Hotel G, Yangon, Myanmar

Slowly but surely, Myanmar is opening itself up to tourism. Though the infrastructure is still patchy in parts, particularly outside the capital Yangon, it’s encouraging to see a small but distinct wave of smartly conceived hotels coming on-line. Like the newly opened Hotel G, the latest salvo from the Hotel G group following Singapore, San Francisco and Hong Kong, and ahead of openings in Perth and Seoul.

It’s no hyperbole to state flatly that the 85-room hotel is like nothing Yangon has ever seen – its timber-clad interiors of deep blues, parquet floors, drop pendants and modern graffiti artwork are a stark contrast to the quotidian lodgings in the city. Equally, the F and B outlets, able supervised by the hotel’s executive chef Javier Ballesta are a treat; the wood-fired pizzas, especially, are a charming prelude to house tracks spun by local and Asian guest DJs.

The G’s location in Yaw Min Gyi district makes for a quick jaunt to downtown Yangon, the lively Bogyoke Aung San market, and the breathtakingly beautiful Shwedagon pagoda, though it might be rewarding to spend quality retail time browsing the shelves of the hotel’s G Shop which stocks hand-made crafts sourced from local fair-trade design collective, Hla Day.