Our first night in Myanmar we decided to spend the evening at the Shangri La. After our time in Singapore with C’s parents, it was nice to have some alone time. Plus, we were in Yangon New Year’s Eve, and we’d read that they had a great NYE party at the hotel. (You can read about our NYE in Yangon here.)
We checked in quickly, with a nice welcome drink, and were brought up to the top floors, which are reserved for those who book Horizon Club rooms. These rooms have the best views of the city, as they are far and away higher than almost any building in this part of Yangon.
The room itself was nice, but nothing huge to write home about. Big comfy bed, divan (a nice touch if you want to relax but don’t want to get on or in bed), a desk and a closet.
I did like that the hotel left out fruit for us, as well.
The bathroom was nice as well, with a shower/bath combo, and nice L’Occitane products. After our experience of a separate soaking tub at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore, we were a little underwhelmed, but hey, we were spoiled there and I’ve no complaints about the Shangri La bathroom.
That afternoon, after our visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda and other Yangon sights, which you can read about here, we hung out by the pool, which is kind of in an awkward place. You don’t get much sun, and the pool deck is really very small, so there was often a line of people waiting to get sun loungers.
After hanging out at the pool, it was time for happy hour. As a Horizon Club guest, you have access to the Horizon Club lounge on the 21st floor of the hotel all day long. There you can enjoy non-alcoholic drinks and snacks.
During happy hour, though, you can have heavy canapes and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). The spread was amazing. You could seriously make this happy hour your dinner if you don’t want to go out in Yangon.
The sunset view over drinks didn’t hurt, either. A good way to end the last day of 2017.
The next morning, we were greeted with an equally amazing breakfast in the Horizon Club. There’s everything you could want in the buffet, including congee and other Asian breakfast items, and you can also order eggs, pancakes, smoked salmon and other European and Continental favorites from the kitchen.
Although the rooms aren’t the plushest ever, its definitely a great place to stay- particularly because it is so close to the Sule and Shwedagon pagodas, Bogyoke Market, Junction City and other places most tourists want to see in Yangon. If you stay in the Horizon Club rooms, like we did, I would say its even more worth while, as you can skip dinner completely and walk around the city after a heavy canape session, and the breakfasts were pretty good, too.