Chiang Mai Hotel Reviews

Chiang Mai has lots of beautiful quiet temples. Check out lots of the temples you just stumble on, that are not in guide books. Try and go to a monk chat and learn about the life of a monk and Therevada Buddhism. Wat Doi Suthep is beautiful but the "factory" tours out east of the city are often very overpriced for what it is.

Metered taxis are now available in Chiang Mai, although sharing the red pickup trucks is still the most fun way to get around. Tuk-tuk drivers are an honest lot and will not try to take you to the nearest gemscam shop like their Bangkok brethren. Massage is half the Bangkok price. The travel agency across the road from WatPhraSingh provides excellent service, we are pleased with their small-group tours.

The best restaurant in Chiang Mai by a mile is "The House" restaurant at 199 Moonmuang Rd - fantastic "Asian Fusion" food, great wine-list, brilliant service, great surroundings and very reasonable prices. If you don''t feel like a full-on restaurant experience then you can go to the wine and tapas bar at the other side of the restaurant which has comfy outdoor seating (or indoors) great ambience, and a lot of the same food the restaurant offers, but smaller "tapas" sized portions and much cheaper. And when you''re finished you can browse in the stunning, quality art, craft, clothing and jewellery stores behind the restaurant. A great experience which I would thoroughly recommend!!!

Go and see Doi Intanon national park. Go for a walk up the top in the forest at the highest point, it''s awesome.

Had dinner at a place called the Whole earth situated in night bazaar. Great food and good ambiance. Had good fun at the elephant camp.

Sunday market in the old town - don''t miss as huge and sells lots of local handicrafts. Haggling is not really done here - a token discount is potentially given instead, but then the prices are are already very low (when compared to haggled Night Bazaar prices). Restaurants we went to and enjoyed: Riverside (Thai+): Very large restaurant by the river with live music and extensive (and good value) menu Whole Earth (Thai): Handy for the Night Bazaar with an atmospheric setting Hofbrauhaus (German): If you''re thai''d out on the food front, this is great for something different and fun - the food and beer are great. Just off the Night Bazaar.

Walking to Royal Agricultural Station is easy. Gardens filled with food crops, fruit trees, nice displays of annual flowers, some open greenhouses with useful signs in English & Thai. Resort is 2-3 hours by road from CEI or CNX. Cost to get there by car from CNX or CEI about Baht 600 to 1000. Would be nice to see more offerings in PRINTED form, ie. bike rental fees, TIMES for horse rides etc.

Recommend Chiang Mai Thai cookery school for 1 day or up to 5, fun informative, delicious recipes to cook and eat in a relaxed atmosphere. Also elephant trek was a good day out. Shuttle buses picked up at hotel for these tours.

Directly accross the street from the hotel is Buddy''s Internet shop; very handy and reasonably priced. And in the Central Plaza (right next to the hotel) is a great cafe on the top floor (4) which has a menu offerring food from about 6 different countries. I ate there on a number of occasions. They had great tacos!

We visited a few main temples in the old town, it is easy to walk around, not too busy. We went on an elephant safari at an elephant camp, which was a memorable experience, & very good value. The night bazaars are also a must, we bought lots of handicrafts and ate at the local cafes. We will definitely visit Chiang Mai again.

Interesting town, although too much traffic. Mountain countryside is very pleasant and best accessed by taxi at a negotiated price of Bhat1,000 per day. The drivers know the best attractions but need to be kept under control as their main objective is to make commission particularly from craft centres.

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar has become quite the tourist ripoff place. No really good prices like a few years back. It seems like they all agree on a basic inflated asking price, and will not drop below a certain ceiling. Prices are much cheaper at Chatuchak in Bangkok. Even many shops in Bangkok have lower prices! Too bad -- not like the old Chiang Mai market.

Be careful of an old Chinese man who comes up to you in street with sob story of how he was pickpocketed and even showing you his Singapore passport which I''m sure is forged. He asked for money to take train to Bangkok. He spoke in Cantonese but obviously not with Singaporean accent. We refused to give him any money & saw him later approaching another Asian tourist on his motorbike. I tried to grab his fake passport & he push me away & rode off. He is obviously a Thai Chinese conman. Wondered how many tourists he has conned.

Batik course at Chiang Mai Batik school highly recommended. Did 3 day trek with Trekker Tours...good value for money. Good guides and good food.

Recommended restaurants, on the river : Riverside, Good View, Brasserie. Recommended trips in the vicinity: Chiang Dao Cave (72km).

We were fortunate to find the young Mr. Kung who arranged all the trips we needed (and the tailoring) at reasonable commision free prices. His services were equal to those received elsewhere during our trip and we would recommend visitors to Chiang Mai contacting him on his mobile 06-1982919 for all their taxi/tour/guide and tailoring needs.

Elephant farm very good. Elephant dung paper a very interesting concept which appealed to me. Temples great. Night bazaars and artifact shops a homemaker''s paradise. Forget the dinner cruise. Did not eat much as when boat put on lights hoards of moths descended on dinner.

If you have time, go to the Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang, which is about an hour''s bus ride from Chiang Mai. We stayed there for 2 nights on their homestay programme, where you get up at 6.30am in the morning to fetch the elephants from the jungle, take lessons in how to be a mahout, ride the elephants into the river (and have a bath with them!) and ride them back to the jungle in the afternoon. In the evening, you help to cook the dinner and just enjoy being in such peaceful place (well - peaceful except for the cockerels and dogs barking.) I would really recommend this experience - it was wonderful.

We went on a 4 day trek organised by Eagle House (located near to the Rydges Amora Hotel). Very well run trek and good value for money. Also, if you are in need of a great hamburger go to Mike''s Burgers which is also near the Rydges Amora. Best burger I have ever tasted!

We enjoyed Chiang Mai. Smaller and easier to get around than Bangkok. Also, cooler and less humid. The Elephant Conservation Center in nearby Lampang is a wonderful facility for seeing elephants and doing an elephant ride. They really care for the elephants, and it was a most enjoyable way to spend a morning or a day. We thought the Grand Lanna in Chiang Mai was the best restaurant in Thailand -- stunning atmosphere and delicious food.