Greetings: In Seoul, it was classic business hotel: great to see you, there’s the check-in desk over there. In Bhutan: at a minimum being served a welcome drink and given hot or cold towels to mop off the dust of the road, in some form of a living room, to singing a welcome song. In Thailand: at the airport Novotel it was find the check-in desk, no real greeting (very transactional); at the Siam lots of smiling and you sat on a couch right in front of the check-in desk with your towel and flask of passion fruit juice….no glasses.
Westin Chosun, Seoul
It was a nice room, one of 100s in the hotel, not overly large,
functional, classical businessperson style, and the food was decent to very
good at the breakfast buffet, and they had a terrific fitness center (an
athletic club for outsiders) even if THB couldn’t figure out how to work a
standard program on the elliptical. The executive lounge was nice for light
meals and drinks though the quality was not very good. The other restaurants in
the hotel were very expensive as was the deli (we bought salads and sandwiches
to eat in the room a few times). A very good location if you are doing the
downtown area (as we were 2.5 of our 4 days) or running in the marathon.
Novotel, Bangkok Airport
Hard to do much of a review, THB was barely there, he can’t even
remember if DB was there. It was a standard airport hotel, tons of rooms,
staffed by younger than usual staff (meaning they were not of legal drinking
age yet), the restaurant was very mediocre to poor, and apparently a good spot
for one night assignations. We left at 2:30am sharp for our 5:10am flight and
just barely made it to the Air France lounge (shared with Druk Airlines) by
3am. Not sure why we needed to leave so early, either from the hotel or the
airport.
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| It's 2:30am in Bangkok, do you know where your parents are? |
Uma Paro, Paro
The first of our Bhutan stays, this was a very nice place located
on a hill above the airport off a bumpy partially unpaved road (the way things
are under construction in Bhutan, it might be paved by now). Maybe 25 rooms in
the main building where we were, and another 10 villas spread up the hill.
Dining room seated 40 or so, and was crowded at dinner, totally empty at lunch.
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| An empty dining room was not unusual at some of our stops; this was lunch at Uma Paro, when most people are out doing the festival or other activities |
Food was decent, serving western, Bhutanese and Indian cuisine at every meal.
For example, the pumpkin pancakes were terrific. The room had a balcony and a
nice view over Paro town, you could even watch the rare flight coming in to
land. The windows opened! While not overly large, everything was well placed
(the mini-table and two chairs were in front of the window). The fitness center
was very good (they had figured out that separating the TV from the equipment
made both better) and DB liked the totally empty yoga room. The staff was
overly friendly, three different guys chatted us up over the 3 days we were
there. And, blessed be the Buddha, there’s a power strip that has 4 universal
spots to plug in, negating the need to bring your own converter(s).
Amankora, Bumthang
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| Minimal front of the Amankora |
Amankora is a whole ‘nother thing. THB does not know the exact
cost, it is at the top of luxury hotels. Let’s start with the obvious: you
can’t find your room unless you’ve memorized the entrance to your quadrant
(there are 4 buildings of 4 units each).
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| Which quadrant is your room in? Impossible to tell, there are no signs |
THB sometimes cannot remember his room
number after moving 3 or 4 times in a week, at our last stop in Bangkok we
alternated telling the staff we were in either 103 or 104 until even they
weren’t sure of our room number).
The room overall was huge, probably 800 sq ft (half the E-ville
loft) and the bathroom area (shower, toilet, closet, two sinks) was also huge,
probably 400 sq ft of the overall space.
Always good to remember the basics: form and function.
It wasn’t functional, that’s for sure. The lighting is very dim,
the light switches are split between a panel of 5 or 6 switches (unmarked as to
which area each switch lit), the light switch on the reading light above the
bed is hidden below one of those erector set lights, which also has a switch on
it which you can barely reach. Both switches for the reading lights have to be
in synch to work the light. There’s no light for the keyhole on the door, so
THB had to grope around (already an issue for a guy with essential tremors) to
find which way to slot the key in the hole. That’s also where the room number
was, inset in the door jamb, not on the door.
