Page 117 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

Ngapali aNd arouNd The DelTa anD wesTern MyanMar 115
Kipling’s Bay is mostly based in an old, stilted Burmese service is excellent and there’s a bar-restaurant hanging
house, though some rooms are in a newer replica block. The out over the sands. $115
rooms are thoughtfully decorated with seashells and other
flotsam and jetsam from the beach, and the traditional MYA PYIN VILLAGE
design means they are dark and cool enough not to need Amata Resort & Spa On the hotel strip T043
a/c. The breakfast is unusually good, and it’s a two-minute 42177, Wamataresort.com. Ngapali’s most original-
walk from the village centre down a quiet lane to the beach looking resort, from the stunning wooden lobby (topped
(it’s a working fishermen’s beach but the swimming and by a kind of abstract boat) through to the cute two- 2
lazing are just fine). $45 storey villas, set amid dense trees, constructed in a mix
Lin Thar Oo Lodge South of the village T043 42426, of wood and concrete and topped with bits of thatch and
Wlintharoo-ngapali.com. This popular family-owned curiously shaped pitched roofs sticking out at quirky
beachfront place has appealing wooden cottages ($110) angles. Inside, big windows illuminate stylish rooms
with a front-row seat on the beach. The rooms are a little decorated with colourful fabrics and artworks. Facilities
gloomy, but there are terraces to lounge about on. Avoid include an excellent spa and a rather undernourished
the garden-facing rooms (which actually just face another pool. Fancier rooms with sea views come with a massive
building) as they are so close to the noisy road you might as mark-up. $185
well sleep inside a moving car. $90 Ngapali Bay Villas North of the village T043 42301,
Memento Resort Main Rd T09 250 880 852, Wngapalibay.com. This super-chic resort looks like
Engapalimementoresort@gmail.com. This is a rare something straight out of a designer magazine. Rooms
sort-of budget option, with a good location on a prime come with huge picture windows and giant mosquito nets
stretch of beach and helpful, professional staff. The four cascading from the high wooden ceilings, while bathrooms
budget rooms at the back ($50) are basic but comfortable feature roll-top baths and gilded washbasins – and special
enough (with floor fans and cold water only), and there are sea-view windows from inside the showers. Some rooms
also various more expensive rooms along the resort’s also have their own plunge pools. There are also beautiful
extensive beachfront (from $60), which offer some of the gardens, a well-equipped spa, medium-sized pool and
cheapest sea views in Ngapali. The pleasant stilted upmarket restaurant, and guests also have their own
restaurant right over the beach makes a nice spot for numbered loungers on the beach – so there’ll be no
breakfast or a sundowner – and it’s a lot cheaper than at squabbling with towel-droppers. Closed May–Sept. $285
the other hotels along the seafront. $50 Pleasant View Resort On the hotel strip T043
Silver Beach Hotel Main Rd T043 42266, 42224, Wpvrngapali.com. This is one of Ngapali’s
Wsilverbeachngapali.com. This peaceful, old- better-value resorts and, with its quasi-industrial
fashioned place has simple but tidy bamboo-thatch design, most inventive. Rooms in the two-storey block at
rooms set in expansive grounds. The cheapest rooms are the back get a bit too much road noise for our liking, but
in a modern block set back towards the road a little. It’s the attractive bungalows ($160) at the front are right on
a good price for Ngapali, but the staff aren’t the most the beach – so only the lapping of waves will disturb
effervescent group. $90 your sleep. The attractive Pleasant View Restaurant (see
Thande Beach Hotel Main Rd T043 42278, p.116) is right next door. $130
Wthandehotel.com. One of Ngapali’s best-value places, Residence by Sandoway On the hotel strip T043
set amid lush and gorgeously manicured palm-studded 42240, Wsandowayresort.com. Squeezed between
gardens. The rooms are attractively kitted out with the buildings of the Amata Resort, this easily missed
antique-repro wooden furniture, and there’s a decent-sized little outpost of the Sandoway Resort has just fourteen
pool plus a spa. Sea-view surcharges are less crippling than beautiful rooms in a very quiet location close to the
at other places, though some of the cheaper rooms suffer waves – the six beachfront rooms ($70 extra) are as
from road noise. $100 close to the sand as you’ll get in Ngapali, and guests can
★ Yoma Cherry Lodge T043 42239, Wyomacherry use all the Sandoway Resort facilities, a 200m stroll up
lodge.com. Right in the heart of the village, overlooking the beach. Good value. $140
a lovely beach frequented by few tourists, the UK-owned Royal Beach Motel Southern end of the hotel strip
Yoma Cherry Lodge simply oozes class. Its fifteen T043 42411, Wroyalbeachngapali.com. One of the few
contemporary-chic rooms have exposed wooden beams budget options in Ngapali, the Royal Beach has basic rooms
and wood or slate terraces, and there’s plenty of in what look like converted wooden sheds, although they
stunning photo art adorning the walls. The gardens are do at least have attached bathrooms (cold water only).
also dreamy, with tranquil ponds full of fish, palm trees There are also some more expensive wood and brick
poking through the boardwalks and orchids and other cabanas (from $90) in a mishmash two-storey block on the
tropical flowers everywhere. To round it all off, the beach. $60

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