AnnaBeth

Inle in a heartbeat. Governors Residence is a lovely hotel and the hard product beats the Inle Princess but Yangon didn't have anything compelling that I wish I'd spent more time, unlike Inle Lake.

I loved our stay at Inle Princess and found the food amazing. Governors Residence was fully booked when we visited but we did go there for a meal and found the service impeccable.

If you're at all a cat lover then a trip to the Heritage House is definitely a must in Inle; I understand it's owned by the same owners as the Inle Princess (and the food there is just as good) but the real highlight is spending time with the Burmese cats downstairs.

cadogan1

Has anyone tried any of the boat options out there - believe Belmond have a couple of cruises, and there may be other upmarket options i haven't discovered yet). A good way of seeing the country? Suitable for children? Myanmar is very much on my radar for a trip later this year, albeit at very early planning stages, and i thougth the cruises could be a nice alternative to hotels if the hotels are still somewhat basic, and perhaps a better way of getting off the beaten track? Thoughts or feedback from anyone?

cakegirl

Thanks, we'll definitely stay the extra night at Inle Lake. We are doing the balloon trip in Bagan. I skipped it in Capadoccia and still regret it.

Now I'm rethinking Tharabar or Thande in Bagan...

KI-NRT

We took the Road to Mandalay (Belmond) from Bagan to Mandalay in Dec. 2012. It's definitely upscale, and a great way to tour the center of the country. A few things to keep in mind, however:

1) Any decent hotel room is going to be much more spacious and comfortable than even the largest of cruise ship cabins.... it's definitely cramped by comparison.

In Bagan, we stayed at The Hotel at Tharabar Gate, and it was excellent. We had a Suite Room and thought the hard product was great.

Tharabar Gate Suite Room:





Road to Mandalay State Cabin:







2) With The Road to Mandalay, every excursion is a group activity.... it definitely FEELS that you're part of a large tour contingent, which we don't really like. In Bagan, we hired a horse cart driver who happened to also be a fantastic guide. He took us to all of the great sites, explained the history and significance of every nook and cranny, and knew exactly when to go to certain temples to avoid the tourist rush (although, admittedly, there weren't that many tourists, but keep in mind this was late 2012 so your mileage may vary.) On the second day, we rented bicycles and explored the surrounding villages and checked out temples we didn't get to see the previous day. Exploring the inner bowels of Myanmar - without other tourist - was an awesome experience. We came across a group of kids kicking around a soccer ball in the front yard of one of the houses, and the family living in the house invited us inside, and even fed us! You are NOT going to have such chance encounters by being part of a large tour group.

In defense of RTM, their on-board activities were quite interesting (cooking demonstrations, "thanaka" make-up sessions, traditional dance performances by local village children, etc.), and we probably would not have had a chance to see many of the sites (that Road to Mandalay took us to see) if we tried to explore ourselves, at least in the area between Bagan and Mandalay. We were fortunate enough to spend a few extra days exploring on our own before the departure date of the cruise; you might want to do the same, especially in Bagan.

Food wise, The Road to Mandalay was just so-so. The decor of the dining room was certainly luxe, and the China and silverware were of high quality. The food LOOKED appetizing, but they tried too hard. They would be better served by focusing on more simpler dishes that can be easily executed on. Some of the restaurants in Bagan were surprisingly good - try Star Beam (or Star Beans, they seem to flip flop on the naming of the restaurant.) The owner was a chef at an international hotel in Bangkok (I think it was in Bangkok), bakes his own bread daily, and serves a wonderful variety of dishes, from fresh tea leaf salad to local Myanmar fish and curry to excellent al dente carbonara pasta. Oh, and the water is safe, too (they purify it not once but twice.) Here's a pic:



Finally - whatever you do, GO ON THE BALLOON RIDE. Balloons over Bagan is the most reputable operator there, and it's very expensive. But if you want to see Bagan in the way it's meant to be seen, you MUST see it from high above. Here's a taste:













We absolutely adore Myanmar. No matter how you explore the country, you're going to have a fabulous time with memories that will last a lifetime. We can't wait to go back (perhaps Malikha Lodge in Northern Myanmar - anyone been there?)

