The Strand Hotel, Rangoon, Burma

Any lover of grand old colonial hotels should contrive to spend a few nights at The Strand in Rangoon, Burma. Built in 1901, it was long regarded as one of the finest addresses east of the Suez.

A stately white neoclassical structure set on a quayside overlooking the Rangoon River, The Strand was the crown jewel of the Sarkies Brothers, four remarkable Armenians who presided over a minor hotel empire that included the Eastern & Oriental in Penang (established in 1885) and Raffles in Singapore (1887). The hotel shares a sadly familiar story with several other Southeast Asian grandes dames: a roaring early-century heyday (Maugham, Kipling, Coward), occupation by Japanese troops during World War II, then decades of neglect. By the mid-1980s, The Strand's rats were almost as legendary as The Peabody's ducks.

Fortunately, the hotel was rescued in 1993 under the auspices of Amanresorts, and today, it is an immaculately renovated period piece, part of Adrian Zecha's related GHM hotel group. The high ceilings and teakwood floors in our Deluxe Suite were an instant antidote to the afternoon bustle of downtown, and the bath featured a fetching marble tub with antique brass fixtures that was perfect for a late-evening soak. Our writing table overlooked the hotel's colonnaded exterior onto Strand Road (alas, the Rangoon River is mostly hidden by loading docks these days).

The heart of the hotel is an airy, marble-floored café appointed with cane chairs and ceiling fans. There, we enjoyed a superb eggs Benedict after an early-morning stroll along Merchant Road, and later happily navigated our way through a Burmese High Tea of tea-leaf salad, spring rolls and steamed banana. To our taste, The Strand Bar could use a bit more old colonial ambience, and in its current manifestation, is more likely to appeal to Thai and Chinese businessmen than to nostalgia buffs such as ourselves. We were also slightly underwhelmed by our sea bass and crab tortellini in The Strand Grill.

Overall, however, we were thoroughly seduced by the lacquer-box charm of this beautifully restored landmark. The hotel also offers an ideal location for exploring downtown Rangoon. This part of the city is full of dozens of imposing Raj-era buildings in various stages of stately decline; there has simply been no financial incentive to tear them down. The concierge has a map of an excellent hourlong walking tour that threads past busy noodle stalls and sleepy bookshops. We highly recommend it.

92 Strand Road, Rangoon.Tel. 95-1-243377.