Marvel hotel Mandalay Myanmar (Burna)
Williewonthe
Posts: 57 Forumite
If you value your safety, avoid this hotel.
On the 16th of this month, at about 08.30, I and another member of my tour group were stuck in one of the hotel lifts.
We pressed the Alarm –nothing happened. The circuit breaker had activated and so there was no power.
The lift has a camera, that did not work – Why? No power.
The hotel has a system for the automatic reporting of problems with the lifts – but that didn’t work because there was no power.
In the UK hotels must have emergency systems independent of the main hotel power. A hotel I stay at in Liverpool has the lift alarm connected to the telephone system and an electrical circuit separate from the hotel’s main power circuit (in order, for example, to keep illuminated those small green Exit signs you find dotted about hotels to show you the safe way out, if the main power should fail).
This hotel has no such ‘separate’ circuit. When I quizzed a manager about my experience, he said that this hotel only has its main electrical circuit, so if it fails...........
Also (as related by our tour guide to me later) she asked Reception why the lift was stuck at a particular floor. All the person on reception did was shrug his/her shoulders and say that the power was out.
Our guide then went towards the lift with the individual from reception and both could hear me banging on the lift door but the person from Reception did NOTHING.
After 15 minutes we got out, because the power was restored and the doors opened – NOT because of any intervention by the hotel staff!!
The hotel cannot claim that it is an old hotel and so it has old infrastructure. It was only opened in 2015!!
I expect some readers will say “You can’t expect the same standards in Myanmar (Burma) as in the UK”. Why not? Do YOU want to stay in a hotel where, if there is an emergency and the main power is off, you probably can’t get out?
Keep safe.
On the 16th of this month, at about 08.30, I and another member of my tour group were stuck in one of the hotel lifts.
We pressed the Alarm –nothing happened. The circuit breaker had activated and so there was no power.
The lift has a camera, that did not work – Why? No power.
The hotel has a system for the automatic reporting of problems with the lifts – but that didn’t work because there was no power.
In the UK hotels must have emergency systems independent of the main hotel power. A hotel I stay at in Liverpool has the lift alarm connected to the telephone system and an electrical circuit separate from the hotel’s main power circuit (in order, for example, to keep illuminated those small green Exit signs you find dotted about hotels to show you the safe way out, if the main power should fail).
This hotel has no such ‘separate’ circuit. When I quizzed a manager about my experience, he said that this hotel only has its main electrical circuit, so if it fails...........
Also (as related by our tour guide to me later) she asked Reception why the lift was stuck at a particular floor. All the person on reception did was shrug his/her shoulders and say that the power was out.
Our guide then went towards the lift with the individual from reception and both could hear me banging on the lift door but the person from Reception did NOTHING.
After 15 minutes we got out, because the power was restored and the doors opened – NOT because of any intervention by the hotel staff!!
The hotel cannot claim that it is an old hotel and so it has old infrastructure. It was only opened in 2015!!
I expect some readers will say “You can’t expect the same standards in Myanmar (Burma) as in the UK”. Why not? Do YOU want to stay in a hotel where, if there is an emergency and the main power is off, you probably can’t get out?
Keep safe.
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Comments
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I think your final paragraph sort of sums it up. Me and the cook stayed at the Nylon Hotel in Mandalay, and I'm glad that it never had a lift to get stuck in.....reyt flea pit that was.0
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Williewonthe wrote: »I expect some readers will say “You can’t expect the same standards in Myanmar (Burma) as in the UK”. Why not? Do YOU want to stay in a hotel where, if there is an emergency and the main power is off, you probably can’t get out?
In an emergency one does not use the lifts. A good reason to avoid hotels that are so high that using the stairs is not feasible.0 -
Voyager2002 wrote: »In an emergency one does not use the lifts. A good reason to avoid hotels that are so high that using the stairs is not feasible.
I think the OP was referring to an emergency situation relating to the actual lift - not using the lift in an emergency.
Lifts also fail in the UK and indeed all over the world for various reasons, but if people go travelling and are selecting their destinations based on the height of buildings or other potential risks that may or may never evolve, I would suggest they stay at home.
