World’s Happiest Country
Gangtey Lodge is a Bhutan boutique hotel with only 12 rooms. Targeted at well-healed adventure travelers, it nestles high in the Himalayan Mountains. It offer sustainable luxury in a pristine environment, arranging trekking, mountain biking, and other activities.
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Bhutan Boutique Hotel Overview
The Gangtey Lodge has joined Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH). The boutique hotel is the first hotel in Bhutan to join the prestigious hotel group.
The lodge is nestled in the foothills overlooking the Gangtey Valley in Central Bhutan. Its design complements the traditional architecture of the region.
From the outside, the lodge resembles a traditional Bhutanese farmhouse. For example, it has pitched roofs and arched windows with wooden frames.
The hotel’s interior design draws heavily on Bhutanese artwork and monastic elements. However, it has an unmistakable contemporary elegance.
Also, designers paid careful attention to sustainability in its construction. In fact, they used as many locally sourced, recycled, and eco-friendy materials as possible in its construction.
Accommodation
The luxurious boutique hotel has a total 12 spacious guest rooms. And each one of them accommodates up to two hotel guests.
All of the rooms have a fireplace. In addition, the heated floors are made of hand-carved stone. Finally, each room has a Swedish-style wood burning stove. Consequently, you won’t get cold in your hotel room.
And talk about luxury!
Not only are the bathrooms spacious. Moreover, they also have an English-style deep bathtub.
Most importantly, all of the hotel rooms offer sweeping views of the surrounding mountains!
Activities
If you can pry yourself away from your luxurious room, you will find plenty of exciting things to do.
For example, the hotel can arrange a variety of activities. Firstly, you can witness morning prayers at a nearby monastery. Then you can go mountain-biking.
And what about spending the day at a nearby farm? Or how about playing games of archery or darts?
Finally, you simply must go trekking through the surrounding mountainous terrain!
Click HERE for more information on the Gamtey Lodge!
Bhutan Hotel Industry Update
Gangtey Lodge is one of a growing list of accommodation options in the tiny country of Bhutan. In fact, there are hotels, resorts, home stays, and farm stays.
The government divides accommodation into one to five star categories. And tour operators are required to book travelers into a minimum or three-star properties.
While the country used to focus exclusively on high-net worth travelers, it is progressively relaxing that policy. But one thing remains consistent. Tourism should not pose a negative impact on the landscape or the culture.
“The hotel’s philosophy to create amazing experiences that have a positive impact on their local communities and enable travelers to make connections physically, spiritually and emotionally is totally in line with SLH’s vision of a future where people explore the world with intention, experience its intensity and protect its integrity.,” says Mark Wong, Vice President Asia Pacific, Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
“We are very pleased to welcome Gangtey Lodge to the SLH brand.”
The owner of the lodge is equally upbeat.
“We are thrilled to be the first and only hotel in Bhutan for Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and joining the SLH family feels like the perfect partnership in a portfolio of so many remarkable hotels,” says Gangtey Lodge owner Khin Omar Win.
“At Gangtey Lodge we seek to offer immersive and one-of-a-kind experiences with the highest standards of genuine hospitality, so we see much synergy with the brand’s core values. We look forward to welcoming SLH’s independently-minded guests to our lodge and sharing with them about the culture of this spiritual kingdom.”
Bhutan 101
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a tiny nation located high in the Himalayan Mountains. In fact, the landlocked country borders Tibet (China), Sikkim, and India.
Not only does the kingdom have a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. In addition, it has many temples and natural hot springs.
Activities include mountain cycling, bird-watching, kayaking, rafting, trekking, and meditation
Consequently, Bhutan primarily attracts mountain trekkers, adventure travelers, and nature buffs.
While Bhutan does not have any UNESCO World Heritage Sites, it does have many other attractions. For example architecturally and cultural significant structures dot the landscape. Included are the country’s many dzongs, or monasteries.
Traditionally, Bhutan targeted high-net worth travelers, but that policy has been relaxed in recent years.
In addition to high-end lodging such as Gangtey Lodge, there is now accommodation at the budget to mid-range.
And Bhutan also has an international airport with flights to a growing list of nearby travel destinations: Paro International Airport.
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