Punakha, Bhutan

Amankora Punakha Lodge

Price per night from$1,550.00

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD1,550.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Peaceful Himalayan farmhouse

Setting

Perched among paddies

Amankora Punakha in Bhutan makes most hotel arrivals seem somewhat pedestrian: the hotel is accessed via a suspension bridge over the sparkling Mo Chhu River. This traditional Bhutanese farmhouse has pedigree; it was built by a former Je Khenpo (chief abbot of Bhutan), after all. Within its walled courtyard, soothing suites and a relaxed kitchen await; further afield, outdoors adventures beckon. Consider this your laidback launchpad to voyages of discovery involving orange orchards, tiered rice terraces, rugged countryside and ah-maize-ing cuisine.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A 60-minute massage at one of Amankora's lodges

Facilities

Photos Amankora Punakha Lodge facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Eight.

Check–Out

Noon; earliest check-in, 2pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability. If you’re arriving early or departing late, you can use the steam room and shower room.

Prices

Double rooms from £1473.27 ($1,860), including tax at 20 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional government tax of $60.00 per person per night prior to arrival and an additional government tax of $200.00 per person per night prior to arrival.

More details

Rates usually include all meals (including picnics), in-house drinks, airport transfers, laundry, use of an on-loan private vehicle (and a driver). Stay for seven nights or more, and you’ll also have an English-speaking guide at your disposal.

Also

You’ll need to pay a one-off Sustainable Tourism Fund contribution (US$10 a person). Amankora can help with the processing and issuance of the visa and authorisation letter to enter Bhutan; this must be done at least three weeks before departure, and is subject to a one-off payment (US$40 a person).

At the hotel

Gardens, courtyard, library, steam room. In rooms: working fireplace, air-conditioning (individually controlled), free bottled water, blackout curtain, shaving mirror and Aman bath products.

Our favourite rooms

They’re all born equal, stylistically – the main point of difference is whether you opt for a ground- or first-floor perch, and kip in the main house or the new building (home to the two Mo Chhu Suites). Each suite has a snore-prompting Aman bed, a traditional wood-burning stove and a freestanding bath tub.

Poolside

The pool is in a peaceful patch of the gardens, with eye-widening rural views and a clutch of sun loungers.

Spa

The Amankora Punakha Spa has a steam room, two single treatment rooms and a yoga studio, which doubles up as a couple’s treatment room. Opt for one of the three signature facials: grounding, purifying or nourishing.

Packing tips

Bring boots fit for hiking and warm layers for cool nights.

Food and Drink

Photos Amankora Punakha Lodge food and drink

Top Table

Try to nab a table beneath the shady courtyard tree by day; sit opposite the bonfire by night.

Dress Code

Hip hiker. Bring warm layers to wear by the bonfire (shellsuits: not advisable).

Hotel restaurant

The farmhouse kitchen is positioned at the back of the farmhouse. Meals are served in the two snug front rooms and out on the pretty courtyard terrace, graced with sweeping views of the countryside. Pick from the Bhutanese and Western menu – but don’t miss the tomato and feta salad, which stars toms plucked from the hotel’s garden. Traditional live musicians sometimes play, to the delight of diners. Rates include all meals, house wines and cocktails.

Last orders

It’s a very relaxed setup – mealtimes are arranged around your preferences.

Room service

Order from the menu while the kitchen is open.

Location

Photos Amankora Punakha Lodge location
Address
Amankora Punakha Lodge
Habesa Guma Geog PO Box 333 Punakha Kingdom of Bhutan
Punakha
975
Bhutan

Punakha is a remote town in the Himalayas, in Bhutan’s scenic south.

Planes

It’s a four-hour drive from Paro International Airport to the hotel. Druk Air flies into the country from a range of Asian and Indian destinations; Bhutan Airlines flies from Bangkok, Kathmandu and Kolkata. Talk to the Smith24 team if you’re looking for help with your travel plans.

Automobiles

You don’t need to worry about wheels, since the hotel offers the services of an on-loan driver.

Worth getting out of bed for

Isn’t it time you perfected your archery skills? You can do exactly that here. Unwind with some yoga, laze by the pool, request a barbecue in one of the hotel's serene spots, take part in a Bhutanese cooking class, and embark on a walk or two in the surrounding forestsAdmire Bhutanese architecture in all its glory at Khamsum Yulley Namgyal. This chorten (important Buddhist monument) was designed to deflect negative forces and create peace and harmony for all living beings. Admire Bhutan’s longest suspension bridge, Punakha, which sprawls across the Po Chu River, fed by glaciers in the Lunana region of the Punakha valley. Gawp in wonder at Punakha Dzong, which served as the capital and seat of government until the Fifties; it remains the winter residence of the dratshang (official monk body). Bhutan’s kings have all been crowned here. If you come in spring, you’ll get to see the lilac jacarandas in full bloom.

Reviews

Photos Amankora Punakha Lodge reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this rural hotel in the Himalayas and unpacked their walking gear and cashmere, a full account of their rugged mountain break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Amankora Punakha in Bhutan

Trust Aman to take a traditional farmhouse with heritage architecture and sensitively transform it into a luxurious hideaway with quiet hospitality and generous all-inclusive rates. A stay here is as close to a Bhutanese fairytale as you’re likely to get, thanks to the suspension-bridge entrance and milk-and-honey–hued historic building. Things get even better behind those gracious courtyard walls, which hide eight seductive suites, a peaceful pool, appetite-sating kitchen and charming staff. This is Bhutan’s scenic south, with the tropical climate to match, but don’t panic if the temperature drops by night: traditional bukhari wood-burning stoves and freestanding bath tubs beg to be made the most of.

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Price per night from $1,550.00