We had planned to stay for four nights. We just stayed for one uncomfortable pest filled night. The area surrounding Chiang Rai is beautiful and the views are fabulous. This is the best thing about the resort. However, you can take advantage of the views elsewhere. Additionally, you are so far out of town that you really are stuck in the resort - which is a shame with a limited food menu. (Although the Phu ChaiSai salad was nice).
We booked a Pool Villa. The buildings were really pretty at one point but overall, the management isn't keeping the place up and standards have dropped from wherever they were that got them a good rating.
Cleanliness: A big letdown. The pool clearly hadn't been cleaned between guests or in a long time. There were leaves and sticks and other detritus at the bottom of the pool. We would expect a few leaves but this was a lot and the water seemed murky. I couldn't use it. The mosquito net was full of holes and we had to request a new one. The towels were ragged and we requested a new set which were an improvement but barely. I've included a photo of the 'improved towels'. There were cobwebs everywhere, a weird fungus growing on one of the hangers and the flowers were wilted in our room on arrival. Finally - the insects. We live in Thailand so we're very used to an inavoidable level of pests. Even bearing in mind we're in the mountains, this was an infestation. Thousands of ants inside. Then spiders, caterpillars etc. At night we had great difficulty sleeping as we had to pick some off ourselves in the bed. It was all a bit musty and rundown.
If it were a hostel, you might overlook it but for the price, this is supposed to be a luxury resort! We moved to Le Meridien the next day and received better treatment and a better room for a much better price.
Service: From some staff members it was well meaning but from others we got ignored. I went to the front desk and stood for a few minutes before management would bother to acknowledge me. I requested to see another room and they said "Yes" and went back to a conversation and ignored me for a further five minutes until I had to leave them and wait for someone to care to talk to a guest.
- Phu Chaisai Mountain Hotel
- Hotel Phu Chaisai Mountain
