The instant we spotted a pic of the Popa Mountain Resort and its infinity pool with a view we knew we had to make it a part of our Myanmar itinerary. With plans to visit Mount Popa from our base in Bagan, we instead booked a night at the Popa Mount Resort in between our Inle Lake and Bagan adventures. Upon entering the tropical resort we were surrounded by lush jungle and surreal Mount Popa views and we were smitten. Read on for a lowdown of our stay! Click here for prices
The infinity pool with a view that stole our hearts:
Mount Popa Resort
The Popa Mountain Resort is perched on a lush jungle hillside overlooking the magnificent Mount Popa. In case you’re wondering, Mount Popa is a sacred mountain with glistening gold temples built precariously atop of a dormant volcano. 777 steps lead the way to the top and, not only are they climbed in 40 degree temperatures, they are also lined with many monkeys who are in search of food! Click here for prices now
A resort chalet peeking out of the hillside:
The view of the resort from Popa!
The Rooms
The resort is comprised of 55 chalets which are furnished with super comfortable four poster beds and traditional teak and stone furnishings. We originally booked a Deluxe Garden View room for USD $145 as it was the only room available but when we arrived we paid an extra USD $25 to upgrade to a Mountain View room. We’d been coveting the mountain view rooms and were ridiculously excited that we were able to upgrade as it meant we could watch the sunrise from our private balcony! The resort is a real step into nature and our villa was secluded and beautiful. Our private balcony with its stunning Mount Popa view was the absolute highlight and the four poster bed came a close second!
Sunrise from our balcony:
Food and Drinks
The resort is secluded and so we had breakfast and dinner at the hotel. The dinner selection was wide and the Burmese food we sampled was very nice and spicy as we requested! Breakfast was included in our rate and was buffet style with good options. The highlight was the terrace with its gorgeous views towards Mount Popa.
The Facilities
It’s all about the pool at the Popa Mountain Resort. It was the very reason we chose to spend a night at the hotel and we couldn’t get enough of the amazing Mount Popa views! When we (and by we I mean I) worked up the bravery to jump into the chilly pool we were mesmerized by our incredible surroundings. Definitely a Myanmar highlight!
Overall
The Popa Mountain Resort is one of our highlights of Myanmar and we couldn’t get enough of the spectacular reviews and lush jungle setting. It’s an amazing stopover between Inle Lake and Bagan and the infinity pool is incredible! Click here for prices
Booking
We booked our stay at the Popa Mountain Resort with agoda.com. We find Agoda by far the best booking website for Asia trips. It’s reliable, has a huge inventory and the prices are as good as we can find.
How to get to Popa Mountain Resort
We took the VIP JJ Express from Inle to Bagan and hopped off at Kyaukpadaung which was the closest town to Mount Popa. It’s a day bus and takes around 8 hours from Inle Lake. Kyaukpadaung isn’t a common stop but JJ sorted us out with a ‘taxi’ (when we say taxi it was really two teenagers with a car!) and we were happy not to have to go to Bagan and double back on our journey with an expensive taxi to Popa.
Hi Elaine! Great post and it’s convinced my husband and I to stay a night at Popa Mountain Resort before we explore Bagan! We’re going to be coming from Yangon with a JJ Express bus going to Bagan… and we’re also planning to get off at Kyaukpadaung. How were you able to organise a taxi from Kyaukpadaung to Popa Mountain Resort? Did you contact JJ Express in advance? Or just talk to someone on the bus journey? Any tips would be helpful as we too want to avoid going all the way to Bagan then double backing in an expensive taxi!
Hi Nams
We asked one of the bus crew and they stopped the bus in the town and arranged a car for us – it was more of a lift than a taxi!! Might be worth checking with JJ or Popa Resort and see what they suggest. If you go with the taxi, take a pic of a map showing where the hotel is as it’s easy to confuse it with the actual Mount Popa and get dropped off at the wrong place. We then took a car from the resort to Mount Popa to Bagan, worked out perfectly!
Elaine
Hello Elaine,
Do you happen to have a valid email address/contact for the hotel? I got a delivery error message. Just wanted to ask them if they provide transportation from the local airport and if it is possible to rent scooters in the area. We will be there for four days and happy for any advice 🙂
Many thanks,
Irina
Hi Irina
I don’t have any contact details. I just reserved through agoda and turned up so didn’t need anything 🙂 Hope you find what you need.
Elaine