Tuesday, October 4, 2016

[Hotel Review] Yangon: Perfect Shwedagon Pagoda View with Lavender Hotel

Anette 10:05:00 PM Hotels, Myanmar, Myanmarhotels, Travel, Yangon

Yangon is the main entrance port to Myanmar among international travellers, but people usually find a couple of days more than enough to see all the sights the former capital has to offer. One of the things that makes the city worth staying a couple of days is the Shwedagon Pagoda, often ranked as one of the most popular sights in the whole country. It goes without saying that choosing a hotel close to the pagoda can ensure a fabulous start for your Myanmar journey.

Our main reason for choosing Lavender Hotel for our stay was exactly this: Being situated within a few minutes walk from the pagoda we could ensure easy access to the holy place. And not only that; Lavender Hotel is the closest hotel to Shwedagon and we could enjoy a spectacular view of the pagoda right on the roof top of the hotel! The word “shwe” in Shwedagon actually means gold, so as you can imagine the golden shine of Shwedagon lighting up the sky like a huge light bulb in the night. On the entrance side of the hotel we had a great view of both a local market and the Kyay Thone Pagoda.

The rooms:

Lavender Hotel is a 3-star hotel offering all the basic comfort you would need for your stay. The room amenities are as following:

television LCD/plasma screen	television LCD/plasma screen	internet access – wireless (complimentary)
air conditioning	desk	mini bar
alarm clock	telephone	television
satellite/cable TV	toiletries	shower
bathtub	hair dryer	seating area
coffee/tea maker	complimentary bottled water

All rooms come with free WiFi, but as you probably know the WiFi in Myanmar is not the best.. Apparently Lavender Hotel has collaborated with 7 other hotels in the area to have WiFi set as it is too expensive for one hotel to cover the costs, but apparently there had been an intense storm in the area a little while before we arrived that had broken the WiFi tower and left all the hotels without WiFi when we were there..

View:

From our room we could see what seemed to be a monastery on the left side, and on the right side the Kyay Thone Pagoda. There are however rooms with direct view of the Shwedagon Pagoda available as well if you're lucky.

Surroundings:

The hotel was situated on a busy market street, and at first we were a bit anxious about walking around the area, especially at night. However, the hotel staff ensured us that it was completely safe to walk around. Having traveled through a large number of developing countries it was easy to feel the difference in the atmosphere of our surroundings. Almost nobody tried to approach us as we were walking around, and we didn’t get starred at in the way you might in other countries. Thanks to this we could walk to the nearest restaurant a couple of blocks down the street without feeling threatened in any way.

But don't worry, if you're uncomfortable with walking around the market street the hotel staff can of course help you arrange a taxi when you want to get out of the hotel. The hotel also has a guard constantly keeping watch of who's coming and going, so you're ensured that no trespassers can enter the hotel.

Below are some photos of the exterior and reception area of the hotel:

We stayed at the hotel for a total of 2 nights after having extended our stay for a night. In addition to the great access to the Shwedagon Pagoda we also enjoyed walking to the Kandawgyi and the Bogyoke Park, which were situated around 10 minutes away from the hotel by foot.

Below you can find some more basic information about the hotel:

Basic Info

Name of Hotel:	Lavender Hotel
Star Rating:	★★★
Map
Location	・30 minutes drive from Yangon International Airport ・3 minutes walk from the Shwedagon Pagoda
Check in:	Check In From 2PM Check Out Until 12PM

Internet access

Free Wi-Fi in all rooms
Wi-Fi in public areas

Getting around

Bicycle rental
Car park
Rental car
Taxi service
Valet parking

Things to do, ways to relax

Ticket service
Tours

Dining, drinking, and snacking

BBQ facilities
Restaurant(s)
Room service
Room service [24-hour]

Services and conveniences

ATM
Concierge
Daily housekeeping
Doorman
Fireplace
Laundry service
Lockers
Luggage storage
Newspapers
Shared lounge/TV area
Smoking area

For the kids

Family room

Access

Check-in [24-hour]
Elevator
Front desk [24-hour]
Pets allowed
Security [24-hour]

Working and staying connected

Fax machine
Photocopying
Printer

Languages spoken

English
Burmese
Malay

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To go or not to go - Visiting Myanmar in September

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Jasmine Palace Hotel
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Lavender Hotel
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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.