Hotel by the Red Canal

Top choice in Mandalay


This intimate gem feels like a cosy Southeast Asia–chic palace. Gleaming teak floorboards, toiletries in potion bottles, tasteful Asian knick-knacks and little extras such as teatime snacks and complimentary cocktail hour add to the excellent service. An artificial stream gurgles past the best 'Chin' rooms. Slightly less pricey 'Kachin' rooms compensate for low natural light with tropical outdoor showers.

'Rakhine' rooms lack balconies, though they are the largest and have space to add another bed. Look for online bargains.

Designed to resemble a traditional mud house around Ngapali, the underground Prana Spa, also open to non-guests, offers a full array of massage and other aesthetic services.

The gym is surprisingly well outfitted for a place this size.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Mandalay attractions

1. Moat & Fortress Walls

0.77 MILES

Viewable only from the outside, a 230ft-wide moat and well over 4 miles of crenellated 26ft-high walls form a vast square around the site of the former…

2. Skinny Buddha

0.83 MILES

Built in 2011, this remarkable 75ft-tall seated Buddha, with either most of his ribs or a 14-pack showing, is a 'meditation image' that falls…

3. Shwenandaw Kyaung

0.87 MILES

This fine teak monastery-temple is noted for its carvings, particularly the interior gilded scenes from the Jataka (past-life stories of the Buddha). The…

4. Atumashi Kyaungdawgyi

0.93 MILES

This unusually shaped temple is a series of diminishing stupa-dotted terraces over an arched base decorated with peacock motifs. When built in 1857, it…

5. Mandalay Palace

1.06 MILES

The 1990s reconstruction of Mandalay's royal palace features more than 40 timber buildings constructed to resemble the 1850s originals. Climb the curious…

6. Sandamuni Paya

1.11 MILES

At this shrine, you'll find 1774 ensconced marble slabs inscribed with commentaries on the Tripitika (Buddhist scriptures). Along with the stone slabs at…

7. Culture Museum

1.15 MILES

Within the palace complex, this small, neglected museum holds poorly displayed relics gleaned from the old Burmese royal family. The most intriguing…

8. Kuthodaw Paya

1.18 MILES

Kuthodaw Paya, aka the ‘world’s biggest book’, draws tour-bus crowds to see its 729 slabs that retell the Tripitaka canon, which is effectively part of…