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| An in-room greeting: local cider |
Ledges: THB loves ledges. Somehow the two large and deep ledges
were also not very functional. It’s hard to say why. The couch is also not
functional: there’s no backing, it’s deep, and if you turn sideways then you aren’t
using the natural light coming from the window and there’s only one light at one
end (which of course THB had no clue how to turn on). The side pillows have no
support and slide around.
The bathroom area is actually too large. True!! The rain-head in
the shower is terrific; there’s no place to really put the clothes you plan to
wear, the hooks next to the shower are taken up by two huge towels. Where do
you put the huge towel if you hang your clothes on one of the hooks? THB is not
sure. Same problem at the sinks. The closet doors slide so you are covering up
at least half your clothes when you open the closet.
The bed has a one foot hard surface at the head that is covered by
a bolster. Do you take that off at night when you go to sleep and find your
head laying on bare wood? It also means the reading light is awkwardly placed
if you remove the bolster. The nightstand is an extension of the hard surface
so if you need to reach something in the night (like your Kindle) to figure out
what time it is (since there’s no clock) you have to reach way behind your head
(in the dark) groping for whatever you’re looking for. Buddha help you if you
knock your glasses on the floor or further away from you on the hard
nightstand.
The bed and pillows are comfortable. Free laundry!! THB could’ve
left half his clothes in E-ville.
Heating: assuming you don’t light the wood burning stove (we
didn’t) then you have to figure out the thermostats of which THB thinks that
there were at least two, though we only found one. The heat vents are embedded
in those nightstands and on day one THB realized he was burning up anything he
laid on that surface.
There was no desk in the room. THB was blogging with his netbook
on his lap. In the only chair in the room. Yep, 900 sq feet (100 sq
mtrs?), one chair, no desk, and one honking bathtub taking up about 20% of the
room. THB does not take baths (except those full of hot rocks).
Lastly: there’s no check-in/out desk. The bill was in our room
suggesting that we pay the afternoon or evening before checking out because
check out took so long (hmmmm….). THB paid by handing US$ to one of three
people standing in the dining room and there was an issue with a one dollar
bill not being “crisp” enough.
THB asked our guide, Tashi, to handle it with the staff, giving
him the equivalent to $6 in Bhutanese currency and telling Tashi that no change
was to be returned. Tashi explained the situation with the bank rejecting less
than pristine dollar bills, he felt bad that it had become an issue without
telling THB about the pristine bill issue.
THB’s solution: have a check out desk where someone used to
dealing with the customers about money is handling the process. On top of that,
we were charged a corkage fee to share the bottle of champagne given to us by
GeoEx at Uma Paro. When Tashi saw that, he negotiated with the management to
cut the fee in half and gave THB $21…which THB promptly put in the next
offering box he saw.
Good news: like Uma Paro, there’s a power strip that has 4
universal spots to plug in, negating the need to bring our own converter(s).
Great for recharging all our tech devices.
The library was small, stuffy and of course not computer friendly.
THB is not even sure they bothered to dust or sweep up due to lack of use.
And, again the overly friendly staff wanted to chat us up.
Consecutively! We were having tea in the common area, which doubled as the
dining room and tripled as a thoroughfare for the staff. After a while we
figured out that was not a good location to relax and talk amongst ourselves.
On to the food: THB and DB discussed it and came to conclusion
that some food items were better at Uma Paro, some at Amankora, nothing of note
really at either place. Maybe we’re growing used to Bhutanese food, it is very
redundant. Bhutanese fare was decent at Amankora. DB loved the ginger tea
and one of the managers shared their recipe.
And, as many of you know, THB is not big on long goodbyes. At
Amankora there’s a 5-10 minute ceremony led by a young monk. Not that we were
in a hurry. This was the only hotel on the trip that kept you longer than you
wanted.
