Amankora Paro

Amankora is a journey of five lodges across the western and central valleys of Bhutan, at Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey and Bumthang, designed to be travelled in sequence, and Paro is usually where it begins and ends. The lodge lies at 2,250 metres in pine forest at the head of the Paro Valley, with views to the snow peak of Jhomolhari, and its dining terrace looks over the ruins of the 17th-century Drukgyel Dzong. With 24 suites of 52 square metres it is the largest of the five, each suite with a wood-burning stove, a king-size bed, a window seat and a terrazzo bathtub. The two-storey spa has five treatment rooms, a hot stone bath, a sauna, a steam room and a yoga studio, and Banya and Hammam spa houses were the first of their kind at Aman. A guest lounge, library and boutique sit beside the dining room and its fire-pit terrace. The hike to Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest monastery on its cliff, takes about four hours, and Paro is the natural place to attempt it, at the start of the circuit or as a last day.