Hi,

Taking off for Myanmar next week for two weeks. Will be in:
Ngapali (3 nts), Bagan (3nts), on a Paukan cruise (2nts), Mandalay (1nt), Lake Inle (4nts), Yangon (2nts).

We arrive very late on the first night (after midnight), and depart the following afternoon at 1 p.m. for Thandwe/Ngapali, so I am looking for a cheap but cheerful hotel with decent bfast near-ish the airport for 1 night. Any ideas on hotels or what area to consider staying in? Since we are traveling from NYC-PEK first, we'll be pretty tired, so I don't think we plan to do any Yangon sightseeing before that flight to Ngapali.

Also, any must-stop restaurant recommendations in any of the places I've listed above? I've gleaned one so far: Be Kind To Animals The Moon in Bagan.

I've read a lot of reports about people getting sick. Was it bad luck at certain restaurants or did some people drink the water? A mix of reasons?

Thanks!
Lauren

I've not gotten sick in Burma/Myanmar, but I am careful to follow standard food and water precautions. You'd have to ask the people who got sick to get any data at all. With the increase in tourism, traffic in Yangon is bad, so I'd suggest you stay close to the airport.

We were in Burma in July 2014. Because we arrived at the airport around 6pm and left the next morning at 6am, we opted for an airport hotel instead of going into the city.
We stayed at the Myanmar Life Hotel which was $70 a night and only about 2 miles from the airport.
In my notes I wrote "In Cambodia or Thailand the room would have been half that. The room was fine and included a photo of a durian with a red circle crossed out over it. Yeah, no durian allowed in the rooms. Room service food was tasty though and they got us a taxi back to the airport at 5am with a “breakfast box”. We paid at the hotel with a credit card." I booked the hotel online through their web site.
For us, this was the best, least expensive option for a stay under 12 hours.

I always stay at Inya Lake Hotel between flights, 20 mins from airport-but it is certainly not cheap and not worth it for a 1pm checkin.
However
Yangon Airport Hotel
No. 45/55 (A), Airport Road | Insein Tsp, Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar
has got some OK reviews on tripadvisor and has price of $50 through expedia/booking.com/hotels.com
Have a look at the reviews
SS

Thanks for these hotel recs. I'll look into both of them. Cheers!
L

@Kristina:

Looking at Myanmar Life right now, and it's not too bad. I just realized that a pool on the property is a good way to spend that morning since we have a little leisure time but not enough to really go anywhere.

And you are right about the price: $76 w/ breakfast.

@Silverswimmer:
The Yangon Airport Hotel is sold out!

Inya Lake hotel is about $76, too. Looks like it has a good pool. How much farther with traffic is it to get to than the immediate airport hotels?

The other choices nearby the airport with a pool, if someone reads this thread and is interested is the Palm Spring Resort.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...on_Region.html

I never did write a trip report of our time in Burma last year, mostly because I haven't finished writing about it on my own blog. Answering this question got me inspired to write a new post last night. So if you want to see a couple of pics from our time at the hotel (and our flight on Yangon Airlines), you can check it out here:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/2015/1...angon-airways/

"Inya Lake hotel is about $76, too. Looks like it has a good pool. How much farther with traffic is it to get to than the immediate airport hotels?"

Are you sure-web site shows $160++
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R...on_Region.html
Great pool,best in Yangon and whilst the hotel is dated the beds are super comfy. I reckon 30 mins from the airport outside rush hour-fare $5.
SS