Few hotels in Chiang Mai feel as soulful as Villa Mahabhirom, hidden in a walled garden in the leafy Wat Umong district, miles away (but within easy reach) of the tourist crowds downtown. This 14-room hideaway is a project by three Thai friends, who spent years collecting traditional wooden houses from the country’s central provinces, and reassembled them between a black-tiled pool and tropical gardens frothy with frangipani and bougainvillea. Each abode, from a 150-year-old riverside home found in Nonthaburi to a former Chinese merchant’s home from the Suphan Buri province, is a time capsule to Thailand’s past, with timeworn wooden doors, pointy roofs, and stilted floors. Inside, they’re luxe. Think shimmery chandeliers, ornate wallpaper, plush four-poster beds, and high-tech bathrooms clad in Italian marble.
On the food front, there’s Krua Mahabhirom, where days start with made-to-order breakfast sets with tropical fruits, Thai rice porridge, or coconutty khao soi noodles, and follow with a lunch and dinner menu of central and northern Thai staples, such as northern-style seabass larb with tongue-numbing ma kwaen pepper and nam prik chilli dip with blanched local vegetables.
Address: 62 Moo 10, Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Price: From about £380 per night.
Burirattana Hotel
In the heart of Chiang Mai’s moated Old Town, the sleek Burirattana Hotel takes its design cues from the Chao Burirat House next door. This late 19th-century landmark building, formerly a royal residence, fuses Lanna-style gable roofs and wooden gingerbread trims with British colonial-era arcades and arches, making it a unique piece of East-meets-West architecture. The hotel gives the style a contemporary spin, with 42 airy rooms and suites dressed in a mix of mid-century modern furniture, local textiles, and European antiques.
In the central courtyard, the sprawling, lounger-lined pool is a welcome spot to cool down after temple-hopping trips around the district, while herbal compresses and Thai massages at the ambitious Buri Dhara spa turn up the zen-levels even further. Kati, the hotel’s breakfast-to-brunch café, puts a Thai spin on international comfort dishes, such as the signature French toast with coconut dip. The hotel’s biggest perk, however, is its address: the lion’s share of Chiang Mai’s Old Town highlights sit within walking distance from its lobby doors.
Address: 115/1-5 Rachadamnoen Road, Tambon Phra Sing, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Price: From about £200 per night.