Chiang Mai - Thailand

I loved this quirky little hotel. It looked as if it was decorated by some wonderful little Thai grandmother. It's not far off a busy street, but it feels secluded, maybe because of the garden in the middle. The garden is more like a jungle filled with flowers, frogs, trees, vines, lizards, hanging beads, and hanging real and plastic flowers.

I realized only after I got home that the website has very close-up photos. It's because if they took photos of the whole scene, you wouldn't be able to fathom it. When we first walked in the hotel's foyer/garden, my head about spun off, as there was so much to look at. Things hanging, animals moving, little decorations here and there.

To add to the randomness, the hotel's Vietnamese restaurant has quotes in English on the windows. I'm not a fan of Vietnamese food, so I can't objectively review it, but my husband enjoyed it. The breakfasts were good.

I discovered the Lana Library overlooking the garden. I can't remember if the library actually had any books, but it's a great place to sit in the morning. The mats on the floor are surprisingly comfy.

When we first got there, I think we were in the cheapest room, and the bed was really hard. We upgraded to the Executive Suite, which was good. It was only about US$10 more, and I would highly recommend the upgrade.

I recommend this place and hope to stay here again one day.

This resort is in the hills about an hour outside of Chiang Mai. It was probably built in the '60s. The room was huge and the grounds were beautiful. They had a good spa. It didn't look anything like the resort from "Dirty Dancing," but somehow it reminded me of it. The staff was friendly and great. Actually, I was impressed by everyone I met in Thailand.

The building right next the spa was under construction. I thought that was going to be annoying, but it didn't disrupt my treatments.

My only complaint is that I wasn't impressed by the food at Suan Bua. It wasn't awful, but it didn't wow me. I would stay here again.

I highly recommend the Elephant Training Center - Dao in Chaing Mai. We rode the elephants then did the rafting tour. Both were our favorite parts of the trip.