Amankora

It wasn’t my first time in Bhutan. I came here for 10 days in 1997 but, back then, the closest one got to luxury in a hotel was hot water and uninterrupted electricity. While I loved my trip, I did spend much of it dreaming of luxurious accommodation. So I was particularly looking forward to taking Mrs Smith for a week at Amankora, a collection of five ultra-swish lodges dotted around this tiny mountain country, not just to show her the magical kingdom that I had fallen in love with a decade earlier, but also to treat her to her first Amanresorts experience – something I’ve also grown to adore over the past few years.

We began our journey at Paro, site of the country’s only airport, and were soon in a car, zipping along winding mountain roads. After half an hour, our driver pulled over to the side of the road. Did he, I wondered, need to go to the loo? Suddenly, from out of the forest, hotel staff started to appear. They picked up our bags and guided us through the trees and onto a soft, pine-needle covered path. Then we saw Amankora Paro. Hidden in the forest, this impressive structure – part Bhutanese, part Zen modernist fantasy – looked like the home of a reclusive Bond villain.

Check-in and check-out for any of the five Amankora lodges is generally done at either this branch or in Thimphu. The understanding is that the other three lodges – Gangtey, Punakha, and Bumthang – are so far away that you’d have to spend at least one night at either of these two properties on your way in or out. What’s wonderful is that once you’ve checked in at one location, they’ll just hand you a key when you arrive at another – no need for a new set of forms.

Paro is made up of several small buildings, spread out across expansive grounds. To get to our room, we had to go down a staircase, past the building that housed the hotel’s only restaurant, across a small courtyard and then up another short flight of steps. Thank God I was acclimatising to the thin Himalayan air quickly. Our Zen-like room was lovely and large, and had the feel of a futuristic hunting lodge. The interiors were primarily wood, mixed with some mild steel cladding, and the large open bathroom was dominated by a giant bathtub. Mrs Smith’s weary eyes lit up with delight.

At dinner, we were quite surprised by the dining room. We didn’t so much mind the communal tables – though it was odd that everyone was sitting as far away from each other as possible – but the dark and sombre décor, and lack of music made the affair a little more serious than we’d have liked. All of the Amankora restaurants offer just two set-menu options at lunch and dinner. At Paro, for example, guests can choose between Indian or Bhutanese cuisine.

The following day, we set off for Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, to stay at Amankora Thimphu, situated in a wooded area just minutes outside the city. The hotel, the largest of the five lodges, may have been built to look like an old Bhutanese fort, but, inside, there’s some very sexy contemporary features. Its large rooms were similar in style to those at Paro – the only differences were the orientation of the bathtub and the use of materials on the walls and ceilings. While Paro’s rooms were a raw mix of wood and steel, the rooms here were mostly wood, with a touch of painted cement.

Before we headed into town to do a spot of sightseeing, our excellent guide – who travelled with us to all the Amankora properties – asked us what we wanted for lunch the following day. Because getting to Amankora Gangtey would take us a good half-day, he suggested we stop at a few places along the way, and take a midday break. Mrs Smith and I both chose the Thai picnic – strangely, the idea of chowing down a Bhutanese cheese curry, followed by a bumpy car ride, didn’t sit well with us.

The drive to Amankora Gangtey was both beautiful and occasionally terrifying. Our driver swung his little SUV around the steep one-lane mountain roads like a teenager with a PlayStation. By the time we drove into the Gangtey valley, the sun was already setting. We had spied the hotel from quite a distance. Its clean lines and modern architecture stood out dramatically in the landscape, creating a gorgeously stark marriage of contrasts.

Unlike the other lodges, which are made up of several buildings, Gangtey is contained in just one. All rooms have amazing views of the valley. Tired after our journey, Mrs Smith and I decided to relax in front of the gorgeous vista, cocktails by our sides, and read the novels we’d packed, before heading down for a quiet dinner of Western fare in the Spartan dining area.

Punakha Valley was only a few hours drive from Gangtey, but it felt like a world away. While Gangtey was cool and dry, this lush, subtropical valley where the Bhutanese royals spend their winters, was warm and humid. Green and dotted with rice paddies, it all felt more Bali than Bhutan. To get to Amankora Punakha, guests have to cross a small river via a beautiful, prayer flag-clad bridge. Staff then ferry guests on golf buggies past the rice fields and up to the property.

Our room here, housed in a small, modernist wooden building just off the large stone courtyard, was identical to the one we had stayed in Paro. In a way, by designing identical rooms across the various lodges, Amanresorts has made the transition between its Bhutanese hotels easy and enjoyable. Because we were familiar with where everything would be, unpacking and getting comfortable in each room was a breeze. Now that’s not a phrase you’d have heard me saying when I first came here 10 years ago.