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The Conversation: Running Hotels: Hasmik Asatrian and Yin Myo Su

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The Conversation with Hoteliers from Armenia and Burma

14/03/2016 GMT

Running Hotels: Hasmik Asatrian and Yin Myo Su

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Running Hotels: Hasmik Asatrian and Yin Myo Su

Two women running hotels in remote locations in Armenia and Myanmar

"I love complaining guests because they helps us upgrade." Two women running hotels in remote parts of Armenia and Myanmar share stories of challenging guests and strange requests

Hasmik Asatrian runs the Basen Hotel in Sisian.  The business was owned by her husband's family, but Hasmik took over the management and day-to-day running in 2010.  She transformed a rundown, Soviet-style complex with communal bathrooms and a leaky roof into a modern hotel that attracts tour groups and independent travellers who come to Armenia to discover the country's ancient history and culture. Hasmik's success won her Armenia's Young Businesswoman of the Year award in 2013.

Yin Myo Su runs the Inle Princess hotel, located on the shore of Inle Lake, in Myanmar.  Su was raised in the hotel industry and says she was trained to work in it from an early age - her earliest memories are being taught how to cook, clean and entertain the guests. She says her strangest request was when a guest asked for his wife to be woken up by a flock of ducks quacking outside her window. Su won the Goldman Sachs & Fortune Global Women Leaders Award in 2013.    

Left: Hasmik Asatrian / photo credit Sirun Snetcunc
Right: Yin Myo Su / photo credit Moethida Aye

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