Bagan Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort

Myanmar is a developing country with all sorts of political constraints in its' development, consequently there is not a great deal of choice at the higher end of accommodation. This hotel is probably the best there is in Bagan until their sister hotel has the refurbishment completed , or until an international chain type hotel steps in and sets some luxury standards. There are new hotels in the area which are not yet written up in the guide books (Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Fodors etc) but also not as convenient as this. Our room was fine. Comfortable bed, aircon that worked, clean, and consistent with the images on the hotel website. The bathroom was clean and serviceable but needed a refurb- at this price. Considering the local wage base it was expensive, but if the owners use the profits to invest in the property I'm comfortable with that. The hotel was pretty full while we were there so they are entitled to charge what they can get. The grounds of the hotel are very attractive with a super pool which is clean and quiet. A view over the Irrawaddy. Many tour groups stay at this hotel and clearly they are bussed around the sights without a minute to spare- no pool time for them. However as an independent traveller, go to see the places of interest as soon as day breaks because even in the cool season it is blasting hot by 10.00 am, and you get this lovely pool to yourself. We found the reception staff extremely helpful and keen. Language skills aren't perfect but their English is a great deal better than my Burmese. Any small assistance was accompanied with a smile and tasks like TukTuk bookings or airport drop-off efficiently attended to. The dining is just not good enough for a hotel of this status. Breakfast is buffet and just OK. Lunch choice is unimaginative and minimal unless you request the full dinner menu. And the dinner menu offers the dullest food we ate in Burma. I guess that some of the tour groups are 'dinner included' so the menu seems designed to a price point; having said that, for independent travellers paying their way it wasn't cheap either. There was plenty of choice but the menu was 'internationalised' and the food uninspiring. Would I stay here again when visiting Bagan? Yes, but only for now. Useful info for Bagan! First book your balloon trip. It's pricey but extremely memorable. It's frequently booked up so you must book ahead, don't wait until you arrive in Bagan and book it for your first morning. I don't think there is much difference between the companies on offer, take the best deal online and book direct. The trip will orientate you as you fly over the region and the view of the temples is stunning. Second, visiting temples. You can visit too many temples. Talk to hotel reception and they will produce a small map and list of the temples in order of significance. Honestly, three is enough for one trip. Four if you are really, really keen, but after a couple of days the memory of them will have been blurred into confusion. The hotel will book you a TukTuk (less than $15) and start at 7.00am- no later. You will be in the early morning cool, ahead of the crowds-super. Back at the hotel by 9.30am in time for your hotel breakfast. This worked perfectly for us.

The photos are amazing. The pool and the view WOW. Then we were shown our room. The rancid odour hit us like a rock like it has not been lived in for years. The toilets were filthy with urine smells and stains. The shower had hair all over. We were appalled and thought we were mistakenly put in a different resort. It was even in an area called the Sakura but the manager reassured me this was their deluxe suite. I have never been so shocked. There were no explanation except we were told housekeeping would tend to the urine stains. Seriously this is false advertising. Stay away!!

If I could give this a 3.5 star review I would, because I really do feel my experience was between a 3 and a 4 star one. The location of the resort, situated right on the banks of the Irawaddy River, was stunning. Walk through reception towards the river and it opens up to a view of the opposite bank, with a lovely looking pool and gardens. That was a lovely welcome. Staff were reasonably friendly, although not particularly proactive or attentive. It very much depended on who you got on the day. The breakfast buffet was pretty decent but nothing to write home about - both days we had to ask for tea and coffee and our plates weren’t cleared away quickly, so there was often a stack of plates on the table waiting to be removed. However, this wasn’t a major issue. The room itself was fine but the bathroom in particular needed some TLC. For example, the shower curtain was a bit mouldy and the bathtub itself didn’t look very clean. I felt the need to wear slippers in the bathtub. The fan extractor in the bathroom was aggressively loud and we didn’t really end up using it. You can rent bicycles and e-scooters from reception for not very much. However, for the e-scooters, you pay per person rather than per scooter. My husband and I shared a scooter but still had to pay for two people. My overall impression was that it was good but has so much potential to be amazing. There is so much going for this resort but just needs to step things up a notch or two. We came during peak season and paid USD180 per room per night and didn’t feel like we got our money’s worth.

First time in Myarnmar, celebreting the start of the new year 2020 and our aniversary, so we booked FIVE nights in what we thought it would be a great, confortable, even luxurious hotel. Jajaja! the jokes was on us!. We should have known something wasnt quite right after writing 3 emails asking Bagan Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort Hotel if they could organise our airport transfer to the hotel and getting no reply. When we arrieved at the airport we decided to get a taxi that took us to the one and only Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort. A basic room between the parking lot and the road at the very, very end of the left wing of the resort was waiting for us. A hell of a walk to the pool, restaurant, bar and any near human being. As they put it, one of the highlights of the room was that it had both cold and hot water in the shower! Unfortunatly they were fully booked, therefore, we'll have to move in 2 nights to another sh*t room "what a service". This is a perfect example of a hotel not thinking of the comfort and well-being of their clients. I'd love to show you our depressing room with all its cracks and drawings on the walls.... Good night Myanmar.

We stayed in a bungalow style room. The room was nice and the breakfast was excellent. The hotel has many trees in the ground with the Irawaddy river on the background (although we were awaken in the morning by the engine sound of the boats on the river). We saw many beautiful birds, including a white-throated Kingfisher and green bee-eater. If we come back to the region, we would stay here again!

Beautiful setting by the Irrawaddy River; spacious grounds very carefully tended. Seemed to be very few guests; at least we saw few. Sign of the times. On the second night a coachload of Americans who had gone by next morning. A great pity as more guests would give it a little more atmosphere. Small bungalows set around the site most attractively. Room itself unremarkable; a refurbishment is needed. Small bathroom with shower-in-bath which would benefit from a really deep clean, silicone seal had mould in places and the bottom of the bath was badly scored and scratched so could not be cleaned properly. Chrome curtain rail quite rusty in places. Decking a most pleasant place, but eating out in the evening attracted the mozzies again. One thing which did jar was the menu-A4 laminated and with small photographs of the dishes on offer. More high street "cafe" than high class hotel. Few choices for main courses. Food when it came was good as was the service. Breakfast was very good with quite a range of dishes, both Western and Burmese. Service at all times efficient and pleasant, even when I locked us out of the room within minutes of arriving...…. Views over the river simply stunning as were the grounds. Terrific sunsets. A gift shop with a decent range, but we didn't see it patronised. It would take little to improve it to being a 5star hotel; a pity it hasn't been done, the potential is certainly there....