Five Bhutan hotels in Asia’s top 25

FIVE high-end hotels from Bhutan have made it to the list of Condé Nast Traveler magazine’s top hotels in Asia, this year.

The travel and vacations magazine contains features that provide in-depth coverage of notable tourist destinations around the world including the locations’ tourist attractions, culture and political issues.

According to the travellers’ choice, the magazine listed 25 top hotels in Asia. COMO Uma in Punakha ranks 3rd; Gangtey Lodge, 5th; Taj Tashi 7th; Zhiwa Ling, 12th and COMO Uma in Paro, 16th.

Hotels in South Korea, Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines are also part of the list. The magazine provides a separate list for the top hotels in China, Japan, India, Bangkok and Singapore.

General manager with Taj Tashi, Mevlyn Saldanha, said that the ranking was a reward for the hard work and dedication of the staff over the last eight years. “Having won this award not only for the hotel but also for Bhutan, we are hopeful that this will help in ushering more tourists in the country and help showcase its rich culture and religion.”

This year, about 300,000 travelers took part in the reader’s choice award survey by submitting ratings and comments. The magazine also announced the best hotels, resorts, islands and airlines among others.

General Manager with COMO Uma, James Low, said that the hotel management is overjoyed to be recognised in the magazine’s reader’s choice award. “These accolades compare our Bhutanese properties with the world’s best and we are truly humbled by the recognition.”

He added that the success was because of the hard work of COMO teams.

Hotel managements shared that the unique architecture and landscape of the hotels and the country might have contributed to the selection.

Chief executive officer with Zhiwa Ling Heritage in Paro, Karma Lotey, said that Bhutanese hospitality that the management and employees provide could have made it to the selection. “Asia has some of the finest hotels in the world and Bhutanese owned hotels to be rated 12th in Asia is a huge achievement. It does put Bhutanese tourism on the map in our own small ways.”

The list is part of the 30th Reader’s Choice Awards survey by the magazine conducted every year.