Hotel By The Red Canal

“A wonderful experience in Mandalay”

I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel. It's not at all like a corporate hotel. It features beautiful teak fixtures in the room, a very comfortable bed and pretty linens, big screen TV, and an imaginative walk-out balcony where the room occupant can sit and enjoy the moat and waterfall that create … more

I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel. It's not at all like a corporate hotel. It features beautiful teak fixtures in the room, a very comfortable bed and pretty linens, big screen TV, and an imaginative walk-out balcony where the room occupant can sit and enjoy the moat and waterfall that create a lovely atmosphere for hotel guests. My room number was #102. I recommend this room if you can get it. It had the prettiest view of the waterfall, moat, and entrance to the hotel. I needed an extension cord to use my computer, which the hotel happily provided. I would also advise giving the water in the shower 5-10 minutes to warm up before you step in. The morning breakfast in the hotel restaurant named The Spice Garden was delicious! Every morning they offered a buffet for discovery of Indian, Burmese, Nepalese, American, and Chinese breakfast items. It was very easy to eat vegan or vegetarian if I wanted to, but I didn't have to do so. What the Hotel by the Red Canal Mandalay did that made my tourism trip next level was recommend a fantastic tour guide to me named Thomas. Thomas and his wife YuYu have a tour company called Myanmar Adventure Spirit. While he took me on two days of cultural sightseeing (in a very comfortable car driven by a colleague), his specialty is adventure travel like bicycling, kayaking, hiking, and mountain biking. He has a license to provide tours all over Myanmar so you can request that he take you to places, or meet him in places, beyond Mandalay if you like. I can not recommend him enough and I felt like I had made wonderful friends with him and his wife at the end of our time together. Thomas can provide you tours in English, French, or of course, Myanmar language. I went home with a heart full of #tourismjoy. Thomas's phone number is +95 95402342. You could also email him at adventureguidethomas@gmail.com Another good reason to use Thomas rather than some of the tours and activities you might see advertised on Tripadvisor and other sites is most of those tours are still up and advertised on sites even if they aren't running after the earthquake. For example, I signed up to take a food tour by bicycle that had been advertised on Tripadvisor. The hotel that the tour supposedly met at had been closed for over a year when I showed up at the appointed time and no tour guide showed up to take me on the tour. I essentially wasted a day of travel. I would make sure that anything you sign up for has post-pandemic/earthquake review dates. Is the tour still running? Don't assume it is. A word on Mandalay post-earthquake. I had expected a sad city, still in mourning one year after the earthquake. That is not what I found. It was hopping! Much of the earthquake damage to heritage buildings had been fixed, and now just needed the decoration. On my way into town, I saw an elephant parade, chariots, dancers in Burmese dress, etc. Another time, I was walking down the street and a baby elephant walked up behind me! Mandalay has buzzy energy. Try to go up in the hills north of Manadalay as well to see the beautiful national botanic gardens (with monkeys!), the British hill station, and more. Enjoy! Go spend money in Mandalay and help the city recover!

less