Yangon – Inya Lake Hotel

I was booked at the Inya Lake Hotel during my stay in Yangon.  It is located amidst 37 acres of verdant gardens and along the shoreline of the serene Inya Lake.  The large, 4-storey colonial style hotel has 129 guestrooms.  A check on Trip Advisor before I left revealed that it is a very old hotel with rundown rooms so I was prepared for the worst.  And since I had expected the worst, I was pleasantly surprised when I find that it’s not that bad.  Sure the room is dated with old furnishings, but it was very spacious and has a clean toilet (which is the most important to me).  The bed was comfortable with clean sheets and pillow cases.  The lift smelt really musty though.

Beautiful view from my room

It had a decent breakfast selection with a variety of breads and juices, egg station, bacon, sausage, baked beans, grilled tomato, French toast, stir fried vegetables, fried rice and noodles, porridge, Burmese noodles and pancake or waffle. 

My room came with complimentary internet usage and I was pleasantly surprised with its rather good speed.  My only grouse was the occasional dropped line.

An interesting fact about this hotel is that the entire 2^nd floor is occupied by two United Nations offices, the UN World Food Programme and the UN Office for Project Services.  Some rooms on the 3^rd floor are the residence for the employees of these two offices so you can see lots of foreigners in the hotel compound.  I also spotted the International SOS office near the car park of the hotel.

However, the rate for the hotel, USD 150/night during the period that I was there, is way too steep.  If I were to pay on my own, I would definitely not stay here as I don’t think it’s worth the price.  You can get a room at the much newer and nicer Traders Hotel, which is right in the centre of Yangon city, for the same price.