Just Back From The Chedi
Chiang Mai

We knew we were in for a special stay when we were welcomed at the airport by a beaming hotel employee and ushered to our waiting car complete with cool towels and water. This limo transfer is worth every cent after the one stop flight via Bangkok.

On arrival the hotel knew our names and greeted us with heavily scented floral garlands (Hawaii style but not as garish) and a cool fruit drink for a low key check in.

The hotel itself is incredibly well designed to be discrete in its road frontage with simple spaced vertical wood strips with no apparent windows. It sits on a street no different than any other Thai street, i.e. on first glance ramshackle but noticeable for no litter (unlike an Australian city centre street) and with everything faded but some how right.

The interior of the hotel has shallow pools with floating candles at night and manicured lawns all of which manages to provide a feeling a tranquility and peace. The perfect haven for a break from a busy family life or your day to day routine.

The rooms are modern Asian in design (the seeming product of a Danish designer who had hung out in Thailand – maybe not your choice but certainly mine in this environment) and use natural ceramics and wood all in a set of soothing earthy tones and complimented by mood lighting. The bath room opens via large doors onto the bedroom and has a shower with a shower head you could wash an elephant with (no water shortages here) and boasts a deep oval bath. The luxury completes with a private balcony with a day bed overlooking the central horseshoe shaped courtyard down to the river.

Having arrived the day before with the release of the latest Harry Potter book (yes it is huge in Thailand too) I can attest The Chedi is a great environment for complete relaxation and my wife tells me the spa treatments were world standard. We both enjoyed the hearty breakfast before a days exploring and breaking our usual rule we ate two great candlelit meals at the riverside restaurant.

The staff in the easy way for the best of Thai hospitality were always there when you needed them and extremely welcoming and helpful yet at no time seemed to be fussing around you nor intrusive.

Chedi is the word used in Southeast Asia for a stupa, a structure in a Buddhist temple and given the experience and the sensation the name is quite apt and one could easily come to worship the thought of a night at the Chedi.

On the last day of our visit we saw the red carpet rolled out and the arrival as a guest of one of the Thai princesses. It did not seem surprising at all and quite fitting for a place that can make anyone feel like royalty.