Paro, Bhutan

Six Senses Paro

Style

Valley palace

Setting

Kingdom come

It’s the happiest place on Earth, so you’re probably going to be pretty jolly at Six Senses Paro, and that’s before they’ve even tried to win you over. This south-east Asian kingdom, high in the Himalayas, has a lot going for it, whether your serotonin level depends on cliff-edge monasteries, ancient temples or plain old breathtaking valley views from your bath tub. The group has crafted a series of five lodges for you to journey between, linking Thimphu, Punakha, Paro, Gangtey and Bumthang, with your accompanying guest experience manager making all the magic happen.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

Your choice of a 30-minute foot massage for two or a body scrub for two (only available once per journey)

Facilities

Photos Six Senses Paro facilities

Need to know

Rooms

16 suites and four villas.

Check–Out

Noon, but flexible for a fee. Earliest check-in, 2pm.

Also

Bhutan is not your average far-flung ancient kingdom: it’s forbidden for foreign tourists to travel independently and so you’ll be accompanied by a guide at all times. Certain areas will require permits, which can be applied for via the immigration office in Thimphu.

At the hotel

Free WiFi throughout, car park, gym. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, minibar, free bottled water, tea and coffee, and Bose speakers.

Our favourite rooms

Each of the wood-panelled rooms has head-in-the-clouds views, with the best place from which to appreciate them being the bath tub, obviously. Groups will love the Three-Bedroom Villa, which has plenty of indoor and outdoor space, hand-chiselled stone walls and a Paro Valley-facing deck where the chef can serve up spectacular private dinners on request.

Poolside

There’s a heated indoor pool overlooking the Paro Valley and its forests.

Spa

The spa has four treatment rooms for rituals including deep-tissue, Marma and holistic massages, and detox scrubs. Private yoga and meditation classes can be arranged.

Packing tips

This is one for the outdoor wear – Gore-Tex is actively encouraged, along with waterproofs, especially if you’ve travelled during monsoon season (late June to late September).

Also

The hotel is not easily accessible for wheelchair users.

Children

All ages are welcome. Extra beds and cots can be added to all rooms. Mini Smiths are allowed in the restaurant at all times, but there’s no special menu. Special activities, including farm trips and cooking classes, can be arranged for children.

Best for

There's something to suit all ages.

Activities

The Grow With Six Senses programme offers a tailored programme for kids. This includes dressing up in national costume, archery tournaments, sand-mandala making, khuru (darts), yoga and hiking. And if none of that appeals to your little one, talk to your Guest Experience Manager who'll think of something fun to do.

Meals

The hotel's seasonal, locally inspired meals (simple rice dishes, sandwiches, momo dumplings, banana pancakes) will suit little Smiths too. The chef will happily tweak things or cook something afresh for fusspots.

Sustainability efforts

All Bhutan’s power supply is hydro, so the hotel can’t take credit for that; it does minimise its plastic use, though. Other admirable actions include local wood being used for fires, organic produce being grown on site, and Bhutanese suppliers, artists and designers helping out with the decor.

Food and Drink

Photos Six Senses Paro food and drink

Top Table

Opt for a table as close to the valley-framing panelled windows as you can – or have your guest experience manager rustle up a spectacular ‘destination dining’ setting.

Dress Code

Nothing fancy – just make sure it’s elements-proof.

Hotel restaurant

Jangkho takes its design inspiration from the stone dzongs (or fortresses) seen all over Bhutan, with brick walls, dark wooden floors and ceilings, and the show-stealing views out over the Paro Valley. You may be in a remote Buddhist kingdom, but you wouldn’t know it from the cosmopolitan menu, which draws on Asian, Indian, Western and, of course, local influences, with a focus on super-fresh, organic produce.

Hotel bar

The bar is the perfect setting to reflect on a spiritual day up in the clouds, with a smoky old fashioned or pea daiquiri making things even more fantastical. Snacks are served here during opening hours.

Last orders

The restaurant is open all day (7am to 11pm); breakfast hours are 7am to 10.30am. Drinks are available at the bar between 1pm and 11pm.

Room service

Food from the restaurant can be served in-room on request, along with burgers and sandwiches.

Location

Photos Six Senses Paro location
Address
Six Senses Paro
Chubjakha, Paro, Bhutan
Thimphu
Bhutan

The hotel is one of a series of five lofty Six Senses lodges strung along the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan.

Planes

Paro’s airport is a 30-minute drive from this namesake lodge; transfers are included. Flights land here from other destinations across Asia, including Bangkok, Singapore, Kathmandu, Dhaka and New Delhi.

Automobiles

You won’t need your own wheels, since all foreign visitors to Bhutan are required to be accompanied by a licensed guide at all times (road checks are in place). Leave the journey planning to the hotel, who will facilitate your voyage across the lodges, fortresses and temples.

Worth getting out of bed for

Whether you’re journeying to each of the five lodges or just one or two, a visit to Bhutan will feel like a pilgrimage. At Six Senses Paro, weary wayfarers can revive themselves with yoga at the spa’s rooftop, a dip in a cold plunge pool and a spell in the outdoor sauna. The Samtenling Monastery is right next to the lodge, as are the stone ruins of the Paro Dzong fortress from which the hotel has borrowed architectural inspo. Hike to Gomdra Lhakhang, another monastery, which lies at 3,800 metres above sea level, forage for mountainside mushrooms or pick up some archery skills down by the river. Possibly the most famous sight in this happiest of kingdoms, Tiger’s Nest (AKA Taktsang Lhakhang) is a sacred cliff-edge complex of temples in the Paro Valley that’s not to be missed.

 

Local restaurants

The Mountain Cafe in Paro is a perfect little pitstop, especially if you order the butter naan breads. More traditional Bhutanese food is on offer at Sonam Trophel in the centre of Paro, where you’ll also be able to enjoy some Indian and Chinese flavours. Paro is one of the busiest hubs in the Himalayas, so if you want to meet other intrepid travellers, head to Park 76 for nightcaps and borderline-buzzy nightlife.

Reviews

Photos Six Senses Paro 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 luxury hotel in Bhutan and unpacked their prayer flags and sense of inner peace, a full account of their adventurous break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Six Senses Paro

Welcome to Bhutan, where GDP is traded for GNH (gross national happiness), and a voyage of epic proportions through this Himalayan kingdom in safe Six Senses hands. The hotel group has been busy building a series of five lodges, so fans of their sustainable, spa-focused stays can journey from one lofty outpost to the next, taking in temples, fortresses, monasteries and pavilions. Independent travel is prohibited, so you’ll have a guide with you at all times as you embark on one of the itineraries, which start from five nights (though shorter visits to just one lodge are possible). It’s not just the Bhutanese architecture making jaws drop – the scenic valleys, rivers and rice paddies are pretty spectacular, too. Back at Paro Lodge, the views just keep on coming to your wood-panelled room, where the bath tubs are positioned right up by the timber-framed windows for some serious soul-searching as you commune with your rubber ducky and the valley beyond.