Hotel Norbuling at Bhutan’s Thimphu

The three-star boutique Hotel Norbuling along Changlam Street in Thimphu lies just one street behind Nozin Lam, the shopping district of Thimphu and is opposite the Changlimithang Stadium with its yellow walls.

A small hotel by most standards, there are only 6 rooms on each floor, with a total of 24 rooms.  This means that there are no long corridors while searching for one’s room.
Although the hotel is only slightly more than a year old, the condition of the furnishing feels older than they are, probably due to the different standards of maintenance compared to Japanese hotels in general.

My room is just outside the lift and next to the staircase.  Thankfully because it was low season, there were no footsteps outside my room from fellow tourists running down the stairs because they were impatient with the only lift in the hotel.

The twin room I stayed in is of a reasonable size with a fairly large rectangular-ish bathroom.  The hotel is sandwiched between 2 other buildings, which meant that room windows open to an alley next to the hotel, meaning the awesome mountains opposite the hotel could only be enjoyed from the entrance of the hotel and not from my room. 

There was a pail with scoop in the bathroom, which I have no idea what they were for.  Perhaps Bhutanese have the habit of scooping water from a pail when they bathe? 

 
Perhaps due to the low season, breakfasts and dinners at the hotel were served instead of being laid out buffet-style.

I had a huge American-style breakfast the first morning, which I then omitted the porridge the next morning as I couldn’t finish it the previous day.  Thankfully bread in Bhutan didn’t have the milk-powder taste as those in Laos, so toast was enjoyable in Bhutan.

During the last dinner in Bhutan, I learnt from the guide that Bhutanese eat red rice for breakfasts, lunches and dinners.  Bread and eggs are served in hotels to tourists unfamiliar with the Bhutanese breakfast of rice and chilli cheese.