Alfa Hotel

The hotel has a faded elegance, though the decor is basic. The single lift stops between every second floor, so you'll have to walk up or down to your floor. The rooftop bar, Sapphire Club, takes a bit of navigating: ride the lift to the top, go up half a floor to 12, then walk down a corridor between guest rooms to the stairs. Once there, it's quiet, with a friendly bar and very good White Russian and Mojito cocktails at reasonable prices. You can see Shwedagon Pagoda on one side and downtown on the other.

I only visited the rooftop bar, not the hotel. It stays open until 3am, and you can see Shwedagon Pagoda, though it's not very close. The staff were nice and helpful, but the drinks selection was basic. There was no live music the day I went.

The view over the city is great, and the rooftop bar feels less pretentious than some other Yangon rooftop spots. The furniture is more like garden chairs and tables that ended up on a roof, though, and the alcohol tasted watered down. Service also lacked attention.

This rooftop bar could be great, but the staff struggle once there are more than 10 customers. The drinks are expensive for what you get, 6,000 kyat for a tiny plastic cup of G&T.