We arrived to Inle Lake at 6am after a long and bumpy 12 hour night bus ride from Yangon. Cold and exhausted we hopped into a waiting tuk tuk giddy with excitement to finally reach our luxury lodgings at the Inle Princess Resort. As we zoomed past the lush Inle countryside we had only three things on our mind: food, sleep and gorgeous lake views!! The Inle Princess Resort is considered one of the best hotels in Inle Lake and we couldn’t wait to check it out!
The Inle Princess Resort
The Inle Princess Resort is a collection of 46 detached and stilted houses in a lush resort setting against the backdrop of the stunning Inle Lake. As soon as we stepped into the tranquil resort it felt like we were in another world and we couldn’t wait to settle in and enjoy our stay.
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Welcome to the Inle Princess!
From Nyaung Shwe, the main access town to Inle Lake, the Inle Princess can be reached by a 30 minute boat ride or a 15 minute drive. Given it was 6am and there weren’t many boats around we opted for the only available means of transport: a tuk tuk! The fun! We were met by the Inle Princess reception staff on our arrival and were immediately relieved of our rucksacks and given a much-needed wet cloth and welcome drink.
The grounds:
The gorgeous resort surroundings:
The Bedrooms
The staff truly went above and beyond to make us feel at home and, sensing we were sleep deprived after our overnight journey, generously allocated us a temporary room at the ridiculously early hour of 7am. We were eternally grateful and went straight to sleep! Bliss!
The rooms at the Inle Princess resort can’t really be described as rooms. They are standalone villas, equivalent in size to a large apartment, and beautifully furnished.
The Garden House
Our temporary room was a Garden House villa which was an upgrade on the Mount House villa that we booked. The Garden Houses are huge, beautifully decorated and have gorgeous bathrooms with free-standing bathtubs and an outdoor shower.
The bedroom:
Fell into the amazing tub after a 12 hour bus journey!
The Mountain House
We weren’t planning to spend too much time in the room in between the 5am dawn starts, drinks on the terrace and back to nature swims so we opted for the standard mountain view room. It was so green and lush we loved sitting on our outdoor deck admiring the views. Once the mosquitoes left us alone that is!
Although slightly smaller than the Garden House, the open plan villa was huge with a large bed (equipped with the all important mosquito net) acting as the focal point of the room. There was generous corner seating area where we took in the relaxing mountain views, a comfortable bath tub, a separate toilet room and a huge vanity area separating the bedroom and bathroom space.
The room:
That bed!
Vanity area:
Our private deck:
Lake Views
The Inle Princess Resort is all about the lake views and we couldn’t get enough of them. Breakfast was served on a terrace overlooking the lake and we enjoyed our evening drinks in a gazebo on the grounds as we watched the incredible Inle Lake sunsets.
The lake views:
Sundowners on the gazebo watching the sun set:
Sunset bliss:
Food and Drinks
As the resort is quite secluded on the shores of Inle Lake we ended up eating all our meals in the hotel.
Breakfast:
A delicious breakfast was included in the room rate and, over our 3 mornings, we indulged in all there was on offer: pancakes, noodles, omelettes, copious amounts of fresh fruit and tasty bread. Breakfast is served on the terrace overlooking the lake and we loved our morning people watching routine as the boats came in and out collecting locals on their way to work and tourists on a lake adventure.
Dinner:
The evening menu included a variety of cuisines: we had a choice between local Shan State dishes as well as Western and Thai options. The food was excellent and our favourites were the Shan set meal, which gave us a taster of lots of local dishes, and an extremely spicy Thai salad which kept our taste buds amused for hours! The evening meals are also served on the terrace and, despite millions of mosquitoes, the protective candles placed on and under our table saved us from getting bitten!
Drinks:
The bar was cosy and a great place to settle down for a post dinner drink. We curled up in the armchairs, sampled the cocktails, played some chess and, when our luck was in, we managed to sneak a little wi-fi action from the limited reception offering!
Drinks were priced in line with the other hotels we stayed in Myanmar and it was $5 for a 660ml bottle off Myanmar beer. Top tip: be sure to try the green label Myanmar beer, it’s one of the best Asian beers we’ve tried!
The stunning drinks menu made from local Shan paper:
Facilities
The hotel has some fab facilities with our favourites being the newly built outdoor pool, a library room with every Myanmar guide book you could ever want to read and, drumroll please, 2 beautiful Burmese cats who love nothing more than a cuddle as they drift off to sleep in the evenings. I thought we might lose Dave to the resort as one of the cats took a shine to him and it was mutual love at first sight!
Wi-fi is available but it is very limited and we found it impossible to connect anywhere other than the reception area. This was the case throughout our Myanmar travels so we were expecting poor wi-fi when we got to the resort!
Day Trips
The hotel has a boat dock on the grounds and we paid $45 for our half day Inle Lake excursion. The hotel provided us with a breakfast basket and snacks as well as warm blankets to protect us from the Inle dawn chill. We also booked an excursion to Kakku, a pagoda site 2.5 hours from the hotel and it was a really great trip!
Our ride for the day!
Traditional fisherman of Inle Lake:
The incredible Kakku:
Overall
The Inle Princess was one of the highlights of our Myanmar accommodation although luxury in Myanmar does come at a price! Our two nights in the resort cost us $560 but for us, it was worth the extra spend. We loved the hotel, the beautiful villa rooms and the excellent food. It was fab being situated right on the lake and having our boat pick us up on the grounds for our Inle adventure!
