Praew and I decided to spend one night in Chiang Mai city on Friday. We stayed at a very secluded boutique hotel named Tri Yaan Na Ros Colonial House right on Wua Laid Rd:

It is on a main road but it has a secluded feel with a cozy garden inside. Just the kind of place Praew and I look for.

The owner clearly had a nice sense of decor. This is a picture of the room when we first entered:

And any place that has cats lounging around is an added plus.

On the downside though, they seemed to have some problems with service and upkeep. The service was really very friendly. They just seemed understaffed. (We only saw two staff while we were there.) The tap on the bathtub wouldn’t turn off. (I don’t mean dripping, I mean a constant stream at about 10% of full on.) And the restaurant took almost an hour to serve our food at dinnertime. This one actually turned out well for us since they warned us ahead of time so Praew got all of her shopping done at the walking street just outside while we were waiting for the food and I just called her when it was finally done. The food wasn’t quite right either. The soups were weak and tasted like the Thai food you’d get in the US. (Since none of the guests were Thai, I can’t be totally sure whether this was intentional.) The following morning they even ran out of rice. (I’ve never known a Thai restaurant to run out of rice before.)

But despite these flaws, I think we would definitely consider returning. I wonder if the regular manager was out of town or something based on the many positive reviews we’ve read. And the place was truly beautiful. Anyway, we aren’t exactly needy hotel guests. Since most of the service issues were at the downstairs restaurant, it is worth noting that there are plenty of other very good eating places within walking distance.

I’ll try to post about our other eating experiences later.