glennaa11

I stayed at the Hotel River View a few years ago. Room was just OK. Service at the restaurant was fairly poor. But they have two old temples on the hotel grounds, one of which was lit with candles some nights which was really beautiful.

IMHO Balloons Over Bagan is a must. Best $300 I spent on that trip. Here's a link to my trip report
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...ple-weeks.html

MattEvan

Stunning photos in the TR. I'm savoring them to get even more excited for my upcoming trip. Thanks!

bhrubin

I found these photos of the Island Villa.

Entry bridge to island:



Entry to Villa:



Living room of villa:





Bedroom of villa:



Exterior view with poo (bedroom is in the background, living room is to the right)l:







Sunset view from Island Villa:



Suffice to say, the Island Villa is pretty spectacular.

offerendum

The villa looks really nice!

quitecontrary

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.

bhrubin

Wherever you stay, Bagan is absolutely amazing. The sunset view from the ugly tower at the Aureum Palace (which can be accessed by non-guests for a fee):

FlyerEC

Thanks for your detailed TR with photos .
Agree that from what I see from your photos , it is ratter amazing .
Also you are not that " young " but perhaps like many here , young at heart .
Others who have visited told me that perhaps I should go but combine with one of the cruises .
My window for visits are the cool months , possibly only January & February after 2016 .

bhrubin

I totally agree that cruising is a great way to see more of Burma. We chose not to cruise, partly because we wanted to spend a lot of time exploring Bagan--and most cruises spend only a day or two at most in Bagan. The cruises are pricey, too, so I wasn't sure the opportunity cost would be appropriate for what I tend to like. (I can only see so many river villages with the same assortment of temples and "cultural activities" before I go bonkers.) We also wanted to tour at our own pace and not be restricted by the group cruise limitations.

I'd combined a stay in Bagan with the start or end of your cruise if your schedule allows. That's what I'd do if ever we return. And Bagan is worth the return IMO.

daumueller

Stayed at the Strand (Strand Suite) and aureum (Island Villa) this May and both were more than great- especially by local standards

Regarding the ownership of aureum - we went there anyway as my point was: if you don't want to 'Support' them, you should avoid the whole country (the owner of the Hotel, just like few others, apparently owns much more than just that one Hotel) and same is true for many other countries. Still, i think NOW is the time to go before the real masses start going there

glennaa11

Thanks for the kind words about my TR.

There are a ton of really well done videos on YouTube.

The person who posted this one of the Balloons Over Bagan has a number of other Bagan and Myanmar 4K videos as well.

cakegirl

I'm over there right now- I was at the Tharabar a few days ago. The rooms are comfortable and the people nice. There were a few big tour groups staying there as well. I found the spa to be lacking especially since they are charging luxury prices. The restaurant is just ok- we like The Moon restaurant across the street and the Sunset Garden, in New Bagan.
We met some people staying Bagan Thiripyitsaya and they had really enjoyed it.
I'm at the Inle Princess now and it has been wonderful- really exceeded our expectations in every regard. Off to the Governors later today.

worldiswide

A bit OT, but interested in your review of pandaw. Which cruise and what were pros and cons.

MattEvan

So, we were out of luck on the Island Villa, it's booked up pretty solid throughout November and December. We were able to confirm at Lotus Villa, which also looks fantastic (alas, no pool): http://www.aureumpalacehotel.com/bag...omodation.html

With the Governor's Residence in RGN, and the Inle Princess on the lake, that about rounds out our trip.

DirtyDan

Bagan was one of those places were we went for the sights and not the luxury experience.

I'll put another vote in for Tharabar Gate as it's really the only 3 star game in town. The staff were wonderful. One day, I left our little room safe open and when we returned the GM was there to explain that housekeeping found it open, and that a team, including security, made a detailed inventory of the contents, before he handed me a sealed envelope with the inventory and the new code they locked the safe with...

Get a car / driver and make sure they take you away from the general area for the sunset. There are hundreds of temples and no need to be crowded out on the one nearest the hotels.

stephem

I am planning a very last minute Myanmar trip for late Dec and was pointed to this thread as I am pretty sure we are going to do Bagan in addition to Yangon. We have 2yr, 5yr and 6yr olds with us, so need some comfort and definitely a pool for them to dip into each day to refresh, but ideally I would like to be able to walk around with them in the evening.

Aureum Palace is sold out, it was our top choice.
Tharabar Gate seems like it should be our second choice, especially the walkability factor, and has some rooms available but not on dates we really want to be in Bagan.
Bagan Lodge is the only place that has consistent availability for the exact dates we want. It looks like a nice enough place, but it sounds like it is a taxi to everything from this place.

Any recs from people who have stayed at one or more with younger kids?

BTW- the pics and trip report links were appreciated, sealed the deal on making the trek up to Bagan