lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

105 and 206 are windowless. You can use thesmall swimming pool at the co-owned Hotelby the Red Canal. Credit cards are acceptedby advance agreement (10% commission).Mandalay Hill Resort Hotel HOTEL $$$(Map p 204 ; %35688; www.mandalayhillresorthotel.com; 10th St; s/d from $120/144; as) ThisThai-owned resort hotel sits near the baseof Mandalay Hill set in a garden twinklingwith oriental umbrella-lamps. There’s alovely outdoor pool and the breathtakingspa area feels like an Indiana Jones treasuretrove. Overloaded lifts climb from the bejewelledlobby to nine storeys of rooms, whichconform to international resort-style specs,but with less flair.CENTRAL MANDALAYThe nearest thing to a ‘backpacker zone’ isa three-block area around the Nylon Hotelin Central Mandalay. Don’t imagine KhaoSan Rd. These are ordinary-looking streetswhere several cheaper hotels happen to belicensed for foreigners. There’s no bananapancakestrip, and only a few (mostly unspectacular)restaurants have menus inEnglish. Several hotels here can help youorganise transport, and outside you’ll oftenfind a motorbike and/or trishaw driver whospeaks some English. You might need tobook ahead to get the hotel you want, especiallyin December, January and April.Mandalay City Hotel HOTEL $$(Map p 206 ; %61700, 61911; www.mandalaycityhotel.com; 26th St, 82/83; r $52-60; aiWs)Walking past you’d never guess that thisenticing palm-shaded oasis lay just behindall the dreary buildings of 26th St. The airy,cream-tiled lobby is entered across a fishpond, there’s an attractive outdoor pool(nonresidents $5) and rooms are neat andprofessionally maintained. Choose ‘gardenview’ rooms as the alternative rear roomshave frosted-glass windows with no viewwhatsoever.Royal Guest House BACKPACKER GUESTHOUSE $(Map p 206 ; %31400, 65697; 25th St, 82/83; s/d$10/15, with shared bathroom $5/10; a) Puttinga lot of effort into a little space, the Royalis the Mandalay cheapie that fills first. Glosspaints in multiple pastel colours, littlecarved panels and a frontage of pot-plantsand foliage, all help set the place apart fromits lacklustre budget competition, thoughbed quality is somewhat inconsistent andcheap rooms can be seriously small.Silver Star Hotel HOTEL $$(Map p 206 ; %33394, 66786; www.silverstarhotelmandalay.com; 27th at 83rd St; s/d $25/28, cnrroom $27/30; ai) A vast step up on most ofMandalay’s dreary midrange hotels, the SilverStar isn’t particularly stylish but it’s spotlesslyclean with pine furniture and creamyyellow walls. The lift works and the rooms arebright, especially the corner rooms ($2 extra).ET Hotel HOTEL $(Map p 206 ; %65006, 66547; tmchomdy@mandalay.net.mm; No 129A 83rd St, 23/24; s/d $14/18,without bathroom $6/12; ai) The only thingextraterrestrial in the 27-room ET is theglow of the lone fluorescent bulb against themint-green walls in clean but dated rooms.However, beds are comfy, showers hot andthe unusually helpful staff understand travellers’needs. The air-conditioning mighteven work once in a while. On the roof area few cheaper rooms and a couple of deckchairs in which guests can sun themselves.Nylon Hotel HOTEL $(Map p 206 ; %33460; 25th at 83rd St; s/d withfan $7/12, with air-con $10/15; ai) Mandalay’slong-term backpacker standby is ano-nonsense 25-room, five-floor tower (nolift). Decently tiled rooms come with solarheatedshowers and are more likely to havewindows than rooms at the similarly pricedGarden Hotel next door.Classic Hotel HOTEL $(Map p 206 ; %32841, 61891; 23rd St, 83/84; s/d$9/15; a) Don’t be fooled by the name or themodernist facade. Rooms here are simple,mainly windowless boxes with little charmbeyond their price and location.Sabai Phyu Hotel BACKPACKER HOTEL $(Map p 206 ; %32297, 39997; 81st St, 25/26; s/d$10/13, shared bathroom $6/10; a) Friendlyservice and a rooftop area with a few sunnylounger-chairs make up for seriously lacklustrerooms, which are most acceptable onthe 3rd floor. The 1st-floor cheapies are padlockedprison cells, which won’t put anyonein a holiday mood.AD 1 Hotel BACKPACKER HOTEL $(Map p 206 ; %34505; Eindawya Rd, 87/88; s/d$8/16, with air-con $12/24; a) Simple, functionalrooms just off vibrant ‘onion marketstreet’, hidden in the approach lane toEindawya Pagoda. Beware if asking a taxi totake you here – to local ears ‘AD 1’ soundsvery much like ‘81’ (ie 81st St).213MANDALAY SLEEPING& AROUND SLEEPING