SanDiego1K

Phenomenal pictures. Thank you.

cadogan1

Wonderful KI-NRT - beautiful pictures and i think we wouldn't like the tour group element of the boats either (especially with children, who tend to need things done at their speed a bit more). Do you think we would miss out on any must-see areas that you got to see by boat but if we were going the land-based option, staying in perhaps 3 different locations (Bagan, Yangon and Inle Lake I imagine) we wouldn't get to experience?

bhrubin

The reasons you outlined are exactly the reasons we didn't go on the Belmond RTM cruise. It didn't offer enough time in Bagan--which was the biggest reason I wanted to visit Myanmar in the first place--and it was far more expensive than staying on land. And I DESPISE group tours.

We stayed 3 nights in the Aureum Palace Bagan's Island Villa (has its own pool), and I endorse the property as probably being the nicest in Bagan. But the food was so-so, and food in town one night was terrible. But Bagan's temples were totally worth it. The lodgings, though, were spectacularly nice and spacious, with many (including ours) having views onto the temples. But any property that fits your budget in Bagan is worth the stay, whether you are doing the cruise or whether you're specifically visiting and staying in Bagan. Bagan was unquestionably the highlight of our Myanmar trip, and your photos make obvious the reasons.

The Aureum has a very tall (ugly) obeservation tower which hotel guests can use for free--and this gives you some of the same views as being on a hot air balloon (a stationary one, anyway). Non-hotel guests can pay an entry fee to access the tower, too. I am not a fan of waking up at ungodly hours unless there is wildlife involved, so I never do balloons.

Mickidon

One tip on the balloon ride if photography is important to you: there is a camera mounted on a wire on one side, so the vendor can sell the video. It showed up prominently in many of our pictures, no matter how hard we tried to work around it. So sit on the other side...

kokonutz

If you take the 'luxury' tour on BoB the Go Pro photos they take are included. And those photos are pretty cool:

worldiswide

You don't say how old the children are and if there are any special interests of theirs or yours in going to Burma. There is a lot of l earning to be done on this kind of trip. Maybe a trip to a school could be arranged or you could find out if there is anything you can bring to donate with you.,There is an organization called pack with a purpoSe, I know it operates in Africa that matches you with things needed in the country you are visiting , there must be something like that for Asia as well. We brought a s u it case filled with classic books that we left on the boat to be distributed. That would be my start for trying to decide what to do.. that said like bh rubin says I despise group tours, but actually enjoyed Road to Mandalay. You can do a short tour 3 or 4 days so you get a real flavor of the Riverside life, and we were off the boat not just for the big sites in Bagan and Mandalay as well as a morning ceremony when the monKS were getting food and a visit to a nunnery And a vist to the Pao tribe again on our own. We did an extension to Inle Lake where we were more or less independent and on our own schedule, as well as a coup l e of days in Yangon on our own.. This was 2004 when there were not many options or tourists, which also made it really special and I'm sure things have changed, not all for the better. The trip getting to Inle was a great adventure in the Open boats and leg rowers, and the setting is really special. Hotel rooms and sizes are probably low on our list of criteria so the boat cabins were no issue as we watched the changing scenery.

Mickidon

-I'd go with what seems to be a developing consensus and pick Inle - not even a contest for me. I tend to love urban settings, but did not find Yangon compelling after the top few attractions were visited, particularly as compared with Inle and Bagan. We stayed at both the Governor's Residence and Strand and loved the former and were totally unimpressed with the latter. In theory, the location should have been a plus, but I didn't find
wandering around the broken up, rutted streets around the Strand at all enticing. As well, our one bedroom suite was mediocre, with broken filthy windows and a view of a deserted alley. In contrast, GR (jr. suite) seemed an oasis.

