Terelj Hotel

Rooms here mix Mongolian antiques with contemporary art, a pairing that sets the hotel apart from the grassland around it. Set 70 kilometres north of Ulaanbaatar inside Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, the building reads as a deliberate contrast to its surroundings: glass, colonnades, and a ballroom set against forested peaks and the Terelj River. Superior Rooms are the most requested category. Deluxe Junior Suites sit on the upper floor of the east wing, with views over the river and hills that shift with the season. The Honeymoon Suite has its own entrance in the Presidential Wing. The Presidential Suite takes up an entire wing on its own. Downstairs, the River View Restaurant looks onto the water at breakfast and lunch, while Argali Restaurant and Bar stocks more than 70 whiskeys alongside a full dining menu. A colonnaded pavilion houses the largest indoor pool in Mongolia, next to a fitness suite with a view of its own. Outside, the park offers riding through steppe and forest, fishing, and trips to Turtle Rock and the Aryabal meditation centre. Two meeting rooms and a ballroom hold up to 150 people, with an on-site wedding garden for outdoor ceremonies. Nomadic families still live within the park boundary. It is a considered outlier in a landscape otherwise given over to grass, rock, and river.