The Nan Myine Hotel in Pyin Oo Lwin (formerly Maymyo), the colonial-era hill station of Myanmar, is famous as one of the most haunted hotels in Southeast Asia. The town, established by the British as a summer retreat from the heat of Mandalay, retains much of its colonial character — horse-drawn carriages, English gardens, and colonial bungalows that seem frozen in time. The Nan Myine Hotel, set among these colonial relics, has produced reports of ghostly activity from guests over many years. Visitors describe hearing footsteps in the corridors at night, doors opening and closing on their own, and seeing the reflection of a figure in period colonial clothing in mirrors who is not present in the room. The hotel's colonial-era furniture and décor — maintained largely as they were during the British period — create an environment where the past feels immediately present. Myanmar's Theravada Buddhist culture views ghosts (nat) as a natural part of the spiritual world, and the country maintains an elaborate system of nat worship alongside Buddhist practice. Pyin Oo Lwin's haunted hotels are accepted with equanimity by local staff, who treat the ghosts as long-term residents.
