Hello everyone! I’m so excited to get started on this new series! If you follow me on social media, you know that Joe and I spent the month of June on our honeymoon traveling around Thailand and Sri Lanka and it was the best experience! Such a perfect adventurous start to this next chapter in our lives. I’ve been so excited to blog about our adventures from this trip and I hope you all enjoy the stories and tips to come! I’m beginning with Thailand which I know there are plenty of blog posts and Youtube videos out there on Thailand, so yes here I am adding to the pile, but I do hope someone finds my perspective somewhat helpful. I was very excited to go back to Thailand as the first time I ever went I was only 10 years old and couldn’t wait to experience the country as an adult.
I wanted to begin this series by highlighting one of the places we stayed at during this trip and I’ll be highlighting a few other amazing lodging choices throughout this series. One of my favorite parts of traveling is choosing the place to make your homebase. For some reason almost every country I’ve been to has a plethora of the most unique and beautiful options of housing and hotels to choose from. I feel we are lacking that in the United States and places seem to always be overpriced for something pretty average. The best and most unique places I’ve stayed at in the United States are cabins in the Pacific Northwest but these also often have overpriced nightly rates. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the type of traveler that I am is moderate to budget so sometimes you’ll see me going cheap and other times you’ll see me going a step up and “splurging”. Since I usually only take 1-2 big trips a year (3 weeks or more each trip) I don’t mind spending a little extra money but I definitely would not call myself a “luxury” traveler and I’m sure once I get to a point in my life and career where I can travel more often that my choices in accommodation and pricing will change as well (as in cheaper). That being said, I usually spend anywhere from $40 to $90 a night on accommodations when I travel depending on what country I’m visiting. I’ve definitely spent less (the cheapest probably being about $18 a night) and still received a pretty good quality room! The location really dictates this. I also love choosing unique and beautiful accommodations that would probably be very pricey in the United States and that I wouldn’t normally get to enjoy on my salary at home. When I keep that in mind than I have no problem at all spending $40-$90 or even a little more a night. I’ve stayed in some very cool places and even though I’m constantly bouncing around from adventure to adventure I still love to come back home to something wonderful that I’ll never forget, especially if plans for the day fall through and I’m stuck around my homebase, I really want to enjoy the place so lodging definitely matters to me!
For our honeymoon we knew we wanted to stay in beautiful and comfortable places because well…it’s our honeymoon! Since we were moving around a lot and spending our time in two countries we knew we would have to book a lot of places so we took our time researching lodging we would enjoy but that were also affordable. The Granary Resort was definitely one of those places and I would highly recommend it for honeymooners or any other moderately priced travelers out there who want privacy, beauty, and comfort. The property is situated along the Ping River and is about 15 minutes away from the Old City and all the major temples. We actually really liked this because it offered us a chance to escape the hustle and bustle at night to a quiet and serene place. That being said though you will definitely need transportation while staying out here. We rented a scooter which the property can arrange for you and was reasonably priced but they can also arrange car rentals and taxi rides.The Grab app can also be used to arrange rides. Management is very friendly and easy to communicate with. They will have no problem helping you with anything you need. They can also arrange airport transfers.
*Side note: If you do rent a scooter I would highly recommend having some experience riding one and also having all your documents (International Driving Permit and a motorcycle endorsement on your license). There are traffic stops in some areas, and yes we did get stopped for our documents, but we made sure to renew our IDP before our trip and Joe even took a motorcycle class to get the license endorsement this time. It was so great to just get waved on through even though he pulled out his ticket book thinking he was going to get us, ha! Often times in a lot of countries in Southeast Asia you’ll only get a small fine if you don’t have the correct documents/licensing but you can do a lot with that money there and is it really worth the hassle and time wasted? In Bali we saw people getting brought into the police department and then being made to pay a fine so always research the laws and be prepared. Insurance might also not cover you if you do not have the appropriate licensing endorsement, IDP, and any other paperwork a country might require.*
The grounds at the Granary Resort are meticulously maintained and feature gorgeous gardens, various seating areas and swings, cute little statues, and a stunning pool area. I believe there are 9 villas onsite, some with pool views, some with garden views, and some with river views. Each villa is detached and very private and the accommodations are very spacious and comfortable. The villas are traditional Lanna-style houses made of teakwood with walls of windows for natural light and perfect views. The villas were beautifully decorated and quite large. Many of them feature gorgeous semi-outdoor showers as well as indoor bathtubs and all of the villas have A.C. and WiFi. We paid approximately $88 USD a night for 4 nights in June and I just did a brief search on Booking.com and it looks like the prices have since dropped (at least for now) to around $62 a night. I believe the property is fairly new so there isn’t much marketing or as many reviews as some of the other popular choices in Chiang Mai. I think the further out location from the City Center also affects booking rates but I really hope people continue to book this place and keep it open because it is truly a gem in Chiang Mai!
