Chiangdao Hill Resort

We stayed here for 2 nights whilst visiting the Lisu Hill Tribe. I am led to believe that some years ago this resort was opened by Queen Sirikit. There are a good number of timber chalets with a variety of designs set in acres of gardens. It seems almost criminal that the resort is falling into a state of disrepair and neglect with little if any evidence of maintenance. The bedrooms are very basic, the beds are very hard and the showers are temperamental at best. Breakfast was interesting, no choice, fried eggs and cold boiled ham along with a slice of toast and a cup of instant coffee. If someone spent some time and money on this resort, it could be restored to its former glory. Until then, it will continue to deteriorate.

I came and stayed here several times with my Thai boyfriend, as a way to get away from the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai city. From talking to the former desk worker here, Bhumi, who now operates her own homestay in Doi Inthanon but worked here for ten years - I found out that it used to be quite a famous resort, with large numbers of staff, and one of the Thai princesses even visited here thirty years ago (can see the photos at the front desk). However, it's now not operated to its full capacity. It would be overflowing with guests if there were more staff and it were promoted more - for example, by putting brochures in the guesthouses around Chiang Mai city. It's great as a RESORT, as a way for a working person in Chiang Mai or Bangkok to just get away from it all and laze around with nature for a few days. It's also a good stop for someone taking a motorcycle trip up from Chiang Mai to Doi Ang Khang, Fang, and Thaton on the Myanmar border. It's not, however, the most ideal location for sightseeing. It's least a half an hour by bus or vehicle north of Chiang Dao town, and it's quite far away from the Chiang Dao caves, Tham Pha Phlong, Wat Tham Chiang Dao, and other important sites in the area. If you don't have your own vehicle, it really isn't practical to stay here, unless you sign up for the tours. It's important to remember here that preference is given to GROUPS over couples or individuals, and that many of the cottages are available to groups only. It can be a good idea to reserve your room in advance...necessary to do so directly through the website. It's an extremely romantic spot for honeymooning couples. If you can get a room, it's a great place also for families, since there's children's play equipment here, and the children enjoy the natural environment. It isn't the best place for a lone female, because it's in remote area which has some safety issues...and the Thai people in the area have conservative customs in regard to females, as compared to Chiang Mai and other cities. The best aspect of this place is definitely the natural environment. It's spread over a large area of land, with the cottages widely separated. There is a pleasant pond in the back part of the resort, with many benches and sitting areas...which could be better maintained. The resort is known for the LARGEST TEAK TREE in Northern Thailand! The cottages vary widely in price and facilities. ChomDao, the lowest priced, where we stayed one time, is set on top of a steep hill. DuangDao and PobDao are more convenient (but more costly) choices. Preference here is given to groups...many of the cottages are not available to individuals or couples. The office area - a long walk from many of the cottages - is fairly well set up with amenities.There's a coffee shop,which serves cappucino, mocha, latte, and other specialised European coffees, and tea; a Mini Mart; a large, comfortable sitting and TV area; and free Wi-Fi. Sadly,. the old, big TV was recently broken and replaced with a much smaller one. The Mini Mart and coffee shop really need more staff members operating them...when I was last there, they were operated by the same lady who was also in charge of showing guests to rooms and managing the resort generally. So it could be difficult to get coffee or buy items when she was busy showing rooms to guests or gone away to her home village. The hours of operation varied a great deal. The Mini Mart sells a variety of useful items that are hard to get in this area, including instant noodles, soap, detergent, and special Hill Resort caps and jackets (which are very nice!) You can get hot water from the kettle in the area, if you want to fix your own tea, coffee, or instant noodles. To get Wi Fi, it's very important to use your device in the manager's office or the nearby outside sitting area, as opposed to the main office building...the Internet is much faster here than in the main sitting area. There is no Wi Fi in the cottages, however. In this office area, there are nine Thai newspapers (but no English newspaper!) and a TV with over 200 channels...but almost nothing in English. The Chinese CCTV, Japanese, and Korean channels are worth watching. The restaurant serves good food and has a huge menu of Thai and Western foods, but doesn't always have many items available...only after customers arrive, the staff go to market and buy items according to orders. So it can be a long wait. It is open long hours, up to 10 pm (although it closes early during less busy times), and there is a good TV to watch here with many channels. You pretty much have to eat here if you stay here, unless you want to make do with instant noodles from the Mini Mart or go to Tumpket market, where the nearest local restaurants are. Prices here are moderate. Most of the room rates include breakfast (although you can choose to do without for a discount.) The lady in charge is extremely artistic and talented as far as decorations. They have great decorations for Christmas, New Year, Valentine's Day, the King's Birthday, and other festivals. The same decorations tend to stay up a long time and never come down! The surrounding area is called PING KONG, and the nearest villages are Horato and Tumpket. The market in Tumpket is worth visiting...has low prices (labelled in English numbers!) and friendly service. Wat Tumpket is