Harry's Trekking House — Hotel in Kengtung District

There isn’t a large choice of places to stay in Kengtung, although I suspect this will rapidly change as travellers look for destinations away from the main tourist trail.||||I was having trouble finding a guide for trekking, and so decided to visit Harry’s Trekking House to see if they could help. The owner quickly offered me a room that was cheaper than at Sam Ywet and a little discount on the trekking to help me decide to move.||||There is nothing special about Harry’s Guesthouse, but it’s a good place to stay if you want to go trekking mainly due to the small number of other places in this price range. During my five night stay here I met a few other backpackers, and large group that consisted mainly Thais and a couple of western Christians.||||The rooms are nothing special but perfectly comfortable. There is hot water shower and western-style toilet. Another traveller staying next to me could not get hot water in his room, so perhaps I was one of the lucky ones.||||I stayed in a $13 room. There are cheaper rooms, but the owner does not make them available to westerners.||||The front of the guesthouse has a seating area, but little effort is made to make is comfortable. Most travellers are out trekking in the daytime, but it would be nice to have a better area to socialise in the evenings. No information is given on the local area.||||The owner can arrange trekking guides and also hires motorbikes. Be aware that – at time of writing - foreigners are not encouraged to hire motorbikes. However, this appears to be overlooked in this area. I hired a motorbike for trekking with my guide. However, there is a cheaper way to do things (see bottom of this review).||||The owner will arrange a guide for you if required. She takes a commission and also makes sure that you rent one of her motorbikes, rather than using a guide’s motorbike. No information is given on trekking other than the guide’s daily rate ($25).||The owner discounted my trek guide fee slightly in her attempt to persuade me to stay at Harry’s. However, she passed the discount to my guide rather than take the discount from her commission, which was not fair for my guide at all and he wasn't happy about it.||||A small breakfast purchased from the market stall down the road is provided with limited coffee. I would eat this, and then go into the market to buy something a little more substantial.||||As elsewhere in Kengtung, government electricity is limited and therefore a generator is used for morning and evening electricity. ||Wifi – reasonably connection speed but weak signal – is available in common area and in rooms. Wifi is sometimes available even when electricity is off, so I’m guessing they have a UPS device to keep it going during the day.||||Harry’s Trekking Guesthouse is located 3km out of town. This is not really a problem and you can go into town on a motorbike taxi for K1000.||||The guesthouse runs petrol business for local people which is sold at the front of the guesthouse. Throughout the day, including during breakfast time, vehicles pull up to buy fuel. Sometimes these are trucks or other noisy vehicles, which often drive into the guesthouse area. This may bother some people.||||Harry passed away some time ago and the guesthouse is run by his wife. She is a businesswoman who has numerous properties and businesses. She is definitely not a good host. However, If you pay your rent money, don’t ask too many questions, and don’t cause problems then she will be polite to you. ||||It was interesting to watch how many issues arose with the owner and other people during my five night stay. It appears she is disliked by locals and guests alike. She is not shy to have an argument, although I personally did not have any big issue with her. When I was sick I told her that I had been vomiting all night and had not eaten all day. Her response was to ask me to pay for that evening’s rent.||||At present time this is the best midrange option to stay if you want to go trekking. I don’t think it will be long before a similar guesthouse is established. If a new guesthouse has either a better location or, more importantly, friendly service, it will be preferable to staying at Harry’s.||||If you want cheaper accommodation, I recommend Crown Winning Guesthouse. This is located close the market in town, at No 14 Palo Road, North Central Market quarter, ☎ +95 9253 67 0059. No wifi, but you can go to nearby hotel (e.g. Princes) for a coffee and use their wifi. I was going to move there, but unfortunately got sick so ended up staying at...

Just stayed here with my wife for 2 nights and had an amazing experience. We were sceptical to begin with having read some negative reviews on the place from a few years ago, however I believe the owners have made a massive improvement and have made the entire stay an excellent experience. We were welcomed by the late Harry's wife and son, Pet who spoke good English and provided us with a smooth check in (paperwork for Myanmar government and tourist information). The room was good, enough space for two people, large bed, the bathroom was completely fine, one tip is to shower in the night as the water is hot from the sunlight heat, morning showers a little cold. Breakfast is also good, they have tea, coffee, toast, eggs, roti pancakes. We booked a 1 day trek through Harry's trekking and adventure and we met our tour guide, Shaan, who was a good friend of the late Harry. Shaan, speaks 6 different languages and can speak English very well. He has established a close relationship with the tribes in the mountains through the many years he has been visiting them with tourists, which is what made our experience extra special. He asked without any pressurising whatsoever whether we wanted to buy sweets and balloons for the village children, we agreed to and it was one of the most beautiful things to see the smiles on the children's faces when we gave them the little treats. The Ann village tribe welcomed us into their homes and fed us their traditional meals, showed us their traditional outfits and were happy to talk to us, via our guide Shaan who was translating. Throughout the day we visited 4 villages and Shaan took us to the most amazing view points, we also went to a rice whisky manufacturing site and the hot springs. Along the way we stopped over at the rice fields and Shaan explained to us in detail the whole process. Me and my wife feel lucky to have booked Harry's Trekking and Adventure for our accommodation and trekking, the value for money is incredible. The best 2 night stay and trekking experience evere! Avoid booking the more expensive hotels in the central town, they're double the price. Harry's is a 25 mins walk or a short taxi/motorbike ride away from town. 100% recommend this place and the...

Kengtung (also found under Kyaing Tong, Chiang Tung and other variations) offers little choice in cheap accommodation, though some hotels offer rooms at reasonable rates for those sharing a room. |As it was the low season, they gave me a private double room for the cost of a dorm. The room had television, bottled water, fan, clean bathroom and a warm shower. The bed was comfortable, and when I commented on the lumpy pillow they acquired a softer one for me. Everything was clean, and they made up the room daily. |Breakfast was included, but was usually a meal from the street market outside the gate, so check it out and specify your preference. |Located on the edge of town, it's an easy walk to the market in the centre of town and a nice stroll at sunset to the fields on the outskirts of town. I hired a bicycle (1,500 kyat/day) - a mountain bike in good condition with gears, which made exploring the hilly areas easy. |Close by is the lake with many restaurants to enjoy a drink or two and a meal after dark. |The rooftop is a great place to enjoy the sunset. |The young people working there are delightfully cheerful...