Lhasa China isn’t everybody’s idea of a vacation destination although Lhasa remains one of the most apparently remote mysterious, and even romantic places on earth. Once completely inaccessible it still isn’t easy to get to, and then when you do, there is the question of where do you find a decent Lhasa Hotel.

The House of Shambhala could well be the perfect answer, and whilst it may not be the perfect example of a luxury boutique hotel it nevertheless by anyone’s standards it is a unique small boutique hotel only recently opened in Lhasa Tibet, now of course in China. It is certainly vastly preferable to the faceless Chinese hotels to be found in Lhasa.

The House of Shambala is quite unlike anything that most people have ever seen in terms of it being an hotel.

It is situated in the Barkhor area in the historic heart of old Lhasa, and it looks like nothing at all as you enter off the street. In fact you will wonder if your guide has brought you to the right place as you pass a row of prayer wheels, then suddenly you find yourself in a traditional Tibetan Lhasa House which has quite obviously been lovingly restored, and turned into a real funky boutique hotel

The House of Shambalha is the kind of house where a nobleman would have lived, and is three storeyed, built around a courtyard, with prayer wheels and a shrine in the lobby.