Deluxe
Deluxe Double with Balcony
Our best room: a double bed, a private balcony facing the mountain, and space to leave your boots out to dry.
Where the mountains meet the warmth of home.
High in the Albanian Alps, where these mountains have been our home for generations, we welcome you to a place shaped by family, tradition and the beauty of nature.
Here, we open our doors to share more than a stay — our table, our homemade flavors, our traditions and the simple beauty of mountain life.
Come for the mountains, stay for the warmth of home, and leave with memories made around our table.
Agrotourism here is not a marketing label. It is what the meadow has, what the barn has, and what is on the stove that day.
Hotel Kelmendi stands at Qafa e Predelecit, on the shoulder above Lepushë village, in the Kelmend highlands of Malësi e Madhe. The house opened in 1999 and the same family has run it ever since. The people who cook your dinner are the people who cut the hay in the meadow you can see from the balcony.
Milk, cheese, meat, fruit and the jams on the breakfast table come out of this valley. What we do not grow, our neighbours do — and that is not an aesthetic choice. At 1,450 metres, the supply chain is the village.
On the second Saturday of August, Logu i Bjeshkëve — the highland gathering held here since 1998 — fills the meadow at Qafa e Predelecit: xhubleta, song, horses, dancing, and the whole of Kelmend in one field. It happens on our doorstep. For that week, book early.
The house has a terrace, a garden, a lounge with a fire, an outdoor fireplace and a picnic area. There is no spa and no pool. There is quiet, air that stings a little in the morning, and a table where nobody eats alone.
Every room has a private bathroom with a shower, a fridge, a TV, heating and free WiFi. Most have a balcony. None of them look out onto a car park.
Our best room: a double bed, a private balcony facing the mountain, and space to leave your boots out to dry.
One double bed or two singles, whichever you need. Tell us when you write and we will make it up that way.
A double bed and a balcony over the garden. In August, breakfast out here beats breakfast inside.
Three beds, private bathroom. The usual choice for small groups walking together.
The same, plus the balcony — where maps get opened and tomorrow's route gets decided.
The largest room in the house, meant for parents with children. Extra bed on request.
The cheapest bed in the house, with a shared bathroom down the hall. For people who came for the mountain, not the room.
So we do not freeze it into a table. Send us your dates and we answer the same day, with the price for the room and for breakfast or half board.
It is not a plate, it is a buffet. Guests count the jams — there are usually eight — and then they start on the honey.
A buffet of local produce: homemade jams, honey, butter and cheese, eggs, pancakes, fresh bread, wild blueberry juice, tea, coffee and milk.
Dinner is cooked to order. Tell us in the morning how many you are and when you will be back off the mountain — even if that is late.
Guests have written this themselves in their reviews: vegan and vegetarian plates at a fair price. Tell us a day ahead and we will sort it.
A bar, a terrace, a garden and a picnic area. On August evenings nobody goes inside; by October, nobody goes out.
These are the walks our guests actually do, timed from the hotel gate, without stops. Weather in the Alps turns fast — ask at reception before you go up.
The finest climb nearby. From the summit you look straight into the Karanfil walls on the Montenegrin side. Go early; it clouds over in the afternoon.
The crossing from Lepushë to Vermosh over Greben, with the central Alps laid out below you. We arrange the drive back.
The best-known traverse from this side. Ask at reception about the overnight in Nikç, about a guide, and about moving your bags.
The short one, for your first afternoon, when your legs are still full of car. In May and June the water comes down at full force.
The park boundary starts minutes away. For longer routes inside it, ask us about the season and conditions before you set off.
We arrange bicycle tours from the hotel, and there is secure parking for your own bikes if you arrive on them.
The road climbs from Koplik through the Leqet e Hotit switchbacks, drops to Tamarë, then follows the valley up to Lepushë. In summer a normal car manages it. In winter, call us first — snow closes the pass on some days.
| From / to | Distance | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Shkodër | 75 km | Nearest city and minibus hub |
| Tirana | 175 km | A travel day; leave in the morning |
| Tamarë | 21 km | The last big junction before us |
| Vermosh | 10 km | The northernmost village in Albania |
| Lepushë waterfall | 2.0 km | On foot from the gate |
| Bjeshkët e Nemuna NP | 4.2 km | Park boundary |
| Maja e Vajushës | 4.4 km | Montenegro border, 2,059 m |
| Lake Plav (MNE) | 27 km | Via the Bashkimi border crossing |
| Airports | On request | Podgorica (TGD) or Tirana (TIA) — we arrange the transfer |
Inside the yard, no booking needed. We also do car hire and currency exchange at reception.
Paid shuttle service. Give us your flight or minibus time and we will be there.
Luggage storage, trail information, and somebody awake when you arrive late.
Most people come in August. Most people are wrong. Here is what each season is actually like, so you pick the dates rather than the calendar picking them for you.
The valley goes white and stays white. The fire is lit from morning, the house smells of woodsmoke, and you may well be the only guests at dinner. Call before you drive: the pass closes on some days and we would rather tell you than have you turn around at Tamarë.
Best for: silence, snowshoes, and a very low bill
Twenty-seven years on the same pass produce photographs a city hotel does not have. These are some of them.
The meadow in front of the house is open to tents, with bathrooms, a shower and the table indoors. Ask us for the price per night.
The whole house can be taken. One shared dinner, guides for the walks, and transport from Shkodër or the airport.
Parking inside the yard, somewhere to dry your kit, and dinner even when you arrive late and wet.
The themes that come up again and again in Booking.com and Google reviews, summarised. The links below take you to the originals, unfiltered.
Eight kinds of jam, honey, butter and cheese, eggs and blueberry juice. The best breakfast of the whole trip.
A beautiful, rustic house, and a family who could not have been kinder.
Dinner and breakfast are made with love and passion. Genuinely filling.
A very good base for hiking in the area, and no trouble communicating in English.
We are on Booking, Google and the rest, and you are welcome to book there. But a message from this page reaches the family directly — we can answer about the road, hold several rooms for a group, cook dinner for a late arrival, or make you a better price for a long stay.