Anyone stayed at the Villa Inle Resort & Spa?
 

We cannot get reservations (per Din at SM) for either the Inle Princess or the Inle Lake View in early March. He has booked us at the Villa Inle Resort and Spa which is (Kathie says she has not so likely on one else haseiehter but thought I would ask.

I looked at their website, and the place is brand new. Indeed, I don't know if they have welcomed their first guests yet!

So do report back after your stay.

There are 15 reviews for it on Trip Advisor, one just posted today, just about all very very positive. It's owned by the same people who own Thrabar Gate in Bagan. It sounds quite special and looks lovely. I believe it's quite a bit pricier than all the other luxury hotels on the lake, but as everybody has been saying, prices have been jacked up so much this year--and the Villa Inle only opened in November '11, I believe.

When I see reviews on TA I'm never sure whether to believe them or not. There are often a dozen positive reviews before a hotel opens! Indeed, there were twenty some reviews of the Chatrium in Bangkok before it had welcomed their first guest.

For sure, ALL reviews on the web need to be questioned--(there was a big article recently about someone who had a very successful business writing reviews on Amazon for authors--until he got busted.

All the reviews on TA for the Villa Resort, however, are not favorable--one dissing them for their supposedly very rude behavior when the staff found out that they were moving to another hotel--is one of the reasons I thought the reviews may be credible, and others point out some of the unfinished areas still being worked on.


After reading LosAltos' post/query about the Villa Resort, I did wonder why last February/March, Din had never suggested it to us after the Lake Inle Princess was solidly booked and the Lake View had only one room available for our dates.

Anyway, we're sticking with the Lake Inle Princess Garden Hotel; it should be quite a contrast to the Bangkok Peninsula and The Strand.

520, it sounds like we have the same skeptical attitude about reviews. If the new hotel looks interesting to you, you could ask Din if there is space available on your dates.

I'm actually wondering if some hotel rooms will open up in Burma in the next couple of months, as so many US and European companies are suddenly offering tours and I'm sure they blocked lots of rooms.

Kathie, I'm not sure I follow you--since so many U.S. and European companies are now offering tours, and have probably blocked lots of room, why would any hotel rooms open up in Burma? Because not all the tours may have been filled?

RE: Villa Spa and Resort--I think we're going to stick with the Princess Garden Hotel (B & B); it's in Nyaungshwe, which we like, and the owners sound very helpful. And we try not to stay in only high end accomodations.

Sorry I wasn't clear. Yes, my thought was that all of these foreign tour companies have booked up large blocks of rooms, having no idea how many people might book their tours as they've never offered tours to Burma before. Even in places where they have regularly offered tours, companies often book more rooms than they need and then release them perhaps 30 or 60 days before the tour starts. So I've been thinking that some rooms will open up at places that have been fully booked.

520 and Kathie: Thanks for your thoughts on this. I did read the reviews on TA but, as you both suggest, it is sometimes better to ask folks one trusts -- like our Fodorites!

lol, I know what you mean. A single word from someone I know here is worth a hundred reviews on TA!

Kathie, I kind of figured you meant something like the above, but wasn't sure. When I reported in early March that we couldn't get rooms at the Inle Princess, you reported that room availability had opened up shortly before you and Cheryl began your 2011 Burma trip.

Losaltos--a few Fodorites did report in glowing terms on their stay at the Princess Garden B & B. You may want to consider it..... However, one has to make reservations directly with them; they no longer accept reservations through TAs which may be why Din didn't say anything to you about it. Before finding out that they no longer wanted to have TAs make reservations for them, he recommended it to us. Gentleman that he is, he still gave it high marks and encouraged us to go ahead with making arrangements to stay there.

That's right, 520, we were able to get extra nights at the Strand even though they had not been available earlier.