HOTEL Strand Hotel, London
In 1901, Queen Victoria and Verdi died, US President McKinlay was assassinated, Gillette was founded, and Rangoon’s famous Strand Hotel opened.
It quickly became not only the landmark of Burma ( now Myanmar) and the city ( now Yangon ) but a symbol of British colonialism. However, it was built by two Armenian brothers, Aviet and Tigran Sarkie, who had opened the Eastern & Oriental in Penang in 1884 and the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, three years later.
Blue-plaque now by the Yangon Heritage Trust, the three-story, all-suite colonnaded Strand has had to move with the times. It was revamped in 1990. The headboards are original teak, windows are still teak framed, and floors kept glaringly polished.
No longer, however, do guests chase bats around the rooms with tennis racquets. The mice and rats (although always very well turned out ) have gone, and there is now one pool table and not six billiard tables over which your official marker once removed twig insects, gaudy moths, and grasshoppers from the baize before your attempted cannon.
The pahits( gin and bitters) and stengahs (whiskey and water ) may have gone, and solar topees, white drill, and colonial administrator’s knee socks now low on the ground, but the downtown Strand is getting known again.
What was once widely considered “The best hostelry east of Suez” has recently been voted “The Best Honeymoon Hotel in Asia” and “Best Romantic Atmosphere in Asia.”
The historic Strand is now owned by a group of investors and managed by “Gap Hospitality.” Its sister properties are “The Strand Cruise” ( offering 3-5 night sailings along the Irrawaddy or Elephant River from Mandalay to Bagan ), “Yangon G Hotel” and Inya Lake Hotel. The Strand still offers “unsurpassed catering and comfort,” and its 24 /7 butlers still deem your room key to heavy for your to hold, let alone carry and will run to get to the door before you do. To spare the unnecessary exertion of opening and closing the door yourself.
The Jolly Brothers and the Harmonists may have been replaced by piped Ella and easy listening flute musak, but the rattan chairs are still comfortable. The lacquered ceiling fans still whir as you enjoy sundowner cocktail (now Bagan Breeze-, Strand Sours, and Strand Slings ) in Sarkies Bar or traditional Myanamese fish soup breakfast with plantain fritters in the stylish high-windowed Strand Café.
Burmese Shan tea is still served the old way, with condensed and evaporated milk. Your $20 high tea can be Myanmar ( rice dumplings with palm sugar, brown pea pancakes, pandan ( the fragrant plant) with coconut agar- red algae seaweed ) or slightly less occidental ( Financier filled with salted caramel, chocolate lava, rose water and lychee macaroon and raspberry mini éclair)