Zhingkham Resort

The hotel is located up a steep hill which provides a beautiful view of the valley and the Punakha Dzong. This is especially beautiful at night when it is all lit up. The property itself is not the highest in design or construction...lacking in the Bhutanese style..relatively nondescript. But the view makes up for its faults. However this can also be a disadvantage since the walk up the hill is an exercise in itself.

The view is unbeatable. The room is spacious. The air conditioner works well. The food is ok. Issues: 1. Water: they pick up used plastic bottles and refill them with filtered water. We asked how they clean the plastic bottles and they said they rinsed them with soap and water. No disinfection!! Unbelievable!! If they had used glass bottles and disinfect them thoroughly, then it would be acceptable. This way is disgusting. We brought our own water. 2. WiFi: there are two WiFi networks with the SAME name and different passwords!! So one has to constantly FORGET the network and re-enter the two different pwd depending where one is on the property. 3. Massage/Spa: the sole masseur there is obviously very skilled. However, there is no one to take appt except him. And he is in session with clients most of the time . The front desk won’t help. All they do is pass the msg to him. We are only there one or two days so it is hard to get a confirmation if we have an appt or not. There’s supposed to be another masseur but we never really found out if that is true. I was the last client of the night and the masseur was obviously tired. My friend who had him earlier in the day had a great experience. For me, he kept putting layer after layer of oil on my back and just rubbed it around. By the 5th layer, I told him to stop and actually do some massage work. Annoying but understandable. 4. Housekeeping: I can’t believe that the maid would come in to take the garbage out, replace the towels and NOT make the bed. 5. Restaurant: we had some soda. Day 1 was 100 each. Day 2 was 200. No idea why. All in all, management can be improved at this hotel which has a commanding view of this beautiful valley.

It was a disappointment. I understand the hotel is owned by a cousin of the royal family. What a terrible representation of a beautiful country. Complete shoddy construction. The doors were off track. The bathrooms had holes in the wall. The WiFi was slow and the electricity went out twice. The saving grace to this place is the wonderfully kind staff, the fantastic spa and the view. The owner missed the mark with poor infrastructure which spoiled it for us.