I continue the thematic series dedicated to luxury Thailand (started with an old post about Bangkok and a recent post about the best spas in Thailand). This time it’s about the city. Chiang Mai and its surroundings. More specifically, about the best hotels and restaurants Chiang Mai.
This extremely exotic center of Thai crafts was born at the end of the 13th century. It is surrounded on all sides by villages where silks are woven, silverware is made, wood carvings are made, lacquerware and fine porcelain are produced. Now there are a lot of ultra-modern high-rise skyscrapers teasing the sky here. The city is flourishing like never before. But the spirit is not lost! The ancient city wall and the moat still remain a guarantee that the traditions of past times are alive, no matter what …
Most of all I love living here Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi. A regular reader of LuxuryTravelBlog.Ru is probably already familiar with my passion for hotels of the Mandarin chain. You can’t argue against this: many of them are real masterpieces. Changmai is no exception… The freshest territory of 20 hectares, a few kilometers from the old city. Welcoming rooms decorated with elements of the classical style of Lanna and Burma, as well as colonial architecture of the 19th century. In essence, this is such a whole oriental castle, not a hotel.
Imagine: you live in one of the nice villas with gabled roofs, reminiscent of the architecture of old Buddhist temples, and all around you are those very so-called rice terraces, for the sake of contemplating which, in fact, many go to the north of Thailand. And tame black buffaloes peacefully walk around them.
The greenery of herbs and trees, streams and rivers, feng shui murmuring in the silence of the fresh air smelling of herbs. Flowing through small dams and spinning wooden wheels of water mills, these waters seem to revive in memory the long-forgotten voices of childhood poetry.
I usually stay in the Grand Deluxe Villas. I like that they stand in separate fenced areas with massive wooden double doors. Behind the doors is a path along which decorative pools with fish are scattered. The path leads to the villa. Villa – Artfully furnished with European furniture and decorated with Asian decorations. Here everything is as it should be: oriental carpets on the terracotta floor, a sybarite sofa in front of the multimedia center. And not far from the entrance to a small, equipped kitchen with everything necessary, there is a table always ready for dinner. Well, there is also a door to the guest bathroom with a separate shower-sauna.
But most of all, I remember, I was pleased with this: behind the sliding glass doors was a solarium, from where, in addition, one could admire a great view of the rice terraces. Here, on my territory, there was a swimming pool and a secluded gazebo, in which, if I only wanted to, a young beautiful Thai woman was doing a massage (reader, do not let your imagination run wild – just a massage, nothing more!).
The second place where you can comfortably live in Chiang Maiof course, Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai.
A wonderful complex in the lush Mahe Rim Valley, 16 kilometers northwest of the city. From here, too, there are wonderful views: quiet ponds, rice terraces and green highlands.
Guests here live in traditional Thai two-story houses. It is best to settle, in my opinion, in a cottage with mountain views (Mountain View). But there is a worthy alternative – Rice Terrace View, a cottage overlooking the rice terraces. Inside, everything is also very well finished: silk, teak wood. Everything in the bathroom is in black marble. But the most attractive is the so-called sala, an oriental gazebo next to the cottage. What to do in it? Dine, read, and just meditate, dissolving in the poetic surrounding landscape.
To put an end to Chiang Mai this time, a few words about restaurants: Sala Mae Rim. This Four Seasons Resort restaurant. Until you try lightly fried rice noodles with beef dipped in soy sauce here, you can assume that you simply have not been to Chiang Mai.
And the atmosphere there is very romantic, judge for yourself:
And the second restaurant in Chiang Mai that I highly recommend is called Moxie. It is located in the most fashionable and stylish boutique hotel in Chiang Mai – D2 hotel (also keep that in mind). This is the most dynamic and modern establishment of Chiang Mai. Moxie’s regulars are local artistic bohemians as well as tasteful travelers. Like you and me (hopefully). Order a mojito with melon juice and pasta with toasted basil leaves. If you like it, drink there to my health! Good luck!
