IN the wake of Cyclone Mala, which caused millions of kyats in damage to coastal resorts on the Bay of Bengal in late April, hotels at Chaungtha Beach are offering promotional room rates for rainy season for the first time.

“We are promoting Chaungtha Beach not only as individual hotels but as part of the Chaungtha Zone Association to show unity and team spirit,” said U Win Oo Tan, hotel manager at Hotel Max (Chaungtha).

Starting this month and continuing until September, 11 of the 13 hotels at the beach are offering 20 percent discounts on normal room rates, he said.

“We launched this promotion to create job opportunities for our hotel staff and to keep the rooms clean with regular house-keeping service,” he said.

The two hotels not participating in the promotion are Linn Thitsar Hotel and Min Min Soe Hotel, said U Win Oo Tan.

He said 80pc of the post-Mala renovations of area hotels have been finished, with only small details like interior decoration and landscaping to be completed.

U Win Oo Tan said the threat of rain should not prevent people from going to the beach, as precipitation does not occur throughout the day but only for part of the day.

“The water at Chaungtha is very calm, so there are no big waves during the rainy season,” he said, adding that his hotel has set up a chain of buoys in the water to break up big waves if they do occur, for the safety of swimmers.

He also said the road to Chaungtha Beach has been improved this year, and is not as bumpy or as subject to flooding as in past years, adding that Shwe Htait Tan Transportation Services runs express buses from Yangon to the beach every Friday.