Bangladesh · Dhaka Division · Dhaka
Gulshan, Dhaka — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Gulshan is an affluent residential and commercial neighbourhood of Dhaka and a thana, home to most of Bangladesh's foreign embassies.
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Where to stay in Gulshan
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
Gulshan has five-star hotels of its own, among them the 250-room Westin at Circle 2. It also has restaurants and shopping centres. Gulshan Avenue runs through the middle, from the embassy area in the north through Circle 2 and Circle 1 to Hatirjheel in the south.
Find hotels in Gulshan
Direct booking searches for these neighbourhoods.
Gulshan Circle 2
The 250-room Westin stands at Circle 2 of Gulshan Model Town.Find hotels in Gulshan Circle 2visitors with business at an embassy or high commissionBaridhara Diplomatic Zone
The diplomatic zone is part of Gulshan Thana, which holds most of the country's foreign embassies and high commissions.Find hotels in Baridhara Diplomatic ZoneHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
About Gulshan
What are the main landmarks in Gulshan?
Gulshan Lake is the area's open water. The Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park is among its public parks, and its 25 mosques include the Gulshan Azad Mosque and the Gulshan Society Mosque. The Missionaries of Charity keep a mission here.
Private clubs range from the Gulshan Club and the International Club to clubs sponsored by diplomatic missions, such as the Nordic Club and the German Club.
What is the history of Gulshan?
Until 1961 the ground was Bhola Gram, a rural settlement of croplands, dense vegetation and fishing water, settled by migrants from Bhola District. The Dhaka Improvement Trust under G.A. Madani then chose it for the Gulshan Model Town, a planned residential area modelled on a neighbourhood in Karachi.
Gulshan Thana was organised around 1972. In 1982 the municipality became a ward of Dhaka, high-rises followed from the 1990s, and in 2004 commercial buildings were officially allowed in parts of the area.
Where is Gulshan?
Gulshan Thana covers 8.85 square kilometres of Dhaka, taking in Gulshan Model Town with its Circle 1 and Circle 2, the Baridhara Diplomatic Zone and Niketan. Half the land is residential. A fifth is commercial and about an eighth diplomatic, and the rest includes slums, the largest of them Korail.
Gulshan Lake also lies in the area.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Gulshan?
Gulshan Circle 2: travellers wanting a five-star base near the embassies. Baridhara Diplomatic Zone: visitors with business at an embassy or high commission.
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Updated October 2026