Sky View Hotel, Bagan Review

Sky View Hotel 

No.69, Shwe Knat Kaw Street, Zay Ya Waddy Quarter, Nyaung-U, Bagan, Myanmar 

Reservations: 1 Room, 2 Nights | Deluxe Room w/ 1 Double Bed

Check in: March 1, 2017 (after 02:00 PM)

Check out: March 3, 2017 (before )

Total price: USD 71.26

We arrived at Sky View Hotel around 6:30AM from Yangon. It was a very late check in though because our reservation was for the day before (March 1, 2017 2:00PM check in) but our trip via JJ Express lasted for 9 hours although my sister called the hotel up from the JJ Express Terminal in Yangon to let them know we will be arriving very late which is technically the next day. I’ve worked for the hotel industry in the past and all hotels are ok with very late arrival provided you still pay the nightly rate in full and it’s very rare for hotels to accommodate very early check in until 12NN which is by far the earliest. So as a guest, you’re left with no better choice than pay in full so won’t take your chance if they have availability the time of your arrival. Hotels don’t pro-rate as they charge on a nightly rate basis. 

Moving on, we took a cab from the JJ Express in Bagan to Sky View Hotel for 15,000 kyats which was a total rip off on my previous blog but that’s a different story. The hotel is about 10-20minutes from the bus terminal (I think) if we are to include the traffic. It’s very chilly in Bagan in the morning which is reminiscent of the weather where we’re from about 15-19ºC. But, wait until 10AM onwards as the temperature suddenly heats up to about 30-40ºC which was kind of weird. I guess this sets Myanmar apart from the Philippines because back home, especially in Manila, if it’s hot in the morning then it’s no different in the afternoon. The only difference is, at least we have the north where people would clamor to during the summer season to experience a cold climate. 

Sky View Hotel do not have lift neither but at least they only have three floors and thank God we were assigned a room on the second as it’s just a staircase away from the roof deck where the dining area is. We booked this hotel because they mentioned on their ads that you should see the hot air balloons from their rooftop which Bagan is eventually famous for. The hotel has its own website but it’s more convenient to make your reservation from a third party so we booked our stay through Agoda. The people at the front desk again have challenge speaking in English but at least they have more staff who are able to speak and understand English compared to other hotels in Myanmar based on our experience. We handed our passports for them to scan it, filled out some forms and again we were given our key, yes an actual key to open the door (the other keycard is for the electricity), wifi password and we were ushered by the bellboy to our room on the 2nd floor. The hallways were pretty quaint but the room is absolutely modern. We were assigned a room with a huge window, we can even see from our hotel room if there are any hot air balloons on sight (I spotted one when we arrived, around 7AM). The bellboy told us that breakfast is at 7:30AM upstairs. We did not change clothes anymore, just rest for a while, unpacked our stuff, took some photos and waited 7:30AM to grab breakfast. 

Breakfast

The hotel offered better breakfast options compared to the hotel we stayed at in Yangon. However, if you want to eat eggs, you need to request for the cook who’s right there to cook it for you so it’s hot and fresh. My sister and I suit ourselves with what’s there because we’re already starving and egg is not really something we cann’t live without in the morning lol. I had some fried rice, vermicelli or Pancit Bihon back home (everything’s pretty much deep fried anyways), some veggies, fried tofu with amazing sauce, red watermelon and coffee. This time around we had bigger breakfast to prepare us for whatever tour we could avail for the day. 

Amenities

We love our room at this hotel. We were assigned a deluxe room with one double bed, a mini fridge, a long table to place your laptops with tons of wall outlets, dental kits as usual, one bottle of shampoo and body wash and couple of small soaps and slippers. The toilet and bath is also equipped with heater as usual, a bath tub which I love and a hand-held bidet which I can’t live without. However, no coffee & tea making facilities/ no tea pot in short although everything’s pretty much complete except for that one thing we’re particular about because my sister and I love to drink tea in the evening and no in-room safe neither. The roof deck/dining are is pretty vast as well and is quite cozy whether it’s night or day because it’s open air. It’s also a plus that you really get to see the hot air balloons early in the morning while having breakfast along with the sunrise if you’re an early bird. They also serve dinner up there if you don’t want to eat out. We had some Burmese fried rice and sunny side up egg that night and some lukewarm pineapple juice though lol. We only spent a good 8,400 kyat for dinner which was not bad at all. Food is generally cheap in Myanmar. And oh btw, they have 3 ATM machines at the lobby. 

Tour

Few hours after our arrival, my sister decided to call the front desk to check if they offer any tour packages around 8AM. The receptionist then gave her couple of options: The Full Day Tour for 35,000 kyats, unlimited temple hopping from 9AM until sundown OR Half Day Tour for 25,000 kyat from 2PM to sundown, private car and driver included whichever package we choose. We decided to take their full day tour option simply because we want to scour the whole of Bagan as early and as much as possible since we really do not have much time (we’re only staying for couple of days). We immediately prepped up (less than an hour) and were both ready before 9AM. We headed downstairs right about that time, paid the hotel 35,000 kyat upfront while the driver wait outside. My sister clarified with the receptionist over the phone that it’ll be a private tour, just us and nobody else because the last time we had a private tour in Hanoi, we were surprised that it was yes a private car but we’re going to tour with bunch of others and even ate lunch together which we totally despised. We are private people really and it really feels awkward touring with a group as we’re used to tour on our own in all of our trips. It’s really awkward to tour around with strangers plus you have to wait for everyone before you move on to the next place on the list. We’re just the type of people who enjoys “anything goes” when it comes to our itinerary. The tour went well despite another language barrier with our driver because he barely understand and speak English. Nevertheless he took us to Moon Restaurant, a Vegan restaurant we read about online before we flew to Myanmar. We called it a day pretty early and did not wait for sundown anymore because it’s already too hot to walk barefoot in the Temples and we’re already running low on kyats. We asked our driver though to take us to the nearest money changer then back to the hotel but he did not understand so he took us back to our hotel before and not the money changer geez. He was very polite though so I gave him 1,000 kyat for tip and was very patient waiting for us under the scorching heat of the sun as we did some souvenir shopping and took roughly an hour in some of the Temples we visited to take pictures. 

Overall, we had a great stay at Sky View Hotel because communicating with the staff was not as difficult as it was with the other hotels in Myanmar since they have the most English speaking staff compared to the other hotels plus they have ATM machines right at the lobby which is so convenient if you ran out of cash. No, they do not have pool but they have in-room bath tubs anyways lol where you could soak after a long day visiting the Temples of Bagan.