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| Goodbye ceremony |
Gangtey Goenpal Lodge, Phobjikha
Form and function: the gem of the trip.
12 rooms, 7 at most were
in use while we were there. We are pretty sure we had the best room…or all
rooms we’re great (THB thinks the latter). Up high with a great view of the
valley and surrounding mountains (especially on the day it snowed), and just
down from the monastery college that we visited three times. Perfect location.
Staff friendly and not intrusive. The greeting included a too-long for THB’s
taste song, letting our welcome drink cool off. The room couldn’t have been
better: great layout, a very comfy sofa, easy access to move around, subtle and
well-thought out. Not part of a chain, this is one of a kind. Free laundry! THB
even survived the massage and loved the hot rock bath on the property. The food
wasn’t knock-your-socks off, just nicely done, plain and simple, with the 3rd
night a meal we designed with the chef. Only drawback: they don’t take AMEX,
which led to an adventure in going to their office in Thimphu to finish paying
off the bill. If you go to Bhutan, don’t miss Phobjikah and definitely stay at
the GG Lodge.
Uma Punakha, Punakha
Another gem, two in a row! Smaller that GG Lodge (room and overall
facility), maybe 10 or 12 rooms (we were in room 10). Our room was small, yet
well laid out with the sofa facing the glorious view. There may have been 6 or
7 in use while we were there (Tashi and Chencho where in CYS and SAS’s room).
Another great view spot, the staff very nice and informative (“you’ll love the
Siam, don’t leave the property”), food above average, lunch on the deck was
special. THB used a yoga mat from the room and did his 7 minutes in the area in
front of our room, using the steps for several of his calisthenics. Lovely!
And, plenty to do in Punakha. Go here, stay here.
Taj Tashi Hotel, Thimphu
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| THB did not break this sofa, the right hand side had the same "feature" |
We’re in the big city now. HAH! No stoplights, one or two stop
signs, and crowded 8 blocks of “downtown.” This has to be the best place
in town. The room was hard to get to the right temperature, the layout was
cramped, and it did have a desk and the power strip. Another totally
dysfunctional sofa if you wanted to sit sideways and lean on the arm for
support. Food was above average if you stuck to Indian. Great fitness center
and a decent ½ hour traditional dance show. We skipped what they are known for:
dressing you in traditional Bhutanese outfits followed by the dancing outside
and then a long Bhutanese meal in a second dining room. Best place in town,
take it as it is. Tons of rooms, most must have been empty: at dinner we had
the 150 seater to ourselves for an hour and half….or they crammed 40 people
into the Bhutanese second dining room.
Zhiwa Ling, Paro
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| All alone again, the other major dining room wasn't even open for dinner |
Beats the best of the US National Park lodges, done in similar
style. Also desolate, only on day two did we see signs of life. Room very nice,
well designed. Free laundry, which is saying something because THB gave them
the dregs of the Tiger’s Nest hike to clean, including his shoes. Dining rooms
totally empty for every meal. Food all similar to US National Park lodges:
functional, nothing of note or distinction. An accessible temple (i.e., didn’t
need to be accompanied to enter, pics “allowed”). Interesting decision when in
Paro: stay here or at Uma Paro?
Siam Hotel, Bangkok
The best of the best! THB and DB were upgraded to a villa, in a
spectacular room with its own pool. The location is great, and we have our own butler, a floating
concierge. Not someone who does our laundry and helps THB get dressed. The guy
who escorted us to the room and explained how the room works is a butler, the
guy who came to our room on day 2 is a butler. The guy who met our water taxi
when we got back is a butler. The food is okay except for the two sets of
snacks and drinks as part of our “cruise” in the Siam shuttle boat, they were very good. The hotel
is across the street from a street full of food vendors, full of locals from the
immediate area buying their meals. Top of the line!
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