While not as inexpensive as neighbouring Thailand, Myanmar has surprisingly good hotel accommodation at reasonable prices. Rooms with attached bath are available for under US$10 everywhere except in Yangon and with shared bath for anywhere from US$3 to US$6 in most places. Almost every hotel licensed for foreigners has running hot water though, in remote areas, availability may be restricted to certain hours of the day. Hotels, with a few exceptions, are usually clean though, at the budget end, sheets and blankets may be threadbare and the rooms may be poorly ventilated. A few low-end hotels, particularly in Yangon and other large cities, specialize in cubicle rooms - small single rooms with no windows - which, while cheap and clean, are not for the claustrophobic. Rates are quoted as single/double but the rooms are usually the same whether one person or two stay in the room, making good hotels a real bargain if travelling as a couple. Except at the top-end, breakfast is always included in the price of the room.
Myanmar has a problem providing enough electricity to its people and power supply is severely restricted everywhere. In many places, electricity may be available only for a few hours each evening or, in some cases, only every alternate evening. If you don't want to spend your nights without a fan or air-conditioning, ask if the hotel has a generator most mid-priced hotels do. On generator nights, the air-conditioning in your room may not work the price is usually lower as well. "Even if a hotel has a generator, there is no guarantee that it will be used to provide you electricity at the times you require, so be ready for blackouts at any time of day or night." Major tourist hotels in Yangon and Mandalay can have near-uninterrupted electricity supply, but can cost anywhere from 80 to 300 USD per night.
At the top-end, Myanmar has some excellent hotels including one or two great ones The Strand in Yangon and Kandawgyi Palace Hotel in Yangon. The Myanmar government runs many hotels, including some beautiful colonial era ones though not the two listed in the previous sentence. A percentage of all accommodation payments goes to the government, no matter where you choose to stay, and it is not possible to run a successful business in Myanmar without some relationship or payment arrangement with the military. Socially conscious travellers wanting to make the best accommodation choices may prefer to focus on using local transport and food options rather than spending a lot of time researching who owns each hotel and trying to minimise contributing to government coffers!
