Two state hotels tendered, again

The Ministry of Hotel and Tourism has conducted a new tender for Thiri Myaing Hotel in Pyin Oo Lwin and Chaungtha New Beach Hotel.

The tender was announced in state-run media on October 17. Two bids were received for Thiri Myaing Hotel and six for Chaungtha New Beach Hotel, with the winners announced on October 29.

U Zin Min Maung Maung from Good to Go Travels and Tours won the tender for Chaungtha New Beach Hotel by offering K420 million a year for 15 years, while Daw Yamin Cho also got a 15-year contract worth K200 million a year, a Ministry of Hotels and Tourism official told The Myanmar Times last week.

The properties were tendered earlier this year but the results were later cancelled, with one source saying the bids failed to meet the floor price.

“The first tender [for the two properties] failed because it did not take place according to the tender rules set by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism,” a ministry official said.

Thiri Myaing Hotel was formerly known as Candacraig and is set on 7 acres of gardens. Built in 1904, it was a chummery house for the Bombay Burmah Trading Company during the colonial period and hosted Eric Blair, who would later find fame as the writer George Orwell.

The Pyin Oo Lwin property and Chaungtha New Beach Hotel were among eight state-owned hotels tendered in June, of which six received bids.

These included two other colonial-era hotels in Pyin Oo Lwin, Gandamar Myaing Hotel - formerly known as Croxton - and Nan Myaing Hotel - formerly Craddock Court - as well as Mrauk Oo Hotel and New Kengtung Hotel.

Tender winners are unable to demolish existing buildings but can renovate them and also construct new buildings in the hotel compound.

The tender for Nan Myaing Hotel has also encountered problems, with the highest bidder, Daw Ban Moe, forced to withdraw in August, two months after the winners were announced.

National Trading Co, Ltd - the owner of Orchid City Hall Hotel - has since taken over the management of Nan Myaing Hotel, which is now under renovation.

“Nan Myaing Hotel had three buildings with 32 rooms. Now we only reopened one building with eight rooms … Prices are not much higher than during the last high seasons,” a staff member from Nan Myaing Hotel said.

Gandamar Myaing Hotel has been shuttered since shortly after the tender but is not yet under renovation, a staff member said.

“[Tender winner] U Tun Tun Win from Malikha Auto Mobile Company hasn’t said yet when we will start to renovate because he is very busy,” she said. “Now just we are just maintaining the site - cutting the grass and cleaning the rooms.”

source: The Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/8686-two-state-hotels-tendered-again.html