IT’S that time of the year once again for Yangon’s swankiest hotels to start gearing up for their usual plethora of extravagant holiday events, intended to spread Christmas cheer and provide New Year’s Eve revelers with suitable venues for ringing in 2008.

Summit Parkview Hotel is holding a Christmas Eve party on December 24 in its spacious ballroom, which will include a buffet dinner with free flow of red and white wine, beer, tea and fruit juice, said hotel marketing assistant, Ma Hsa Sachee.

Entertainment will include a dance performance by the hotel’s gym manager and dance instructor, Mr Patrick Nebre, live music from the in-house band, carol singing and a lucky draw program.

The price is US$25 a person, which also includes a door gift, said Ma Hsa Sachee, who added that the hotel will also host a buffet dinner on Christmas day that will include turkey as the main course.

The festivities continue at Summit Parkview Hotel with a New Year’s Eve party on the Roof Garden, featuring a buffet dinner, as well as champagne during the countdown to midnight, for $33 a person.

Before the night is through guests will have the chance once again to see the infinitely fabulous Mr Nebre strut his stuff, with more dazzle provided by the in-house band, a DJ, the Uranium Dancer Group and a lucky draw, Ma Hsa Sachee said.

Anyone capable of stirring themselves out of bed the following day can start the New Year right with a buffet dinner at the hotel – inclusive of free flow of red and white wine, beer, tea and fruit juices – for $12.

The glamorous Strand Hotel will host a Christmas Eve party on December 24 and a Christmas dinner on December 25, each including a seven-course meal and each costing $75 a person, said Daw Khin Ohn Mar Tun, the hotel’s sales and marketing manager.

She added that the hotel’s New Year’s Eve party will feature a nine-course dinner and entertainment in the form of a live band and tarot card readers, all for $95 a person.

Parkroyal Hotel’s gala Christmas Eve affair will be held under the theme “Christmas in the Land of Narnia” and will include a buffet with an array of culinary creations such as superb barbecue selections, turkey and a bountiful variety of desserts, said Daw Ei Ei Nge, the hotel’s communications manager.

“It also includes free flow of beer, wine and soft drinks and great entertainment,” she said, adding that lucky draw prizes include accommodation at Parkroyal Hotel and plenty of attractive merchandise.

Tickets are $35 for seating at the tennis court and $30 poolside. Anyone who buys 10 tickets will get one ticket free and there is a 50 percent discount for kids.

On New Year’s Eve Parkroyal Hotel will offer a lavish buffet with Chinese, Indian, Japanese and European specialties, including oysters, scallops, beef fillet, sushi, sashimi, a selection of cheeses and fresh fruit, as well as free-flow beer, wine and soft drinks.

“Entertainment will include an exciting gladiator show, local famous singers, our resident Filipino Band and a DJ for $45 a person,” Daw Ei Ei Nge, the Communications Manager, said.

Festivities at Traders Hotel have kicked off early this year, with the hotel offering an around-the-world Christmas buffet from December 1 to 23 featuring roast turkey, lamb moussaka, salmon and Christmas pudding for $20, said communications manager Daw Win Pa Pa Aung.

From December 23 to 25 the hotel will serve a special Christmas brunch for $23 a person, with a menu that includes roast turkey, ham, grilled beef tenderloin, lamb chops, fresh seafood and traditional Christmas sweets.

Christmas Eve and Day dinners on December 24 and 25 will feature crab, prawn, mussels on ice, smoked salmon, cheese platters, pasta, roast turkey and stuffing, ham and spicy octopus, among many other delectable choices, for $33.

Tickets for the New Year’s Eve brunch and New Year’s Day dinner at Traders Café are $23 and $35 respectively.

“Our creative kitchen brigade will be dishing out a mouthwatering menu – salmon, seafood skewer, pan-fried steak, roast turkey, stuffing, oven-baked lamb roll, pork knuckle with beer sauce and homemade dessert,” said Daw Win Pa Pa Aung.

Revelers can count down the seconds to 2008 at Traders Hotel’s black-and-silver New Year’s Eve party, which includes all-you-can drink beer, soft drinks and house wine, an extensive snack buffet, live entertainment and lucky draw, all for $35 a ticket.

Hotel Nikko will host a Christmas Eve party for $25 a person with Australian filet steak with red wine mushroom sauce served with potatoes, broccoli, soup and dessert, said marketing and communications manager Daw Khin Kyaw Kyaw Swe.

The hotel’s Christmas Day dinner, for the same price, will serve cream of split pea soup with home-made sausage, roast turkey with red wine berry sauce, sweet potatoes and vegetables, topped off with chocolate mousse cake for dessert.

Hotel Nikko will ring in the New Year with a special party on December 31 featuring a special entertainment program. Tickets are $40 for free-flow soft drinks and two glasses of Mandalay beer, $50 for this plus wine, and $60 to add on Black Label whiskey.

Sedona Hotel will offer a Christmas Eve dinner for $30 and a Christmas Day brunch for $20, and will also sell Christmas turkeys as a takeaway item, said U Wunna Moe Aung, the hotel’s assistant marketing and communications manager.

The hotel’s Pirates of the Caribbean 2008 entertainment program will kick off at 7pm on December 31 with a wide range of stellar performers, including Zaw Win Htut, Tint Tint Tun, Lu Minn’s show, the in-house Filipino band, Uranium Dancer Group and cane ball players, he said.

Tickets for the festivities, which will also include a lucky draw program, buffet dinner and drinks, will cost $60, $70 and $100 a person depending on the seating arrangement, said U Wunna Moe Aung.