Best for
Culture, food, digital nomads, cooler weather
Nightly range
฿1,200–฿20,500 a night
When to go
November to February is peak for good reason, the weather is genuinely pleasant. Avoid February to April, when agricultural burning makes the air quality some of the worst in the world.
Chiang Mai is where people go when Bangkok has worn them out. It is smaller, cooler, several hundred years older, and considerably cheaper for the same standard of room.
The Old City is a square moat enclosing temples on nearly every corner. West of it, Nimmanhaemin is the modern counterpoint: coffee, coworking, and brunch that would not look out of place in Melbourne. Most visitors split their time between the two without realising they are different trips. East of the moat, the Ping River has hotels on both banks around the Night Bazaar, a ride rather than a walk from the temples.
One thing worth knowing before you book: the burning season. From roughly February to April, smoke from agricultural fires settles in the valley and the air quality becomes genuinely unpleasant. It is the one time of year we would tell you to go somewhere else.
Where to stay
in Chiang Mai.
Pick the area first and the hotel second. On a trip this size the half hour between one beach and the next shapes the holiday more than the room does.
Ordered by the mean guest score of the listings in each area, the same basis as the hotels below.
Wat Chedi Luang in the Old City. Photo by JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4 places to stayOld CityThe walled square inside the moat, where the temples are and where our Chiang Mai picks score best for location.Explore Old City
The Ping River in Chiang Mai. Photo by Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons4 places to stayRiversideBoth banks of the Ping east of the Old City, with the cheapest room we list in Chiang Mai and the softest location scores.Explore Riverside
Shops on Nimmanhaemin Road. Photo by Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons4 places to stayNimmanThe cafe-and-coworking grid west of the Old City, and home to the most-reviewed hotel we list in Chiang Mai.Explore NimmanTop rated in Chiang Mai.
boutique / Old City
BaanBooLoo Village
Researched Pick฿10,319
a night
luxury / Old City
The Inside House
Researched Pick฿20,500
a night
luxury / Nimman
Hotel Sensai Nimman
Researched Pick฿15,480
a night
luxury / Riverside
Maladee Rendezvous Hotel
Researched Pick฿9,963
a night
mid range / Old City
POR Arak
Researched Pick฿2,102
a night
budget / Riverside
Kittawan Home&Gallery
Researched Pick฿1,200
a night
Ordered on guest evidence alone: mean score across every booking platform we checked, then review depth. Having stayed somewhere does not push it up the list.
Things to do.
Tours carry each operator's own score, never averaged with the others running the same trip. Places you simply visit carry no score, and say so.
— 01wildlifeA Chiang Mai elephant sanctuary
— 02foodA Chiang Mai cooking class
— 03cultureThe White Temple day trip to Chiang Rai
— 04natureA Doi Inthanon day trip
— 05natureDoi Inthanon
— 06natureThe Sticky Waterfalls
— 07foodThe Sunday Walking Street
— 08foodWarorot Market
— 09cultureWat Chedi Luang
— 10cultureWat Phra Singh
— 11cultureWat Phra That Doi Suthep
Drag to explore — 11 checked in Chiang Mai
Two badges.
No grey area.
Every one of the 23 Chiang Mai listings carries one of these. We never blur the line between somewhere we went and somewhere we checked.
How we research →We went. The listing names who stayed, when, and for how many nights. If we haven't been, it doesn't get this badge.
0
in Chiang Mai
Not been yet. Confirmed on more than one platform, with its real guest score and review count recorded from each. Each one prints its working.
23
in Chiang Mai
Get the good stuff first.
New listings, price movements worth knowing about, and the occasional note on somewhere that stopped clearing our bar. No list exists yet, so this button does nothing on purpose.