Nepal & Bhutan

The newest big-brand hotel in town; Bonvoy, a proper gym, reliable for corporate and groups.

The 1977 grande dame in a Rana palace, gardens in the middle of the city; the Indian traveller’s classic.

Twelve acres of gardens, Nepal’s original five-star; the casino and the big banqueting make it the group default.

A museum of carved Newari woodwork you sleep in; ten minutes from Pashupatinath. The stay that is the point of the trip.

A white Rana palace with lawns, cheaper than its looks; families and first-timers.

Rooftop pool, embassy district, dependable; the corporate workhorse.

Taj’s Kathmandu hotel in the Patan restaurant quarter; Indian kitchen, Taj service.

The modern tower on the edge of Thamel, rooftop pool; younger travellers and couples who want the lanes outside the door.

Select-service Hyatt beside the Soaltee; the sensible mid-rate for a business trip.

Clean, new, Bonvoy, Thamel walkable; the per-diem choice.

Low-rise, garden-set, old-school; a quieter five-star-feel at a four-star rate.

Across the river in Patan with mountain views from the lawns; conferences and quieter stays.

The 1967 original where the Beatles-era trekkers stayed; garden courtyard in the heart of Thamel.

Golf course and deer in a former royal hunting forest; the resort option inside the valley.

Reached by raft across the lake, with the Machhapuchhre reflection at breakfast; the Pokhara classic.

Villas with private pools on an organic farm facing the Annapurnas; the luxury pick.

Stone bungalows on a ridge with the whole range in front; the lodge people fly in for.

Gardens and pool a street back from the lake; the best-run hotel on the Lakeside strip.

The city’s five-star with the biggest pool and banqueting; groups and conferences.

Low-rise village-style resort in gardens near the airport; families.

Right on the water with a jetty; balconies over Phewa Lake.

Big pool, spa and a mountain-facing courtyard; a reliable family resort on the strip.

Gorge-edge resort with golf and the largest grounds in Pokhara; big groups.

The long-standing Lakeside hotel with a pool; value for a family week.

Taj’s lodge on the river with an infinity pool over the grasslands; rhino from the terrace. The honeymoon safari.

Thatched villas on the Rapti, jeep and canoe safaris from the door; the all-round best lodge.

Design-led lodge with a long pool and private-villa options; couples who want a jungle without roughing it.

Cottages in a sal forest at the park edge; families and school groups.

Large pool, big grounds, dependable; the value resort in Sauraha.

Riverside, mid-priced, well run; a two-night safari on a sensible budget.

Forest setting on the Sauraha side with a pool; groups and families.

Wellness resort on the ridge with Himalayan views, salt room, yoga; the two nights that fix the trip.

The best-known sunrise hotel, with a heated pool; every room faces the range.

Newer, glass-fronted, infinity pool over the valley; couples.

Terraced cottages above the valley, old-fashioned and peaceful.

Simple, well placed for the sunrise point; a value night on the rim.

The Terai’s five-star casino resort near Gautam Buddha airport; an hour from Lumbini and the Sonauli border.

Inside the Lumbini development zone, a walk from the Maya Devi temple; pilgrims.

Japanese-run, calm and clean, pure-veg friendly; the quiet Lumbini night.

Japanese-style rooms next to the sacred garden; groups on a Buddhist circuit.

Dzong-style Taj in the middle of town with an Indian kitchen; the Indian family and corporate default.

Marriott’s Thimphu hotel with a heated indoor pool; Bonvoy, reliable, central.

“Palace in the sky” above the city; the first of the five Six Senses lodges on the loop.

Aman’s pine-forest lodge above the capital; part of the five-lodge Amankora journey.

The Bhutanese-owned luxury hotel with a heated pool and the best spa in town.

Thai-run, modern, central and sensibly priced; couples and business.

Stone-and-timber resort on the river below the city; a quieter base.

The 1980s original on the main square, renovated; heritage at a four-star rate.

Clean, central three-star the local guides recommend; per-diem and family groups.

Aman in a pine forest facing Drukgyel Dzong; the most-asked-for hotel in Bhutan.

Stone ruins and lotus ponds on a hillside; the Six Senses to pick if you stay at only one.

Hilltop hotel with COMO Shambhala spa and villas; a five-minute drive from town, Tiger’s Nest in view.

Marriott’s Paro hotel on the river with an indoor pool; the dependable big-brand choice.

Bhutanese-built palace hotel with a temple inside it; the hotel that feels most like Bhutan.

All-inclusive wellness retreat with traditional medicine, hot-stone baths and yoga; four nights minimum makes sense.

Pine-and-stone boutique hotel above the valley; the value luxury in Paro.

Riverside resort across from the runway with a pool and big grounds; families and groups.

Newer resort with large rooms and valley views; good for groups.

At the foot of the Tiger’s Nest trail with the monastery in view from the rooms; the night before the hike.

Built for the 1974 coronation, cottages in a pine forest above town; heritage at a three-star rate.

Riverside cottages on the way to Drukgyel; a value base for the valley.

Reached by a suspension bridge over the river to a farmhouse lodge; the warmest of the Aman valleys.

“Flying farmhouse” lodge over the rice terraces with a cantilevered pool bar.

Eleven rooms on a bend of the river; the intimate honeymoon pick.

Tented villas with private pools in the valley; Bhutan’s answer to a safari camp.

Tented suites on the riverbank with the dzong downstream; river rafting from the door.

Design-led resort on a pine ridge over the valley; the value luxury in Punakha.

Large rooms and a terrace over the rice fields; families and groups.

Twelve-room farmhouse lodge over the crane valley with bathtubs facing the view; November to February for the cranes.

The smallest Six Senses, a “bird-watching bridge” over the valley; eight suites.

Traditional stone hotel with bukhari stoves and valley views; the reliable Gangtey night.

Beside the Wangdichholing palace in the Choekhor valley; the end of the Aman journey.

“Forest within a forest” lodge of glass and timber among the pines; the quietest of the five.

The farmhouse guesthouse behind the Bumthang brewery; cheese, honey and the valley’s own produce.

Terraced rooms facing Trongsa Dzong; the overnight on the long road east.