https://mrmyanmartravel.com/

GIC is without a doubt our favorite hotel, in our favorite location, in the world. And we've traveled the world! Sleeping in a little cottage on stilts, waking to the sounds of chanting monks and fishermen's canoes, eating breakfast and lunch outdoors, with the most gracious servers catering to your every whim .... It's heaven. And there are sites to see around the lake--pagodas, and markets, and mountains, and shops where everything is made by hand. No better place to rest and relax while having a superb adventure.

On Inle Lake, the hotels on the lake normally cost a lot, but not this one But attention: there is another hotel with the same name (number 1), which costs more. The view is wonderful, the position perfect for trips on the lake. Ideal for a 2-days-stay, because there is nothing else to do than to make a tour by boat (or just sitting on the terrace sipping a cocktail or a beer).

.... Chosen in part because it's slightly less isolated than GIC I, as you can walk directly into the adjacent village. Not sure how far road goes beyond the village, but it's attractive and interesting to wander around.

Bungalows are bit basic, but views, particularly at sunrise and sunset, are great over the water and back from the porches. The arrival welcome is a nice touch.... Resort fairly well run. Food somewhat overpriced but could be worse as captive customer. Hotel transport and tour services all rather good. Worth inquiring about the ethnic dance shows - not that they are any great shakes, but the villagers do seem genuinely enthusiastic.

Compared to staying in Nyaungshwe, the setting and atmosphere is much more romantic; whether it's worth the cost in food & board & transport is your call, but for us, it was reasonable value.

Charming resort on the Southern edge if the lake. Greeted on arrival by the staff playing local musical instruments. Ask for a superior room as these are less basic, wood walls as a pose to rush walls. Lovely teak furnture. Ate in the restauarant good local cusine, local wine excellent. Breakfast varied. Great location but you need a boat to go to the nearby village. Very cold in the morning take warm clothes for early morning trips on the lake.

First off, keep in mind that GIC has two resorts and this review is on GIC Tale U.

GIC Tale U was a great place to stay. It has nice charming rooms, good dining, nice surroundings, and very friendly staff. Our patio faced west - which is a must for sunset viewing. The sunset was one of the most colourful sunsets we've seen - not sure whether it was luck or whether sunsets at Inle lake are generally so colourful.

One downside is that the resort is isolated (compared to a hotel in town) and therefore the only choice for transportation is through the resort. We didn't like this at first but the staff was so nice there that at the end we didn't mind. Our understanding is that GIC II is a co-op and the profits go to the villagers, making this a great option.

Electricity was on during certain hours only, but I believe this is common in Inle Lake. One always has to keep in mind that you are in Myanmar.

Depending on when you visit Inle Lake, bring many layers as it can get very cold in the mornings when riding on the boat, especially those early trips to the airport (we were there in January).

“Golden Island Cottages” was selected by our tour operator. It was reached after a longboat ride of around an hour along the beautiful Inle Lake. The resort is a collection of wooden cottages built on stilts and connected with wooden boardwalks. The cottages were comfortable, well equipped with proper bathroom, mini-bar and balcony, and they were very clean. The mosquito nets warned of a possible hard night of insect attacks ahead but we needn’t have worried about that as it turned out it was Christmas Day in Burma.

Christmas Dinner consisted of Burmese food and Myanmar beer. The Burmese food made the best of simple local ingredients. The meat comprised chicken, pork and beef and the vegetables included nice salads made of locally-grown tomatoes with onion, garlic and chilli seasonings. It was similar to Thai food. After dinner we were treated to a two-part entertainment: -

Part One: Christian sermon and carols. A local priest appeared with a group of parishioners. The priest gave a Christian sermon and this was followed by some carols, in which we joined, and the final carol was “Jingle Bells”. This was quite an unexpected pleasure for Christmas Day.

Part Two: The hotel staff dressed up in their local costumes and performed a variety of local dances including the “rice growing dance”, fire dance and a marionette dance. The tourists comprising mainly Chinese with a few Europeans just loved it.

Night-time was not quite what we expected. We lit our mosquito coils, surrounded ourselves with our mosquito nets and went off to sleep. The temperature dropped to almost freezing because the lake is high in the mountains and we had to put on more clothes. It was too cold for the mosquitoes. The main feature of that night was that it was a full moon: very large and very bright, quite lovely. Every full moon the natives that live in the villages on the lake have an all-night festival. They played their own brand of music: lots of percussion, cymbals and reed instruments amplified by a powerful speaker system. The party went on all night right up until dawn and the sounds were carried across the water from over a mile away.