A couple “cons” of the place would be that there is no food onsite. There is a restaurant and they offer breakfast (you can pay a little more and have it included with your stay or pay $10 per day for breakfast and get a cheaper nightly rate) but I don’t think they do any lunch or dinner service. I’m not sure if they’re looking into changing that at all but hopefully they do since there are not a ton of options around at night in that area. There are some options nearby but they have limited hours so it would be great if they offered dinner options. Another con is that you couldn’t lock the door from the outside (at least in our villa). There is a wooden bar lock on the inside at night when you’re sleeping but when we left the villa we would have to place a vase in front of the door to keep it from blowing open. I know this alone might deter a lot of people but the villas were spaced out enough and private that you couldn’t really tell if someone had left so the chances of a guest randomly trying to get into your room seem very slim to me without risking being caught from either the person staying in the room or staff onsite. The property also wasn’t busy at all (only 2 other villas occupied when we stayed there) so I didn’t feel uncomfortable. Furthermore the staff made me feel comfortable and I trusted them. Honestly the stories you hear about staff stealing things, they can get into locked hotel rooms too with their own keys so it didn’t make a difference to us. I just thought I should mention that detail. The rooms are also very large so it can take awhile for the A.C. to completely cool down the room but there is also a ceiling fan and it never got too hot at night. Lastly, as mentioned before the location can be a con for some since it’s not walking distance to the Old City and all the major temples but this did not bother us at all.
Here are some links for booking and more reviews as well as personal pictures of the gorgeous Granary Resort below. I hope this brief review and these photos help if you are on the fence about booking this wonderful and magical haven. It really helped set the tone for our honeymoon and made our stay in Chiang Mai that much better (although Chiang Mai is an incredible City and it didn’t take much to make our stay there great!).
(As far as I can tell that is the “official” website above. I would still probably book from Booking.com or Agoda.com since those are secure websites but this website does have some info, more photos, and a contact form.)
Facebook Page for Granary Resort
Also if you do end up booking a villa at the Granary Resort and need a recommendation for food nearby I would highly recommend checking out Khao Soi Mae Manee which is a small local joint about 7 minutes away from the Granary Resort. We actually heard about this place watching Youtuber Mark Wiens from Migrationology and it did not disappoint! The Khao Soi was excellent and probably one of our favorites that we had during our time in Chiang Mai. The owner was so sweet and personable as well. Parking there is very limited and I believe they close at 3:30 P.M. (13:30) and they also close often for Buddhist holidays so be sure to check on their Facebook for closures. We also loved Fika Sky Cafe for coffee and there were other restaurants and small cafes in the area as well as some street vendors grilling meat near convenience stores. Of course you have to stop at the various night markets in Chiang Mai as well but that’s for another post!
Speaking of Khao Soi, another place I would recommend is Khao Soi Nimman which is about as far away as the Old City (so you’ll also have other choices if you head out that way). The Khao Soi, sausages, and larb were all excellent and we really liked the vibe of the place. It was a beautiful restaurant that still had a laid back atmosphere and a lot of locals. The staff were also very friendly to us. I know everyone recommends it but you absolutely cannot skip out on trying the Khao Soi in Chiang Mai. The only downside is you will forever be disappointed eating Khao Soi anywhere else in the world again. I’m still on the search in Washington to find a place that makes authentic Khao Soi the way it is made in Northern Thailand and I’ve yet to find it. You will see what I mean!
Until next time,
Kelsie