Bhutan · Five-Star · #5 in Bhutan
Taj Tashi Bhutan
66 rooms in dzong-style architecture in central Thimphu — opened 2008 as Taj Hotels' first Himalayan property and the only Indian-luxury-operator presence in the kingdom.
66 rooms in dzong-style architecture in central Thimphu — opened 2008 as Taj Hotels' first Himalayan property and the only Indian-luxury-operator presence in the kingdom.
"66 rooms in Bhutanese dzong-vocabulary architecture in the centre of Thimphu — the kingdom's only Indian-luxury-operator hotel and the most-considered city-base for a Bhutan circuit that wants to start and end in Thimphu rather than Paro."
Taj Tashi opened in October 2008 in central Thimphu as Taj Hotels' first Himalayan property and the only Indian-luxury-operator presence in Bhutan. The hotel sits on Samten Lam in the Chubachu district, walking distance from Norzin Lam (Thimphu's main commercial street) and the Memorial Chorten, and a five-minute drive from Tashichho Dzong (the seat of Bhutanese government and the office of the Je Khenpo, head of the country's Drukpa Kagyu Buddhist establishment). The architectural brief was developed jointly with the Bhutanese government's Department of Culture: a contemporary luxury-hotel built in genuine dzong-vocabulary architecture, with the rammed-earth-and-timber detailing, the painted lintels, and the vault-dome window tracery that the kingdom's monastic-fortress architecture has used for four hundred years.
66 rooms run across four floors of the central dzong-block. The room categories run from Deluxe (39 sqm), through Tashi Junior Suite (55 sqm) and Tashi Suite (75 sqm), to the two Royal Suites at 130 sqm with private dining room and butler service. The decorative scheme is unmistakably Taj — Indian fabrics layered with Bhutanese textile commissions, hand-painted murals depicting the Eight Auspicious Symbols (Ashtamangala) on the corridor ceilings, and the standard Taj-luxury bath fit-out adapted for Bhutanese plumbing constraints. Every room has a bukhari stove option for the November-March winter window when Thimphu drops below freezing at night.
Operationally Taj Tashi runs the city-luxury-hotel register that the rest of Bhutan's circuit-lodge model deliberately doesn't — three full restaurants (Chig-ja-gye, the all-day international register; Thongsel, the Bhutanese fine-dining option with a Royal Family-recipe menu; and Rimp's Bar, the only proper hotel cocktail bar in Thimphu), a 24-hour business centre, the country's only proper hotel ballroom (The Throendol Hall, used for state functions), and a Jiva Spa (the Taj signature) with five treatment rooms. The hot-stone bath programme that has become a Bhutanese-luxury-hotel standard runs nightly during the winter months.
What makes Taj Tashi the considered alternative to the circuit-lodge model is the city itself. Thimphu is the only city in Bhutan large enough to support a luxury hotel, and Taj Tashi gives a guest a base from which to walk to the Folk Heritage Museum, the National Library, the Royal Textile Academy, the Tashichho Dzong, the Buddha Dordenma giant statue, and the Memorial Chorten — substantially more cultural infrastructure on foot than any of the circuit-lodge bases offer. For an anniversary trip that wants the Thimphu-only city-stay register rather than the multi-lodge Aman or COMO circuit, a business or government delegation that needs the only city-luxury-hotel option in the country, or a solo traveller starting and ending in Thimphu rather than Paro, Taj Tashi is the most considered choice.
The Tashi Suite or Royal Suite is the anniversary unit at Taj Tashi — full butler service, private dining room, and the Royal-suite-only bukhari-and-fireplace combination that makes the winter-month stay possible without leaving the room. Pair three nights at Taj Tashi (Thimphu) with three nights at Como Uma Punakha (Punakha valley) and four nights at Como Uma Paro (Paro and the Tiger's Nest hike) for the standard 10-night Bhutan anniversary circuit.
For a solo traveller who wants Thimphu's cultural infrastructure as the register of the trip — and who finds the multi-lodge Aman or COMO circuit either too compressed or too expensive — Taj Tashi is the only proper city-luxury-hotel option in the kingdom. Walking distance to Tashichho Dzong, the Memorial Chorten, the Royal Textile Academy, and the Folk Heritage Museum gives a solo-and-self-directed trip the structure that the circuit-lodge model otherwise enforces.
Samten Lam, Chubachu
Thimphu 11001
Bhutan
Central Thimphu (Chubachu district) — walking distance to Tashichho Dzong, Memorial Chorten, Norzin Lam main street
66 rooms across 4 dzong-block floors
Deluxe Room: 39 sqm
Tashi Junior Suite: 55 sqm
Tashi Suite: 75 sqm
Royal Suite: 130 sqm with butler
From USD 480/night Deluxe
Check-in: 2:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Taj Hotels first Himalayan property; opened October 2008
1 hr drive from Paro International Airport
Only Indian-luxury-operator hotel in Bhutan
Genuine dzong-vocabulary architecture (gov-approved)
Three restaurants including Royal-recipe Thongsel
Jiva Spa (Taj signature)
Throendol Hall — only hotel ballroom in Bhutan
Walking distance to Memorial Chorten and Norzin Lam
Free WiFi throughout
From USD 480/night for the entry-tier Deluxe Room; Tashi Suite from USD 850/night; Royal Suite from USD 1,800/night. Plus Bhutan's mandatory Sustainable Development Fee at USD 100 per person per night. Taj Tashi books two to three months ahead for the March-May and September-October peak windows; the November-February winter window carries the most considered rate-to-experience ratio.
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