped. Read more on why I love this hotel!
Me sitting with Dolma recently inside her restaurant and hotel. Dolma is the owner of Dolma’s Home in Lhasa. Over 75% of her employees are either physically or mentally disabled. Her goal is to provide a great working environment, along with a good salary, for Tibet’s growing number of special needs people. When telling me the story of how she got started, she broke down into tears from her love and compassion for Tibet’s many disabled people. She is an amazing person doing amazing things!
I was recently introduced to a local Lhasa woman named Dolma. Dolma and I have some mutual friends in common. Dolma is in her mid 50’s (though she looks much younger) and retired from working over 30 years at a bank in the Tibetan capital. Dolma has always had a special place in her heart for Tibet’s growing number of physically and mentally disabled people. In 2011, she decided to start a hotel that would mostly employ workers with physical and metal disabilities. It is quite rare in Tibet (or China) for businesses to employ disabled people and even rarer for a business to actually provide a good salary and work environment for these special people. Dolma goes out of her way to provide and excellent work place while paying her staff a very good, competitive wage. When telling me her story on how she started, she broke down into tears because of her massive love for her staff and her desire to see disabled people earn a good living despite their limitations.
A deluxe double room in Tibetan style at Dolma’s Home in Lhasa
A standard double room
Dolma’s Home is a locally-rated 3 Star Hotel (not international 3 Star quality) located about a 15 to 20 minute walk from Ramoche Temple in Lhasa. She has 3 types of rooms: Deluxe Double, Standard Double and Dorm-Style rooms. All rooms are competitively priced and are in a nice, modern Tibetan design. In addition to the hotel, she has a restaurant serving Tibetan and Chinese dishes, a massage center employed by blind masseuses, a tea house (that many local Tibetans go to) and a small handicraft center. Again, over 75% of Dolma’s employees (which she refers to as her extended family) are disabled. She is one of the only businesses in Tibet that focuses on giving jobs to people who otherwise would have a very difficult time supporting themselves.
Worker at Dolma’s Home making items to be sold in the small gift shop.
A sample of the goods produced by the workers at Dolma’s Home
If you are looking to stay at a nice Tibetan-owned and Tibetan-staffed hotel that supports an EXCELLENT cause and that is owned by one of Tibet’s most amazing people, I recommend staying at least one night at Dolma’s Home, but be advised this is a locally rated 3 Star hotel and not a luxury hotel. I also encourage you to get to know Dolma, though she cannot speak English. If you have been following my website for a while or have met me in person, you will know that one of my favorite things to do is to give marketing and business training to travel agencies, restaurants and hotels. Like I have been doing for more than 10 years, I do all of this for free. Tibet Dolma’s Home is a place that I plan to personally invest my time and energy into as I feel it is an excellent business doing amazing things for a community of people who are often neglected.
Have the travel agency you are using in Tibet make a reservation for you at Tibet Dolma’s Home. Their phone number in Lhasa is: 0891.6380666 and 0891.6339132.
Restaurant inside Dolma’s Home