Description: If you roll off the train or bus in Chiang Mai without a reservations - do not worry. Waiting for you at the bus and train stations will be hotel touts. Normally, you would ignore these people but in Chiang Mai competition is so cut-throat that prices are low and quality are very high. It was simply picking a name that I liked from a Thai tout holding a hotel sign that I had the good fortune to discover the Libra guesthouse.
If you are staying on a budget in Thailand beg, grovel or plead to get into the Libra guesthouse. It is situated just into the Old City along a soi off Moon Muang Road within easy walking distance of the Thae Pae Gate and Night bazaar. The guesthouse is a family run affair and the front desk is manned by two sisters. Tables for guests are out on the verandah, the kitchen is viewable from these tables and you can smell the chefs cooking lemongrass and chicken.
The rooms are very clean and cheap (100 baht when I was there, £1.50) and are on the upper storey or along a soi (lane) and grouped around a tropical garden (see photo)and the lane gives a view into the surrounding houses whose smiling families seem to live their lives outside. But the Libra guesthouse is primarily a trekking guesthouse and has an excellent reputation. Guides hang around the guesthouse and the family will arrange a 5/4/3 day trek for you for a reasonable price (500 baht a day). There are no worries about leaving your valuebles behind as they seal them in envelopes and lock them in a safe. The professionalism of these sisters gives the place an excellent reputation.
Along with hot showers, free-roaming dogs, tropical plants and affable owners - does life get any better then the Libra guesthouse.
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