Six Senses Bhutan vs Amankora: Lodge, Food & Valleys

Six Senses Bhutan and Amankora cover the same main valleys: Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, Gangtey and Bumthang. We arrange your guide, so the guiding is the same at either lodge. The main difference is how each chain wants you to spend your days. At Six Senses, much of the experience happens at the lodge. At Amankora, most of it happens out in Bhutan with your guide. This guide compares the two so you can choose the one that fits how you like to travel.

We cover prices in separate guides. For rates by lodge and season, see our Six Senses Bhutan price breakdown or our Amankora price breakdown. This guide helps you choose a style of stay before you look at the numbers.

The Real Differentiator Between Six Senses and Amankora

The main difference is where you spend your day: Six Senses centres the experience on the lodge, and Amankora centres it on days out in Bhutan with your guide. Six Senses lodges are set high above their valleys, with views, gardens, pools, dining, spa and wellness built into the stay. Amankora lodges are in lower, more accessible locations, and the lodges are quiet and understated. The guide does not decide between them, because we arrange a licensed national guide for you at either lodge. Choose by how much of each day you want to spend at the lodge.

Six Senses vs Amankora at a Glance

Six Senses suits a lodge-focused trip, and Amankora suits a trip focused on days out, and the table shows the details side by side.

What Is It Like to Stay at Six Senses Bhutan?

Staying at Six Senses is a lodge-focused experience, because all five properties are set high above their valleys and include views, gardens, pools, dining, spa and wellness. The height means the lodge itself gives you a strong sense of the place. You can enjoy the landscape from inside and outside the property, so the lodge is a reason to stay in as well as a base for days out. Dining is also one of the stronger parts of the stay. This suits travellers who want real time to rest between visits to temples and villages.

What Is It Like to Stay at Amankora?

Staying at Amankora is a journey-focused experience, because its lodges are generally in lower, more accessible locations and the main activity is going out with your guide. From these locations, the valleys, villages, temples and countryside are within easy reach. The lodges are quiet and understated, with less emphasis on staying at the property through the day. This suits travellers who want to see as much as possible and use the lodge as a calm place to return to.

Most comparisons stop at architecture and service style. From our experience on the ground, a more useful question is where each lodge sits relative to the place around it.

Six Senses follows a clear pattern across its five valleys. Its lodges are set back from the town centre, on elevated ground, with space around them. That pattern repeats in every valley, and it is why the five properties feel so different from one another despite sharing a brand name. Each one responds to its own landscape, while the approach of stepping back from it stays the same. The location does the work, and the lodge stays in the background.

Rates vary with season and the combination of lodges you choose. What a Six Senses Bhutan journey actually costs covers that in detail.

Amankora works differently. Its pitch is one consistent experience across five valleys, with the same architectural language, the same rhythm and the same fire-lit arrival. That consistency is real. Where it varies is the lodge’s relationship to its setting. Some sites feel genuinely remote, while others sit closer to a town or landmark. The design stays constant, and the geography changes from valley to valley.

Six Senses vs Amankora Food: Which Has Better Dining?

Both have strong food, so the better choice depends on the dining style you prefer. Six Senses gives each lodge its own named restaurant and a signature dinner, and its menus follow an organic, zero-waste approach. Amankora serves full board with no fixed menu, and you plan each meal with the chef every day. Both chains also grow produce in their own kitchen gardens at every lodge. Choose Six Senses if you want a different restaurant and a set-piece dinner in each valley. Choose Amankora if you want to decide each meal with the chef.

Dining at Six Senses Bhutan

Six Senses builds its food around a brand-wide approach called “Eat With Six Senses”, which focuses on hyper-local sourcing, organic ingredients and zero waste. Each lodge has its own organic kitchen garden, and anything that is not grown on site comes from farmers in the valley. Menus also highlight healthy choices, which fit the wellness focus of the lodges. Bhutanese staples such as ema datshi (traditional national dish of Bhutan), red rice, suja (butter tea) and ezay (chilli sauce) appear across the lodges, and each lodge adds its own restaurant and local focus.

Two dinners stand out. The Medieval Stone Ruins Dinner at Six Senses Paro is a candlelit multi-course meal among the ruins of the 15th-century Chubjakha Dzong, with masked dances and live musicians. The Cowshed Farmhouse Dinner at Six Senses Gangtey is served on the upper floor of a traditional farmhouse, where guests wear a gho or kira, drink ara and watch the lodge team perform folk dances. Guests can also join a momo-making class or a tea tasting at Taa-shing Jha Kang in Thimphu.

Dining at Amankora

Amankora serves full board, so breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea and house beverages are part of the stay. There are no fixed menus, because each day the chef talks with you about what you want to eat. That can be a Bhutanese meal or a Western classic. Every lodge has its own organic kitchen garden, and Amankora says its local team includes chefs trained under the former cooks of the Bhutanese Royal Family.

Amankora’s signature meals are built around local settings. The Potato Shed Dinner at Amankora Gangtey takes place in a working potato storage shed owned by a local farming family, lit by candles and warmed by a potbelly stove, and booking it supports the family. In Thimphu, the Kuenselphodrang Hilltop Breakfast follows a morning hike up to Buddha Point and looks out over the Buddha Dordenma. Guests can also take a market-to-table cooking class, where you visit a local market with the chef and then cook dishes such as ema datshi at the lodge.

