Our top 10 places to stay in and around Kalaw
A mixed deal
The New Shine Hotel with its ’24-hour service’ sign becomes useful when your bus drops you off at 04:00 and the hotel you made reservations for is shut down for the night.
Despite being a newer building, several design flaws exist, such as doors that have to be pried open, toilets that are noisy for about 10 minutes after being flushed, refrigerators that don’t work and lukewarm water marketed as hot. The weak WiFi works sometimes but usually not in the mornings. We were told ’no breakfast’ but were suddenly offered some after we were seen visiting other hotels in the area. There are some upsides: room rates are competitive, rooms are kept clean overall and views from the second floor are good. The small TV has a decent selection of English-speaking channels and the room is equipped with lovely wooden furniture. While great as a 04:00 backup option, it’ll remain only so until its maintenance issues are addressed. For now, we’d head to nearby Honey Pine instead.
Address: Pyi Taung Su Rd (Main Rd)
T: (081) 501 88;
Email: newshinehtl@myanmar.com.mm
Room rates: US$20 to $40
What we were quoted as a walk-in.
| Standard single room | US$20 | US$20 |
| Superior single room | US$25 | US$25 |
| Standard double room | US$30 | US$30 |
| Superior double room | US$35 | US$35 |
Reviewed by
Matt French
On regular trips to SE Asia Matt spends most of his time motorcycling through the countryside and sampling exotic foods. He's been a fan of Travelfish since 2007 (coincidentally the same year he quit his corporate job in the USA and bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok!) ;-)
Our top 10 places to stay in and around Kalaw
