A stay at Pemako Punakha for Bhutan's culture and spirituality
May 15, 2025
Nestled in a fertile valley, Pemako Punakha is a hidden heaven in Bhutan’s ancient capital. Zaneta Cheng checks into the Bill Bensley–designed property to see how the Bhutanese-owned hotel weaves the nation’s culture and spirituality into every stay
Our car pulls up on a gravel patch in front of an impressively long bridge suspended across the Mo Chhu river. The drive from Thimphu to Punakha, Bhutan’s ancient capital, has been around four hours give or take, including a brief stop at the Dochula Pass. We’ve passed the Punakha Dzong, the Tiger Kingdom’s most beautiful fortress, built in the 17th century and still the place where kings are married and crowned.
There’s no sign of Pemako Punakha anywhere, save for the smiling faces of the few butlers who are working with our guides to take our luggage off the top of the Jeep. We’re gently led up a flight of steps and across the bridge as they follow behind carrying our loads. When we step off the bridge and down the steps on the other end, we’re escorted to waiting buggies. There’s still no sign of the property. There’s only a well- worn path that the buggies trundle on until the foliage clears, and we’re greeted by the sound of rushing water and the walls of stacked stone that make up the entrance to the Bhutanese-owned hotel in the Punakha Valley.
The water installation mimics the sacred waterfall of the legendary Pemako, a mythical hidden lotus land on which Pemako Punakha is premised. Upon arrival, we’re led to a chapel to be blessed by a lama as part of the property’s welcome ritual. Check-in is done at the resort’s main complex before we’re driven to our rooms by our designated butler. The luxury resort comprises 21 tented villas, each with its own deck replete with heated outdoor pool, and some with a full barbecue grill and dining space, hidden in Pemako Punakha’s forested hills.
The land on which the hotel has been built is vast, so villas range from being closer to the river to a 15-minute buggy ride up to the top of the hill. (Anybody looking for a true escape and unparalleled valley views should ask for the hilltop villas.) Designed by Bill Bensley, the exterior structures are rooted in Bhutanese culture while the interiors are characteristically opulent and colourful as per Bensley’s signature style.
At Pemako Punakha, that palette comprises orange, yellow, white and black – referencing Buddhist symbolism – orange being the colour of the highest state of perfection while black speaks to the soot found in the hearths of Bhutanese homes. Dramatic, handmade lamps light up the foyer and on the walls are stupas fitted into niches.
The same hues extend into the villas. Bright orange cushions are laid on an enormous bed made of the same ebony-coloured wood used throughout the property. It’s a bed to note because it makes a California King look like a shoddy single. With capacity to fit six to eight people comfortably, the bed also comes with a master light switch behind the pillows right in the centre to save anybody from the exercise it would otherwise be to traverse its length, get off, find the light switches and hop back on again.
Each room is decorated with local objects – from ceremonial helmets to ritual masks and sculptures of yaks and mythical creatures – and local art. Fabrics are Serge Ferrari and each villa comes with a freestanding copper bathtub, which we are told can be filled with artemisia and special salts by our private butler.
There are treats set up in what look like stacked camping tins that the Bhutanese themselves use to carry meals, but with the three dining spaces available at Pemako Punakha, there’s almost never a need to dig into the otherwise well-stocked minibar and snack tray. There’s Soma, an all-day diner that offers foods from Southeast Asia as well as contemporary Western and Indian cuisine. Natural light floods into the space and on cooler mornings, guests can wait for their food on the deck outside with a coffee.
There’s also a chef’s table underneath one of the property’s most impressive structures, the riverside Five Nectars Bar. After a sundowner, guests can dine at a long wooden table as the guest chef prepares dinner table-side. A personal favourite is Alchemy House, which serves Bhutanese fare. Guests climb up a wooden staircase into what was once a farmhouse and sit on cushions on the floor as a local dinner is cooked on traditional stoves. From yak meat curry to a spicy ema datshi (the country’s national dish of local cheese and unsparing chilli), bowls of greens and meats are placed in front of me, all to go with Bhutanese creamy nutty red rice.
For those not looking to pack their days with excursions in Bhutan’s old capital, there is plenty to do here. From a moonshine tasting to the spa, which is based on traditional Bhutanese medicine (think a traditional hot stone bath where river rocks are heated over fires and placed in water so the minerals can leach out and benefit the bather), or even early morning meditation and chanting sessions with the lama who can also do a traditional Bhutanese astrological reading, Bhutanese culture is brought within.
While the activities are exciting and the hardware without doubt luxurious, the magic of Pemako Punakha is probably its staff – and specifically the butlers. No task is too small or big. When we return from a hike and rafting journey, boots muddied and muscles sore, a bath is run by the time we return to our villa. Before we know it, our shoes are whisked away and entirely cleaned, ready at our doorstep for a new adventure. As we bid our reluctant farewell, it isn’t just the beauty of Pemako Punakha we carry home with us but the genuine warmth and sincerity of the people who make it so unforgettable.
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