Food in Each Valley

Each valley has its own food highlight at both chains, as the table shows.

Six Senses vs Amankora, Valley by Valley

Plan each valley around its main sight first, then choose the lodge that fits how you want to see it. The usual circuit runs from Thimphu to Bumthang, and the notes below follow that order.

Thimphu. The highlight of Thimphu is the Buddha Dordenma, and Six Senses Thimphu sits on a ridge above the capital facing it. This is why guests often call the lodge the “Palace in the Sky”. Other sights in the city include Tashichho Dzong and the National Memorial Chorten. Amankora Thimphu sits close to the city, so these sights are easier to reach from the lodge, and it works as the arrival lodge that lets first-time visitors settle in. Choose Six Senses if the view of the Buddha Dordenma matters most. Choose Amankora if you want an easy arrival close to the city.

Paro. The highlight of Paro is Tiger’s Nest, and both lodges suit the day you go up to it in different ways. Six Senses Paro faces the valley and has a strong spa focus, so it suits the time after the hike when you want to rest. Amankora Paro sits in pine forest, away from the airport, and works as a quiet base for your days out. Other sights in Paro include Rinpung Dzong and Kyichu Lhakhang. Choose Six Senses to rest after Tiger’s Nest. Choose Amankora for a quiet base between sights.

Punakha. The highlight of Punakha is Punakha Dzong, and Amankora Punakha is about a 10-minute drive from it. Amankora is reached across a suspension bridge over the Mo Chhu and sits among orchards and rice terraces. Six Senses Punakha sits above the valley’s farmland and river terraces, apart from the Dzong. Another sight in the valley is Chimi Lhakhang. Choose Amankora if short trips to the Dzong matter to you. Choose Six Senses if the view over the valley matters more.

Gangtey (Phobjikha Valley). The highlight of Gangtey is the Phobjikha Valley, where black-necked cranes spend the winter. Gangtey Monastery overlooks the valley, and a walk through the valley is the other main way to see it. Both lodges overlook Phobjikha. Six Senses sits back from the valley floor, which keeps the cranes and the silence as the main attraction. Amankora offers the same quiet, personal feel that it aims for at every lodge. Either lodge suits this valley, so choose based on the style of stay you prefer.

Bumthang. The highlight of Bumthang is its temples, including Jambay Lhakhang, Kurjey Lhakhang and Tamshing Lhakhang. Bumthang is Bhutan’s spiritual heartland, so the days here are about visiting them at an unhurried pace. Both lodges sit a little apart from the town, so the pace of the valley comes first. For this reason, we place Bumthang in the second half of the trip, after you have adjusted to the rhythm of Bhutan. Either lodge works here.

Combine Six Senses and Amankora in Bhutan?

Yes, you can combine them, and we can arrange both stays in one trip. For example, you can stay at Six Senses in Thimphu and Paro, then move to Amankora for Punakha, Gangtey and Bumthang. The two chains use different reservation systems and lead times, so a combined trip takes more planning. We spend several weeks in conversation with you before any lodge is booked, and your guide’s only job on the ground is your journey. If you are unsure about the order, tell us how you like to spend your days, and we will suggest one.

To see how a slower Six Senses itinerary looks, read our seven-night, three-valley Six Senses journey. When you are ready to build the route, how a luxury Bhutan tour comes together explains guide assignment, pacing and the decisions that come first.

If Nepal is also on your list, read about combining Nepal and Bhutan into one journey.

FAQ

Is Six Senses Bhutan better than Amankora?

Neither is better for every traveller, because they are built for different ways of travelling. Six Senses is a complete lodge experience, and Amankora is built around days out with your guide. Choose Six Senses for the lodge and Amankora for time out in Bhutan.

Do the lodges provide the guide?

No, neither lodge provides your guide. We arrange a licensed national guide for your journey, so the guiding is the same whichever chain you choose.

Which has better food, Six Senses or Amankora?

Six Senses, because dining is one of the stronger parts of its experience. See the food section above for more detail.

Is Six Senses Bhutan better for a first-time visitor?

Both work for a first visit, depending on the trip you want. Six Senses suits a first-time visitor who wants a restful lodge with plenty to enjoy on site. Amankora suits one who wants to spend most of the trip out in Bhutan with a guide.

Are the Premium lodges in Bhutan easy to reach?

Amankora is generally easier to reach, because its lodges are in lower and more accessible locations. Six Senses lodges are set high above their valleys. Ask us for the transfer details of each lodge you are considering.

Which is more expensive, Six Senses Bhutan or Amankora?

It depends on the room. Amankora starts higher, at $2,050 per night against $1,575 at Six Senses, while Six Senses goes much higher, up to $8,030. Amankora tops out at $2,850, and all rates are plus taxes. The gap comes more from room category than from the brand, and rates change by season, so please confirm current figures with us.

Can I combine Six Senses and Amankora in one Bhutan trip?

Yes. The two chains use separate booking systems, so a combined trip takes more planning. It is a common way to pair a lodge-focused stay with a stay focused on days out.

Before You Choose

The lodge sets the style of your stay, but your guide, the pacing and the free time decide how the trip feels. Neither chain is a shortcut to a good trip. If you would like to talk it through, we can help with which valley to start in, which room category to choose and whether a combined trip suits your dates.

Get in touch, and we will help you decide, or see our luxury Bhutan tours to see how these lodges fit into a full journey.