An artist’s impression of Hotel Pyin Oo Lwin, which is being developed by Soe & Associates.

A PRIVATE company began work on an international-standard hotel project early last month in Pyin Oo Lwin, a picturesque hill station town that serves as a gateway to northern Shan State, said a spokesperson at the developing company.

Hotel Pyin Oo Lwin will be built adjacent to the famous National Kandawgyi Garden, formerly known as the Botanical Garden, by Soe & Associates.

The project will be developed on a three-acre plot, and will include 20 bungalows and a two-storey main lobby building. Each guestroom will be 700 square feet in size.

U Than Zaw, the general manager of Soe & Associates, said he expects the project to be finished in a year and a half.

“We expect to spend K1.5 billion on this project,” he said.

Although Soe & Associates has in the past acted as a contractor to build hotels for other companies, this will be the first hotel it builds on its own, he said.

U Than Zaw said that one of the most significant features of the project will be a cable car that will provide transportation to and from the Pyin Oo Lwin Airport.
“We will collect our guests at the airport in the cable cars and take them to the airport free of charge, while other visitors will be charged for a ride,” he said.

Pyin Oo Lwin Airport is expected to open at the end of this year, a development that many people in the travel industry believe will boost tourism to the town.

“Pyin Oo Lwin will be the second most popular tourist town in Myanmar after Bagan, which is the reason we’re developing an international-standard hotel here,” said U Than Zaw.

He said he has received complaints from foreign friends about the lack of decent, good-value accommodation and restaurants in the town, and that providing such will make visiting there more enjoyable.

U Than Zaw said the company will use only domestically produced materials on the project.

The bungalows will be built of wood and will include a fireplace, providing an experience more akin to living in the country than staying in a hotel, he said.

Regular nightly rates will be US$75, but rooms will be available for $60 during the promotion period when the hotel first opens.