CYCLONE Mala, which tore across Myanmar’s western coast April 29, left behind hotel damages totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars at beach resorts in Chaungtha and Ngwe Saung.

All of Chaungtha’s beachfront hotels sustained some damage in the storm, as giant waves destroyed a protective breakwall and winds tore the roofs off beachside bungalows.

Three days after the storm, workers were still cleaning up the hotels, which were flooded by six feet of seawater. Dozens of palm trees were toppled, some of them smashing into beachside bungalows.

Hotel grounds, lobbies and fountains were filled with debris, signs were missing or toppled, and battered furniture and soaked mattresses were laid outside in piles to dry.

Three days after the storm, only two beachfront hotels were open, the Golden Beach Hotel and Shwe Hin Tha Hotel. Several guesthouses off the beach had also reopened. Managers at several beachfront hotels said they expected to reopen this week.

Shwe Hinthar, Co Co Beach Resort, See Sein and Lai Lai were the hotels most badly damaged, reporting losses of nearly half a billion kyats.

Ma Sandar, the front office manager of Lai Lai Hotel, said the storm damaged all of the hotel’s bungalows as well as the furniture inside. She said the hotel had refunded all bookings through May 15.

She said the hotel tried to evacuate guests but some of them refused, staying to watch the giant waves roll towards land.

Ma Chit Lun May, who rents inner tubes at the beach, said she saw a guest standing on the breakwall taking photos of the waves. But there were no swimmers during the storm because of a warning issued the previous night, she said.

U Tin Win Haling, a director of the partially opened Belle Resort, said he could not estimate how much the hotel lost but said completion of the hotel will have to be extended into next year.

U Win Oo Tan, manager of Hotel Max, said much of the damage to the hotels was due to poor construction.

“We need to build more solid structures in the future,” he said.

The 56-room Golden Beach Hotel began accepting guests two days after the storm, though the hotel suffered damage and the grounds were still filled with debris.

The manager there, U Than Aung, said hoteliers at Chaungtha are discussing future precautions against storms, including gathering accurate weather information.

Despite the damage, potential guests continue to call asking which hotels are open, said U Hlaing Min, managing director of Shwe Hinthar, which suffered about K100 million in damage to 18 rooms.

“When the tsunami happened in December 2004, the water level was about one foot above the floor, so I didn’t expect such severity this time,” he said.

The storm also hit Ngwe Saung beach just south of Chaungtha, destroying the tidal barrier and covering hotel grounds with sand, U Win Oo Tan said.

“Some hotels’ roofs were blown away and some buildings were damaged,” said Ko Ko Maung, a waiter at a hotel in Ngwe Saung.

Ngwe Saung was not hit as hard as Chaungtha, he said, with only two out of 18 hotels in Ngwe Saung badly damaged.

Hotels at Ngapali Beach in Rakhine State were only slightly damaged by the cyclone, hoteliers there reported.

“None of the hotels were damaged,” said U Aung Myat Kyaw, managing director at Sandoway Resort, adding that some homes in the village were not as fortunate.