Asbury Park Press - Colonial-era hotel a reminder of romantic past in neglected Myanmar

Asbury Park Press - Colonial-era hotel a reminder of romantic past in neglected Myanmar
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • January 4, 2009

IN YANGON, MYANMAR - In the colonial heyday of this elegant Victorian hotel, gentlemen in white dinner jackets and ladies in flowing gowns sipped cocktails on the shaded verandah as the sun went down, enjoying a welcome respite from the tropical heat of Myanmar.

The legendary Strand Hotel was one of the great watering holes of the British Empire. Just like Raffles Hotel in Singapore or the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, the 107-year old Strand remains a national landmark.

Yangon has the largest number of colonial buildings in Southeast Asia, including colonnaded government offices and sumptuous official residences, but most are dilapidated, neglected for decades.

Large black water streaks mark most of the facades, and bushes sprout from the roofs of some, including the stately High Court building — adjacent to a rooftop statue of a British lion still gazing over his domain.

Surprisingly, however, most of the old buildings appear to have survived relatively unscathed the fury of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the capital when it roared through on May 3. Although many modern structures were badly hit with their roofs torn off, the city's historic downtown district appears relatively undamaged .

Except for the glittering golden stupas such as the famed Shwedagon Pagoda that are the symbol of Yangon, almost everything else in the city is suffering from more than 40 years of neglect. This includes the potholed roads and even the rundown mausoleum where Myanmar's best-known citizen, former United Nations Secretary General U Thant, lies buried.

The Strand was built in 1901 by the Sarkies brothers, Armenian refugees from Turkey who founded a chain of luxury hotels in the region, including Raffles, the Oriental, the Majapahit in the Indonesian port of Surabaya, and the Eastern & Oriental in Penang, Malaysia.

In the 1920s and '30s, it became a favorite hangout of famous writers, British officers, celebrities and even royalty. Luminaries such as Rudyard Kipling, W. Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Noel Coward, George Orwell and Lord Mountbatten were all regular customers. More recently, it has accommodated the likes of Mick Jagger and Oliver Stone.

Completely renovated in 1990, its teak floors are polished and gleaming, the antique chandeliers sparkle in the spacious and luxurious reception rooms and the quintessential colonial icon — the ceiling fans — gently rotate above tables surrounded by rattan chairs in the cozy cafe.

But today, the Strand is mostly empty, just like other hotels in this city of five million once called Rangoon. Since the cyclone swept through the nearby Irrawaddy Delta killing more than 130,000 people, the number of guests has plummeted.

"It's understandable that a tragedy of this scale has badly affected Myanmar's entire tourist industry," said the hotel's manager Budiman Widjaja. "But we hope that with the passage of time things will improve."

Before World War II, the Strand was reserved for "whites only," but during the Japanese occupation of Burma — as Myanmar was formerly known — it became an army barracks. It received its first Burmese guests only after the war.

The socialist military regime that ruled the nation from 1962 to 1988 nationalized the hotel and it became a rundown shadow of its former self.

But since the early 1990s, the military junta has tried to encourage foreign tourism, and the property was acquired by Adrian Zecha, the founder of Singapore's exclusive Aman Resorts chain, and renovation began.

The Strand reopened in 1995 as an all-suite, top-of-the range boutique hotel. Its teak and marble floors, mahogany furniture and canopied beds complement original pieces, like period bathroom fixtures.

But unlike the other grand old hotels in the region, the Strand's restoration remained true to its architectural past, and it has no new wing, and no swimming pool or tennis courts.

"We came to the Strand because of its old-world romantic charm," said Tomas Llobet, from Brussels, Belgium, who was celebrating a wedding anniversary with his wife, Victoria. "We wanted to be in a place with a lot of historic character, properly renovated without huge concessions to modernity."

The ghosts of the British colonels would approve of their choice.

IF YOU GO
STRAND HOTEL, YANGON, MYANMAR
DETAILS: The hotel is at 92 Strand Road in Yangon, Myanmar. Room rates listed on the hotel's Web site begin at $550. www.ghmhotels.com