Location and context were the main drivers which sculpted the narrative of this hotel. Its scenic setting by the banks of Paro River, surrounded by gently undulating hills and proximity to Bhutan’s international airport gave it advantages of accessibility as well as picturesqueness. The hotel’s interiors are suffused with local flavour. The simple lines and the rawness of materiality echo both, the vernacular style of the region as well as the back-to-basics lifestyle its people. The clean and straight-lined compositions are fleshed with rustic materials such as slate, granite and wood for flooring.

Dharmachakra art on rough-hewn walls walls, waffle wood ceilings (in some places), and pinewood root the narrative firmly in the context. The scenic beauty of the surroundings is venerated by orienting functionalities of prime importance — the all-day dining and the heated indoor swimming pool — close to the river and blending the line between the inside and the outside with the help of expansive glazed walls.

Most of the artisanal expertise had to be imported from India and lighting fixtures from Thailand. The latter are crafted out of thin veneers of pear wood whose warm glow brings an old-world, sepia-toned charm to the interiors.