Yes, always be cautious when travelling, but expecting the same safety standards in some destinations abroad (particularly in a relatively new tourist destination such as Myanmar), is just unrealistic.0 -
Voyager2002
Dickydonkin is right I was referring to other emergencies, not getting into a lift after an emergency situation has started.
If, as we were, you are a part of an organised tour, you don't get any choice of the location of the hotels, let alone their height.
Dickydonkin: Yes, I accept that lifts fail all over the world but there are usually separate systems to alert the hotel that you are stuck inside one. This hotel has no such system. At least the occurrence will get me fit. I intend to avoid lifts in the future, and take the stairs.
I don't feel it is unrealistic to expect good safety standards. The hotel was only opened two years ago. It should have been designed to include safety features. The fact that it apparently wasn't points, for me, to incompetence by the architect or money-saving by the owners.
Besides what about the member of the reception staff who, apart from shrugging his or her shoulders, did nothing even though they could hear me banging on the lift doors?0 -
What are you hoping to achieve at this time, now you are back from your trip?
If you just wanted to share your experience and get things off your chest, then I think your post has hopefully achieved this. Hopefully you had other happier memories of your holiday. Time to move on.
I’m not sure what else can be gained. In all honesty I would be surprised if many MSE readers will be considering travelling to Myanmar anytime soon, let along to this particular hotel. Whilst well intentioned I don’t think your warning to avoid this hotel will help many on here.
Things just happen. Power cuts are frequent in some countries. Lifts stop working.
Travel is an adventure....0 -
Williewonthe wrote: »I don't feel it is unrealistic to expect good safety standards. The hotel was only opened two years ago. It should have been designed to include safety features. The fact that it apparently wasn't points, for me, to incompetence by the architect or money-saving by the owners.
Besides what about the member of the reception staff who, apart from shrugging his or her shoulders, did nothing even though they could hear me banging on the lift doors?
Personally, I do not think it realistic to expect high safety standards once one is outside the civilised world (ie the European Union). Part of the lack of acceptable safety standards would be the lack of any plan for when things go wrong: hence the receptionish simply shrugging when confronted with the situation, since he was not aware of anything that he could do.
As Grenfell Tower shows, this kind of thing can be found uncomfortably close to home -- and BREXIT can only make matters worse.0 -
What are you hoping to achieve at this time, now you are back from your trip?
If you just wanted to share your experience and get things off your chest, then I think your post has hopefully achieved this. Hopefully you had other happier memories of your holiday. Time to move on.
I’m not sure what else can be gained. In all honesty I would be surprised if many MSE readers will be considering travelling to Myanmar anytime soon, let along to this particular hotel. Whilst well intentioned I don’t think your warning to avoid this hotel will help many on here.
Things just happen. Power cuts are frequent in some countries. Lifts stop working.
Travel is an adventure....
I'm planning for sometime next year.0 -
The best way to visit Burma is independently. People who go with tour groups fly from A to B, B to C, and so on. They miss all the action on the ground in between destinations.
We hired a taxi and driver/guide for a fortnight. He spoke excellent english and knew his country and hisory inside out. Our car was beat up right-hand drive Toyota Corolla, broken a/c, dodgy suspension. Started every day as fresh as a daisy, ended it with orange hair, orange face, orange clothes. Passed through hundreds of miles of beautiful countryside.
Stayed in some interesting atmospheric accommodation, met some real people who were happy to talk freely about Burma without looking over their shoulder.
Had a brilliant time, and are still in touch with our driver, who now has his own tour business, and a much new vehicle.0 -
PompeyPete wrote: »We hired a taxi and driver/guide for a fortnight. He spoke excellent english and knew his country and hisory inside out. Our car was beat up right-hand drive Toyota Corolla, broken a/c, dodgy suspension.
We flew between our main locations (Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and Bagan), but did take the 'fast' boat between Mandalay and Bagan. Certainly when travelling to countries such as this, lifts would come quite low down on my list of safety concerns - the odds of a car being roadworthy by UK standards are pretty low.
For blindman, the Bagan King (in Mandalay) was a good hotel, and not too many stairs!0
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