ENTER THE PICTURE POSTCARD

A stylish luxury hotel in Thimphu's northern outskirts is where illustrious Bhutanese and travellers alike are finding their happy place

- PRANNAY PATHAK

NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN BHUTAN, THERE'S ALMOST always a fine place to stay not very far away. Several outposts of international hospitality chains have flourished in its valleys and unassuming cities, promising inordinate luxury for the well-heeled, with exceedingly well-appointed rooms with panoramic views, hot-stone baths and a headlong immersion into Himalayan zen.

Not that it eschews any of these indulgences, but compared to all those illustrious cribs, The Postcard Dewa also feels like a really comfortable home with every possible convenience. Informed by aesthetics at the intersection of distinctly Indian and eastern Himalayan sensibilities, it interrupts the monotony of the quintessential Bhutanese luxury hotel. I know it from the moment my car begins snaking along the forest road hugging the hill, the hotel's evasive visage giving itself away bit by bit at the persistent craning of my neck. Once there, I am welcomed with smiles, with endless kuzuzampolas and with warm herbal tea as I stare wide-eyed at the enormous reception desk-an ornately carved wooden counter salvaged from the Talo Monastery in Punakha-and right behind, an embroidered kira belonging to the family of the second Bhutanese king.

In the week that just went by, I've hiked more than I have in my entire life. My clothes demand reparations of me, and my body has forgotten both fight and flight. The former are taken in kindly by the laundry, and the latter I cede to my sanctuary for the next few days: the Premier Suite. Numbered 201, it is as close as a real-world manifestation can come to the open-plan apartment of my dreams.