Tuesday, October 25, 2016

[Hotel Review] Shwe Inn Tha Floating Resort at Inle Lake

Anette 9:25:00 PM Hotels, Myanmar, Myanmarhotels, Southeastasia, Travel

Water bungalows on Inle Lake

After having participated in a 3-day trekking from Kalaw to Inle Lake it was time to spend some relaxing time at the Shwe Inn Tha Floating Resort, one of the few hotels located directly on the Inle Lake. Our guide from the trekking tour had already arranged transportation to the hotel, so at the shore of the lake we said our goodbyes and were taken by a small lake boat to the hotel where we were greeted by the hotel's staff.

Browse places to stay in Inle on Agoda.com. Free cancellation.

We were seated right away in the open lobby area where we received a complimentary class of fruit juice each. The rest of the check-in procedures were over in an instance while we were sipping on our juice. The hotel's atmosphere was quiet and relaxed, but I suppose there might be more guests and noise during high season. Even though it is a four-star hotel the decor helped make it preserve a local feeling to it, with a couple of beautiful wooden carved statues around the lobby area.

Shwe Inn Tha Floating Resort was awarded the Agoda Golden Circle award in 2015

Rooms

After the check-in was done it was time to head to our rooms. For this trip we stayed in a Deluxe Lake View room. With this room type you can choose between twin beds or a double bed, but I had forgotten to request a double room when we made the reservation so we ended up with twin beds instead. Not too big of a deal for us, but if you insist upon the one or the other you should remember to add the request when you make your booking.

Beds equipped with mosquito net

One thing that was really fantastic about our room was that the beds came equipped with a mosquito net. When we checked into our room we didn't pay much attention to it, but when we came back to the room after dinner the mosquito net had been nicely folded out over our beds. Although we didn't see any mosquitoes during our stay I'm sure there are bound to be a number of those pesky critters lurking around the lake area. Mosquitoes have a tendency to wake me up by buzzing in my ear in the middle of the night so this little detail was very welcome.

The view from our room was also impeccable. As the room name suggest we had a beautiful view of the lake from our room, and the other water bungalows also was a positive addition to the scenery.

There were a number of boats passing by outside the hotel area, but we didn't notice much noise. On the table by the bed there was a note saying that it might get noisy when a lot of boats pass by outside for market days (held every 5th day) along with earplugs but although there was a market held the second day of our stay we didn't notice anything in the morning. Might be something to be aware of if you're a light sleeper though.

Closet for storing luggage

Equipped to make tea & instant coffee

Bathroom
Our bathroom came with both an indoor bathtub and an outdoor shower. The bungalow also had a separate room for the toilet

Just had to include a photo of this old-fashion but oh-so-stylish lock to our room.

Dining

The inconvenient thing about staying in a water bungalow resort is that there are not many options for dining, as you'd have to take a boat to get to the mainland if you want more choices in terms of restaurants. We had dinner at the hotel one evening, and the other day we had our dinner at a local restaurant at the end of a day of sightseeing around Inle Lake, and both options were quite alright for us. Breakfast was included in our stay, and we enjoyed a buffet with a wide selection of bread along with a couple of set dishes that were served us by the staff. As we stayed there during low-season in September I suspect that the buffet had fewer options than during the high season (which was the case for the other hotels we stayed at that had breakfast included).

Hotel Activities

At the hotel they have an outdoor swimming pool for those who want to spend time relaxing at the hotel in the great outdoors. If you're willing to pay extra the hotel also offers massages, and the hotel's bar has Happy Hour in the afternoon with discounted prices until 6pm (with the discounted prices you almost the same prices as you would on the mainland so it's not like you'll save money compared to local bars, but still..).

We mostly stayed at budget hotels during our trip to Myanmar, so the relaxing time we spent at Shwe Inn Tha certainly really made a great memory (you can find all my hotel reviews from Myanmar here). After 3 days of trekking through the forest and sleeping on beds on the floor it was wonderful to arrive in this little paradise and just hang out relaxing by the pool. We had a very nice stay at Shwe Inn Tha, and if I were to do the Myanmar trip all over again I think I would have extended my stay here by at least one night.

To sum up, here are some bullet points about the hotel:

Plus:

Water bungalow situated on the Inle Lake. Now how romantic isn't that?! We totally loved the atmosphere of the hotel and the fantastic view of the lake.
Local design with a luxurious touch. Even though it was a 4-star hotel we still felt like it had kept that local touch to it with the wooden decor, thus making it more of a cultural experience as well.
Friendly and helpful staff who kindly assisted us with arranging tours and book tickets to the night bus from Inle to Bagon.
Beds equipped with mosquito nets. A lifesaver that needs no explanation, those critters are just not welcome..
The swimming pool. Although it was just a basic pool it was still very refreshing to have a swim, especially after the long trek.
Happy hour in the bar! Yay.

Minus:

The internet didn't work that well, so we had to go to the lobby area in order to check out mails. However, we found that in Myanmar bad WiFi connection is rather the rule than the exception..
As it is a floating resort you have to take the boat in order to get to the mainland, and boat rates are probably slightly higher than what you would pay if you rent a boat to take you around from the mainland.
With the boat traffic right outside the hotel area it can get slightly noisy. Good thing they hand out earplugs for sound sensitive guests!

To the Shwe Inn Tha Floating Resort reservation site

Related blogposts

To go or not to go - Visiting Myanmar in September

All blogposts from Yangon

All blogposts from Inle Lake

Recommended Hotels in Inle

More Inle hotels

ViewPoint Ecolodge
★★★

Inle Princess Resort
★★★★★

La Maison Birmane
★★

Royal Nadi Resort
★★★★

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.