12 Best Hotels in Myanmar

Set right along the river, this hotel offers a nice alternative to the luxury behemoths and boxy city hotels. Separating the hotel from a river is a large, busy road, so the views are best appreciated from the hotel's rooftop, where you can take in the sunset with a complimentary cocktail in hand (free drinks for happy hour is the best deal in Mandalay). Rooms are simple but tastefully decorated in local style, well-proportioned, and have comfortable beds. City facing rooms can be noisy and earplugs are recommended. From the hotel, it's a straight shot along 22nd Street to Mandalay Palace.

Owned by a charming French-Burmese couple, and recently renovated, this lovely 24-room boutique hotel packs in a motley crew of travelers. Rooms are furnished simply but, after a long day of temple-hopping, are clean and serene. The bathrooms are oversize, with slate floors and rain-forest shower heads, and some include outdoor showers. Quirky touches include vintage medicine cabinets as safes. Borrow a board game from the front desk, or peruse the well-stocked DVD cabinet before retiring to your room and climbing inside the mosquito net.

This boutique hotel offers an especially good value and is well located for those wishing to sample a bevy of local street snacks. The location is central, rooms are clean, a/c is ice-cold (but adjustable), and staff are friendly and helpful. Be sure to request a room with a window, and know that you may have to see a couple of rooms to find one you like, as some are laid out a bit oddly. The à la carte breakfast is decent, but the hotel is also .

Though it looks a bit tired, this budget hotel (by Myanmar standards) with its neatly tended gardens and swimming pool offers respite from downtown Mandalay. Bungalow-style rooms are decorated with old-fashioned but good quality, sturdy wooden furniture; bathrooms are functional, with hot water, but leave something to be desired. Short power outages are the norm not just here but at hotels across the city, so you'd do well to pack a flashlight. Staff are friendly and work hard to meet guests' needs, organizing cabs or trishaws (tricycle rickshaws), one of which you'll need to reach the palace and downtown restaurants.

This immersive hotel experience on one of Myanmar's largest lakes will have you living like a local in a simple over-water cottage built on stilts—even the welcoming public spaces and on-site restaurant serving local cuisine are suspended over the water. Run by the Pa-O minority group as a cooperative project, there are two outposts of cottages: the 25-room Thale-U branch, at the southern tip of the lake about an hour ride from the jetty; and the 52-room Nampan outpost, which is 10 miles from the jetty. Both locations have simple, charming, thatched-roofed, wicker-walled bungalows, and comfortable public spaces. Cabins are a bit rustic, but there's ample electricity, on-site dining, and even (very slow) Wi-Fi, and amenities like earplugs (to block out the boat motors) and bottled water are thoughtfully provided.

In the village of Nyaung Shwe, a 15-minute walk to the Inle Lake jetty, this hotel is ideally positioned for those who want to stretch their sea and land legs. Rooms are clean and spacious, decorated with simple, tasteful wooden furniture in line with the Shan State's decor style. The hotel's outdoor restaurant, which overlooks a little canal—don't be fooled, it's not a pool—is lovely and a quite decent breakfast spread is served here. Book an upper level room if you're a light sleeper.

Swimming pools at budget hotels are far and few between, and Mandalay City delivers on that front. It's a basic hotel where there are often brownouts, no elevators, and where rooms facing the nearby mosque are quite loud during the morning prayers. Some rooms, while clean, are quite small, and a couple with a lot of luggage will find themselves knocking about. On the plus side, the breakfast buffet is excellent and for lunch and dinner travelers are within walking distance of a handful of small Indian and Chinese restaurants. Mandalay Palace is also within walking distance, though visitors may prefer to hop a cab to the palace and then walk further up to Mandalay Hill.