-For the reasons stated in previous posts, we opted not to do the Road to Mandalay. Instead, we enjoyed several full day private boats trips on Inle that
were fabulous, bringing us to many villages, water farms, factories, etc. Just
watching the peaceful mode of fishing was transporting. We stayed at the Inle
Princess and found it fine, but a bit more rustic than expected.

-In Bagan, we stayed at the Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort which was decent. It's all about getting out and about in Bagan, so the accommodations matter less here. For some reason, the owner of the Aureum Palace seemed surrounded by controversy when we were there and our travel planner worked around that property. I didn't press it as it didn't matter much, but I suspect the Aureum is closer to luxury than our hotel was. Still, that modern tower the Aureum built in the middle of the temples rankled every time I saw it.

KI-NRT

You'll miss Pakkoku (Shwegu Pagoda, a market and a local Cheroot factory) as well as Mandalay and its surrounds, which includes Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery and Bagaya Monastery in Ava/Inwa, and Shwenandaw Monastery, Kuthodaw Pagoda and U Bein's Bridge - the latter being the longest bridge in the world made of teak wood... big whoop. I'd say you're not missing a whole heck of a lot.

Using Bagan and Inle as bases, I think you will have a great experience by hiring a competent (private!) guide and exploring the area.

One more thing I forgot to mention... our horse cart driver/guide took us to a (very) local village where we were able to observe alms offerings to the Novices (essentially young Monks-in-training)... with ZERO tourists. The touristy alms offerings arranged through Amantaka in Laos pales by comparison in its authenticity. Here's a video I took of an early morning alm offering in a small village near Bagan.

The owner of the Aureum Palace is a tycoon with close ties to the military junta, which is one reason why we chose not to stay there (the other being that The Hotel @ Tharabar Gate is in a better location.)

quitecontrary

Well only two maybe!

stephem

We just had to radically adjust our trip through SE Asia next month due to the volcanic cloud over Denpasar. We can't take any risks that we'd get stranded for a week so we've now decided to scrap Bali and stick to Vietnam and nearby in SE Asia. We've spent a lot of time in Vietnam though and so ideally only want to end up there at the end of our trip for flights back to the US. We land in HKG on Dec 17 and fly out of SGN on Dec 29, so have a fair chunk of time (but were planning to spend Dec 26-28 in SGN).

Seeking some help here on hotels, here are the constraints:
-we have 3 kids, well-traveled (2 yr, 5 yrs and 6 yrs)
-probably want to do yangon + one other location, due to the "don't try to rush it" concern
-my kids love to explore, but need some refresh time (like a pool and comfortable hotel to lounge).
-my wife doesn't like mediocrity in hotels.
-assuming due to constraints w kids we'll be flying and I know none of this will be cheap due to last minute nature and generally higher costs of Myanmar due to neighboring countries.

Yangon
-really limited availability during that time at such last minute. Nothing at Governors, and Strand and Savoy are nearly full. Particularly a challenge since nobody seems to know what to do with a whopping brood of three kids.
-thinking we'll hit the SL because they have a sensible approach to the kids and at worst I get two connecting rooms.

Bagan
-literally the one place on the earth my wife hasn't been that she wants to go.
-Hotels are super slim pickings at this point and my wife will kill me if I don't get this right (Aureum Palace and the Hotel not available on dates we would be in Bagan).
-I am going to spend some time with a travel agent over the weekend, but any suggestions on alternatives (Bagan Lodge and Bluebird hotel are available) or whether we should adjust dates that we would go to Bagan?

Other options
-I haven't looked much beyond Bagan at this point, but open to suggestions for a place beyond Yangon...

I know it might be more appropriate to post in one of the other forums (like traveling with kids or asia) but I've generally had good luck here, since the luxury hotels part of our needs often gets lost in the mix on posts outside this forum. Anyone pointers or suggestions, particularly someone who has traveled in Myanmar with kids this age?

Kagehitokiri

have you talked to hotel (management) directly about availability?
depending on agent, hotel may give your agent better availability

most (if not all) of those properties are top / luxury myanmar properties discussed in this thread / lux hotels forum