That villa does look very nice but I'm afraid I won't be staying given the ownership of the hotel - I'm sure the military have an interest in a lot of f the tourist infrastructure but where I know I have to act accordingly.
We're going in a couple of weeks and unfortunately the @ Tharabar Gate is fully booked so the options I'm looking at are Bagan Thande, Aye Yar River View and Bagan Thiripyitsaya - they're all by the river and roughly the same cost and are used by the tour companies like Ampersand and ScottDunn where customers usually like to travel in style. None of these hotels have amazing reviews on Tripadvisor - so even that's not helping. Basically my main requirements are a comfortable bed and good air con as we'll be out all day - close to restaurants would also be good but with the location of all of these it looks like we'll have to use taxis anyway. Bagan Lodge is also available but it looks further away from the sights etc..
Oh and great trip report glennaa11 - stunning photos.