That roller coaster nosedived again when the Great Depression of 1929 devastated the World economy and tourism slumped. The E&O and Raffles hurt badly. The Raffles declared bankruptcy. The Strand, however, carried on and was saved by the introduction of air travel.  It took a month by steamer from London to Rangoon and now it only took eleven days by plane! Rangoon became an important hub from Europe to Southeast Asia. All went well until the outbreak of the Second World War, then another nosedive, literally.

Over eighty Japanese planes bombed Rangoon on the first air raid of 23 December 1941 and killed more than 2,000 people. Rangoon was totally unprepared and didn’t even have a warning system. A bomb crashed through the roof of the hotel and badly damaged the lobby. Another fell on the general manager’s floor but didn’t explode. Rangoon was evacuated on 20 February 1942. Approximately 600,000 non-Burmese fled to India by land and sea, making it the then largest migration in history, 80,000 dying on the way.

The Japanese kept on bombing until Rangoon fell on 9 March 1942. The Japanese requisitioned the hotel, renamed it “The Yamato” and gave it to the Imperial Hotel Tokyo Company to manage. The officers kept their horses in the Strand bar. The whole place had to be completely renovated and deloused after the Japanese surrendered on 2 September 1945.

It was an optimistic time. Burma became independent in 1948 after 62 years of British rule. Burmese citizens were finally allowed to go into the hotel. The hotel was hosting receptions and ballroom dancing in 1950 and the first America to Rangoon flight landed in 1952. The hotel was often full and many events were held there. But you can’t control history and there was another nosedive and it was a long one: in 1962 the Burmese General Ne Win launched a military coup and introduced the Burmese Way to Socialism. It was more like the Burmese Way to Destruction. The Burma Economic Development Corporation bought the hotel in 1963 and the rot set in. The Burmese Way to Socialism continued until 1988 and turned one of the most prosperous countries in Asia into one of the World’s poorest.

The government owned the hotel, as it did nearly everything else. Industries were all nationalised. The manager, Peter Aratoon, the previous part-owner, did his best to maintain standards until he retired in 1971 but it was a losing battle. Burma became isolated from the rest of the World for half a century. Few people visited and the hotel declined rapidly. The fridges and plumbing ceased to work, water in the bathrooms hardly existed and bats and rats took over the lobby. But the Strand Hotel was a formidable woman and you can’t keep a good woman down.

The Strand’s fortunes were to be transformed and, hard though it was to believe in the 1970s and 1980s, the hotel was destined to become one of the grandest hotels in the World. It was in for a spectacular reincarnation when Bernard Pe-Win, the manager of American Express in Yangon (as Rangoon was now called), Adrian Zecha, the leading Asian hotelier, and other foreign investors entered into a 50/50 joint venture with the Burmese government in 1989.

They closed the hotel for three years and spent millions of dollars, going way over budget, creating thirty-two suites, where previously there were 100 rooms, renovating the hotel from top to bottom, training the staff, and opening on 4 November 1993.

Now, you enter a magnificent, jaw-droppingly beautiful, well-proportioned, black and white marble-tiled lobby, full of flowers, potted plants and rattan furniture, where plentiful, smiling, Burmese-clad staff rush to fulfil your every need, while a Burmese musician plays traditional xylophone softly in the background. If you are lucky, Kyaw Yar Zar Tun will check you in.

The hotel has 110 tons of teak. The bathrooms are full of marble, old-fashioned taps and water pressure is impressive. The staircases are thickly carpeted in red and decorated with Burmese Kalaga tapestries. And, of course, there’s a Spa.

The hotel is only three stories high and the bedrooms are on the upper two floors, each guest enjoying 24-hours a day butler service. The elegant Strand Suite on the upper floor, where Mick Jagger, Jimmy Carter and other celebrities have stayed, has its own hall, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, study, and separate staff entrance.

To the left of the entrance is the Strand Café, which serves the best breakfasts in town. Try the wonderful varieties of freshly baked bread, the French toast with honey and the excellent Mohinga, Burma’s most famous dish, a lemongrass and ginger infused rich fish soup with rice noodles, fresh coriander, shallots, fresh lime, crushed dried chilli, crisp fried split chickpeas, spring onions and boiled egg.  Khaing Chin will take your order with a broad smile. The Strand Afternoon Tea is also a great treat.

At the far end is the formal restaurant, the Strand Grill, serving Western food and behind is the River Gallery, an interesting modern art gallery, jewelry and craft shops, where everything is mellow and there are no hard sells – and in this section there remains part of the old original hotel, closed for over a quarter of a century. It will shortly be renovated and brought back into the mainstream.

The old wrought iron lift is still there, no longer in use, but hopefully will be brought back into service as part of the renovation works.

I loved living the dream, but you don’t need to stay. Everyone is very welcome to visit. The smiling staff are, without exception, charming and helpful. Everything, including the internet, worked well. I have a small hotel in Ubud, Bali, and know how difficult it is to keep the show on the road with everything working seamlessly, smoothly and well, so I am very impressed, and am already looking forward to my next trip.