DEFINITELY worth visiting...it's a very beautiful and peaceful cave temple, without the touristy commercialism associated with the temple near the Chiang Dao Caves. It organises a huge festival in March of each year in which the novice monks dress up as kings in traditional outfits and ride horses from Chiang Dao town to here! I was able to participate in this festival, and to see all three days, including the hair-cutting ritual the first day, and go in the procession with a silver bowl raising funds for the temple (and dancing!) The small, local Wat Horato is a good place for the Buddhist festival Makha Buccha (in March) in the early morning. Here, I was able to meet the local village headman and his wife and later attend International Women's Day in Ping Kong, which was a great day of lighthearted games rather than a serious feminist campaign. The current staff here are friendly and helpful but do not speak much English, which can be a problem. There are staff members from different areas of Thailand, including Phuket (the restaurant cook) and HatYai, but no Myanmar or hill-tribe people. The manager does speak English. He's an older Bangkok man who bought this resort many years ago and transformed it from a plantation into a resort. He has a great nature philosophy and really puts it into practice. However, he only comes once or twice a week. The older lady who manages the place on a daily basis is one of the hardest workers I've ever seen anywhere...gives her whole life to this resort and rarely has time even to go to her home village of Ban Fuang. There is another lady from Bangkok (Kunchip) who helps with the resort management who sometimes comes during busy times. She speaks extremely good English and is quite knowledgeable about Buddhist activities and issues. The largest portion of the guests here come from Bangkok. Maybe 40% of the guests are from Bangkok, 20% from Europe, 10% from America and Australia, 10% from China (some drive over the Chinese border), and 20% from Chiang Mai and other local Northern Thailand areas. The lady in charge is very helpful to the guests from Bangkok but pays less attention to the foreigners, mainly due to language difficulties. The lady in charge of the restaurant, however, speaks good English and i friendly with foreigners. The largest number of foreigners seem to be Europeans from Holland, Germany, and France going up to the Thaton area by motorcycle. There is a seminar hall, named KiangDao, which sometimes hosts programs. It was recently cleaned out and renovated. I got to see two programs there. One, in December 2014, was for a group from France who had a wedding there and also took part in many local tourist activities. It was so wonderful to watch them practice with their classical music! The second program, in January 2014, was for a huge group of 250 university students from the English Department of Chiang Mai University. They had a weekend camp with many activities, and a very enjoyable dance and party. New Year (in January) is also a busy time here, with lots of Thai guests. On New Year's Eve, there are firecrackers, bands, karaoke, and other activities, and on New Year's Day, there is an early morning ceremonial almsgiving for Buddhist monks. This type of alms-giving is widely done in Sri Lanka, but it was the only time I was ever able to see this type of ritual meal in Thailand. (This is not the same as the morning alms round in which people put items in the monks' bowls; this is a cooked meal served to the monks.) Valentine's Day is also a great and busy time to come, and the perfect getaway for couples. It's a good idea to book in advance for this. This year, I was surprised that a large group of children from an NGO children's home in Chiang Mai also came to visit that day! For Chinese New Year, two large groups of Chinese guests came. We were able to stay here during several different seasons and experience the rainy season, cool season (when it's very busy), and March dry season. The rainy season (mid-May through October) as noted in another review - isn't the best time to come. The cool season (December thru the end of February) is exciting, with lots going on and lots of guests, but it's COLD. You definitely need lots of blankets at night! It also gets dark early, by 6 pm. You need to make very sure with the management that your hot water is working, as the hot water heaters can be difficult to operate...with instructions only in Thai when I was last there. The dry season (March) can be difficult for many people because of the local BURNING going on, which causes some people to have respiratory problems. Lots of leaves fall from the trees, and resort staff plus other people in the area start many fires to burn them and other materials. It was funny to have what seemed like American autumn in March! However, in March, you can watch the Buddhist festivals of Makha Buccha and Wat Tumpket Poy Sang Long, and you can also see the interesting custom of CATCHING CRICKETS for food! The locals spread glue on the trees and flag poles, and the crickets become trapped in the glue. They are then boiled and used to make nam prik and all sorts of items! Anyway, if you're a couple, family or group with some experience in Thailand and just want to relax and get away from it all for a few days, then you should come here. If your main goal is to visit the Chiang Dao Caves and the town and other sights in the area, it would be more convenient (and cheaper) to stay in one of the guesthouses on the road going to the caves.

Special, authentic, natural place but best to stay when it's dry; we stayed one night; arrived after a very long wet and though bike ride. It had been raining for days, everything was wet and everything in the tree house, albeit lovely, was damp, including the bed sheets. Nothing dried in those conditions and because of the dampness everything smelled quite 'whiffy'. But it would be an amazing place to stay in dryer conditions. I had tree hut no 15, quite a long way up the mountain but with amazing outdoor space / balcony to sit, read and relax and feel 'one' with nature.