HOTEL REVIEW: Rainforest Boutique Resort, Chiang Mai

Here in Chiang Mai, we stayed most of our nights in a hotel called Rainforest Boutique Hotel. Here's our thoughts about it.

ROOM:

Big, with balcony, fridge, AC, windows, free water every day...

Clean, for the most of the time. Only problem was on the day of our second check-in, where we got a room with a brown spot of unknown kind on the bed. We asked to change, and that was easily arranged. The other rooms (the one we had on the first visit, and the one we ended up with afterthe change) was spotless.

If there was something we did not like, it would be that the AC didn't really get cold in the last room. It was ok, no trouble sleeping, but it would have been nice to contrast the heat with some place really chilly.



BED:

Big. A bit hard.

BATHROOM:

Had both shower and bathtub, hot and cold water. In our first room, we could not use the bathtub though because it didn't hold tight when filled with water.
Free complementary soup, shampoo, showergel, cotton pads....

SERVICE:

Mostly very good. English a bit limited at some of the staff, but there was always someone that could help you.

They provided a free shuttlebus to Night Bazaar every night at 20.00 - only one way though, but still  very good.

They helped us booking taxi, stored our luggage after we've checked out and even drove us to the railway station for no extra cost and asked if we needed to take a shower after we'd checked out...
So yeah, we are very happy with the service.

CLEANING:

Everyday and very good!



BREAKFAST:

Very very nice. A mix of western and asian, with 4-6 different courses every day. Coffee was also very good.
Don't miss the fried rice! Once you go fried you never eat ordinary rice for breakfast again......

INTERNET: 

Sadly, here comes the flaw in this perfect away-home. 

First visit (10-13/3), internet was perfect - just like the one we have home in Sweden. That doesn't happen everyday in Asia! 

Maybe that's why we got so incredibly annoyed by the total lack of Wi-Fi-connection when we returned two days later. In the lobby, it was OK, but in the room, you were crazy exited if you could reach Facebook for five minutes. 

The kind of solved it the last day of our stay, but by then, I had already gotten bitten by the mosquitos in the lobby so much most parts of my legs was red and swollen. 

For us, internet is important. Not only for the blog but also since we book all hotels online, we transfer money between accounts so we don't walk around with our cards filled with skimmed-friendly money, we have to keep up with our jobs from home..... 

It kind of totally sucked. 

HOTEL AREA: 

2 words: POOOOOOLS! TWO! 

After the heat in Bangkok, and then again the heat in the forest, we were thrilled by the possibility to take a swim. And we took advantage of every free second to hang out there, swim or exercise (Jonathan did a whole program - I mostly stopped after 30 situps...), read a book or look at Scrubs on the tablet. 

 Yeah, life was pretty good. 

Also, every detail in this hotel is so beautiful, every decoration so carefully picked to follow the theme.

Restaurant prices are OK (70-150 baht for a meal) but the portions are quite small and often the food was either bland or cold or both. I recommend eating at the streetfood stalls a couple of hundred meters from the hotel area instead, where you can get fantastic wonton soup for only 40 baht for example. (Oh how I loved that wonton...) 

SURROUNDING AREA: 

A bit far from central Chiang Mai. There is a shuttlebus every night that takes you quite far, but in daytime you'll have to take a taxi or Tuk-tuk. There is never any problem to find one though. Takes about 10 minutes in to central Chiang Mai depending on traffic.

We also walked to and from the railway station and surroundings some nights to get food from streetfood stalls (the beloved wonton mentioned above for example) and it was fantastic. 

SUMMARY:

Except for the lack of internet, we were very very happy. Rainforest Boutique is an oasis, a break from the city but still close to everything you might need. We could easily stayed longer - it was a great outpost for daytrips, as well as it was a perfect place to fin your "zen" and learn to slow down time.

Only thing is that it's a bit from "central" Chiang Mai, but like I said, taxi is never a problem. Walkers like us can explore surrounding areas foodstalls and boutiques, but for real shopping, centrum is better.



WE RECOMMEND IT TO:

Luxury budget-travelers like us (for the price we paid, everyone would want to go deluxe-budget), daytrip-junkies, families, couples, people who want some peace and quiet in the night...
Basically anyone who doesn't want to stay in the middle of a party street.

Jonathan celebrating life after finally arrived at Rainforest after a loong, loong day.

HAVE YOU BEEN STAYING AT

RAINFOREST BOUTIQUE?




HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE?


TELL US IN THE COMMENTS!