Six Senses Thimphu

Winner of the 2024 Tatler Best of Asia "Best Destination Hotel" award

Set within apple orchards and pine forests, with its grand dzong fortress-inspired design and outdoor ponds reflecting the Himalayan clouds above, Six Senses Thimphu is a palace in the sky. Designed in collaboration with Thai studio Habita Architects, the hotel’s ethos is grounded in simplicity and harmony, expressed through the use of local materials such as hemlock wood and ashlar stone. Six Senses Thimphu has 25 spacious villas and suites, with floor-to-ceiling windows and decks that allow guests to take in the towering peaks, quiet valleys and flowing rivers—views that can also be enjoyed from the baths and private pools that feature in some of the lodges.

Guests can immerse themselves in its majestic settings with yoga in the pavilion, local cuisine made from organic ingredients and leisurely paths to ancient monasteries, which are a short walk through the woods away. The Talakha Monastery, a hidden gem rarely visited by foreigners, is an hour’s hike away, and the hotel can arrange intimate talks with the resident monks, as well as tree planting activities.

In a country as reclusive and mysterious as Bhutan, having someone who can facilitate access to once-in-a-lifetime experiences is priceless. This is where Six Senses Thimphu’s dedicated Guest Experience Makers come into play, offering guests the opportunity to tap into Bhutan’s soulful character through immersive cultural experiences.

Rise early for a morning meditation session with a lama in the hotel’s Prayer Pavilion, which overlooks panoramic views of Thimphu valley, or venture into the woods to take a shot at Bhutan’s national sport, archery. In the evenings, Six Senses Thimphu can arrange expert-led talks across the gamut of Bhutanese culture. They include everything from its education system—until the 1950s, the only formal education available, except for private schools, was through Buddhist  monasteries—to conservation, and Bhutan’s biggest claim to fame, as the birthplace of the “Gross National Happiness” index, a term coined in 1972 by the country’s fourth king, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, when he declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product”.

Tatler Tip

Try the butterfly pea daiquiri—a Six Senses Thimphu signature.