The RinchenLingLodge was the first of three hotels we used during our trip to Bhutan and was both the most basic and the most friendly of the three. We landed at Paroairport mid-afternoon and were taken to the hotel after stopping off to watch some archery and stroll around the town centre.
Location
The Lodge is about 4 or 5 km outside Paro town and at first I was a bit disappointed to hear we wouldn't be staying more centrally. There wasn't anything around the hotel and it was a bit isolated but the setting was beautiful, nestled amongst fields in the shadow of tree-covered mountains. The location is between Paro and some of the key attractions including the abandoned Drukgyel Dzong, the temple of Kyichu and the famous Tiger's Nest.
Our Room
On arrival our bags were taken to our room by a couple of the staff. We were staying in
a room on the upper floor of the main hotel building at the far end of the corridor. On the plus-side this meant we were on the corner of the building and had windows with views on two sides but on the down-side we were directly above the kitchen and dining room which was very noisy at times. All the floors in the rooms and corridors in this main building were wooden which, as you can imagine, again added to the general racket of life at the Rinchen Ling - even more so when the other rooms were all taken by a large American tour group who seemed to particularly enjoy going in and out of each other's rooms and shouting at each other. The room was large and clean but a bit basic and very wooden - wooden floors, wooden walls, even a wooden ceiling which seemed to have been made partly from packing cases since we noticed the word SONY stencilled on one of the roof panels. I could also say the oil-fired radiator was wooden - in as much as it 'wooden work' whenever the power cut out (groan!). For furniture, there was a suitcase stand, a small wardrobe, a desk in front of one of the windows, a wall-mirror and two single beds with a side table between them. The bedspreads matched the curtains and were in dark-blue striped fabric. Between the two beds was a lethal Chinese pattern rug that should have come with a health warning. It slid about at the slightest touch and had to be rolled out of the way to stop us killing ourselves any time we stepped on it.
The bathroom had a loo, a sink with marble surround (what I call gravestone marble - the white grainy stuff) and a bath with a shower over. It was spotlessly clean and there was always plenty of hot water whenever we needed it which isn't something you can take for granted in the Indian Sub-continent. However, Bhutan has lots of water and hence, lots of hydro-electricity so you don't even have to feel guilty about leaving the water heater on because all Bhutan's power is very green indeed.
We didn't have a TV which wasn't a problem but I did notice that some of the other rooms did have enormous televisions which was a bit of a puzzle.
Eating and Drinking
We dropped our bags in the room and headed downstairs for welcome coffees and teas and some very lovely home-made biscuits in the reception area. Bhutanese hotels seem to be similar to staying with my mum; at any pause in proceedings their natural inclination is to offer tea and coffee. Arrive at the hotel - tea and coffee; just before dinner - tea and coffee; after dinner - tea and coffee again. We were also asked cryptically by our guide "do you want Betties?" After thinking he was saying 'butties' we finally realised he was offering 'Bed Teas' - or tea in bed first thing in the morning. This is something often offered in this part of the world and yet I can't face having to be respectable enough to receive a man with a tray first thing in the morning and knowing our luck we'd have leaped out of bed to open the door and brained ourselves by falling off the rug. So we said a polite no thank you and left it at that.
Meals were served in the dining room on the ground floor next to reception and there was a small bar to one side. On the first night we ordered beers in the bar before heading to our table to eat. Both nights dinner started with soup which was buttery and bland. Main courses were laid out in a buffet format and were mostly vegetarian with just one or two exceptions. As this was our first hotel, we didn't at that point realise that almost all the dishes were very standard and likely to crop up again and again during our trip. Typical dishes included the local red rice (a short-grained rather lumpy type of rice), fried eggplant, potatoes in white sauce with chilli, spicy mixed veg and noodle salad. Pudding each night was fruit or fruit based. On the second night, the chef brought round some 'special' dishes - special in as much as they needed to carry a bit of a health warning. Roasted whole chillies and the national dish, Ema Datse, which consists of chillies in green sauce - a combination that's far too dangerous to put out on a buffet.
Breakfast on the first morning was very attentive - I think because we were the last guests down and they'd cleared all the other tables. We had cornflakes with sliced banana and milk, scrambled eggs and toast, coffee and juice. On the second morning we were a bit earlier and had the buffet breakfast which was very similar. The staff at meal times were always really smiley and friendly and nothing seemed to be too much trouble. We got the impression that they all seemed to enjoy their work - even when attempting to torture us with chillies or offering us the most disgusting drink of hot rice wine with egg in it.
What else?
Other than eating, drinking and sleeping there wasn't a lot to do at the hotel. One evening we sat out in the garden in plastic lawn chairs and watched the local dogs playing tag in the garden and running through the fences. Dogs in Paro are a bit of an issue and we apparently got off very lightly compared to people staying in the town centre where they apparently gather in canine chorus to howl throughout the night. The dogs which are so cute and endearing during the day time clearly like to party long into the night. We slept very poorly on the first night although I think that was largely down to altitude and time zone difference.
Value for Money?
It's absolutely impossible to judge since the hotel - like all hotels on our trip and all restaurants too - was part of the 'package' fee of $230 per person to day. That's fixed by the government who take something like 30% of the money paid for every trip. Consequently whether it's value or not is irrelevant - you've got no choice!
Verdict?
We liked the hotel well enough but it wasn't really anything very special. Without the excellent staff it would have been a basic and rather mediocre hotel, but luckily the staff raised the overall experience a good few notches
Pictures of Rinchen Ling Lodge, Paro
Genuine blue Bhutanese sky
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