Sanctum Inle Resort
Inle Lake

Launched in 2015, the Inle Sanctum is a 94-room luxury resort on the eastern shore of Inle Lake. The tone of the resort is contemporary yet softly reminiscent of a traditional European monastery, with light and airy bedrooms, classic cloisters, natural materials, high wood-beamed ceilings and Roman windows.

Designed by Brigitte Dumond de Chassart, its monastic architectural style evokes a European feel with Spanish arches and pared-back, chic minimal bedroom décor. The rooms are split into three categories of terraced Deluxe Suites, and then varying villas around the grounds and in the central building; the villas in the gardens ultimately providing the most privacy and stunning views of the lake from an outside balcony.

The resort is very calming, and this is the first impact on arrival; a beguiling sense of serenity and peace on the edge of the lake. Sanctum Inle has a restaurant called the Refectory serving traditional Shan cuisine – from delicious noodles and soups to fresh garden salads – as well as curries from wider Burma (Myanmar) and international dishes. There is also a bar called the Cloister, and a cigar lounge. The Sanctuary Spa is small and cosy with 4 single treatment rooms, a couple's treatment room, a Thai massage room and a Relaxation Garden. There is also a gorgeous swimming pool on the banks of the river and this is the perfect place from which to watch the sun set behind the lake.

Travelling is like flirting with life. It's like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.
Lisa St. Aubin de Teran