Hotel Review: Hotel Druk in Phuentsoling (Bhutan)

Hotel Druk in Phuentsoling, Bhutan’s border town, is just about 300m from Phuentsoling’s Entry Gate.

We were staying overnight in Phuentsoling for two reasons – one, we needed to get our Bhutan Entry Permit/Pass at the Immigration Office here. Second, we had reached the border town around 4 in the evening. Leaving for Thimpu straightaway upon getting the Entry Permit/Pass made no sense. Thimpu is 4 hours away from Phuentsoling, and it would mean driving in the dark and missing all the beautiful scenery enroute. No, we decided, let’s camp in Phuentsoling for the night and leave for Thimpu the next morning. And thus we stayed at Hotel Druk in Phuentsoling.

How is Hotel Druk in Phuentsoling (Bhutan)? It is a very basic hotel. Remember, no one comes to stay here for leisure. The stay is more in the nature of stop-gap. Which is why they have kept it extremely simple and catering to just the basic.

• Room @Hotel Druk Phuentsoling — Is clean, with clean beds and a clean bathroom. The room is serviced with electric water heater and provisons for tea/coffee, with 2 complimentary bottles of water. Bathroom has its usual supplies of locally-made toiletries. Good!
• Food @Hotel Druk Phuentsoling – Is pretty average. They had a complete India fare for dinner with Rice, Chicken Rara, Mixed Vegetable, Dal and so on. We looked for Bhutanese food in vain and finally realized that our initiation to Bhutanese food had to wait. Although the spread was Indian, the food wasn’t hot and my 6 yr old didn’t have any problem eating the Rice and Chicken. Breakfast, in the morning, was a complete no brainer with just the basic English spread with regular bread, butter, sausages, boiled veggies, choice of eggs, juices and hot beverages. As is said, nothing over the top, very basic, but clean and hygienic, and with a smile.
• Internet @Hotel Druk Phuentsoling: Guess what? At Hotel Druk in Phuentsoling, you are not even 500m away from the Indian terrain. Oh, I meant the skies. Which means, you can easily connect with your normal Indian service provider. We did that. The hotel, however, has Wifi and will share the login details if you request for them.

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Final Word on Hotel Drul in Phuentsoling (Bhutan):  The rates per night at Hotel Druk is about 60 USD. We are, however, touring Bhutan with Norbu Travels and hence, didn’t get into per hotel rate details. Jayant checked reviews of the hotel and negotiated with Norbu for the overnight stay here. Good, clean and basics are all that matters for a night’s sleep in a border town, and that’s what we got to our full satisfaction here at Hotel Druk.