Mae Hong Song is only a small town so this would be one of the biggest & best hotels in town, but in a large city this would not be the case. The hotel is showing its age, with tired rooms but having said that it is a comfortable hotel set in lovely gardens full of teak trees with a small river running through the grounds. It has a nice pool and all the rooms overlook the pool and garden. It also has a sauna a small gym area by the pool. The rooms are basically equipped, they don't have tea/coffee making, robes, in-room safe, however safety deposit is offered free at reception. The rooms all have a balcony, but strangely only have one chair on them (in a room for 2).There is a tour desk, but it was not manned and you had to phone a number for service (we did come off-season), so we booked our tours in town. Tip: rose garden tours were over priced and the service was rude, so we avoided them, we booked with a small operator near the night market.
Breakfast was a basic buffet breakfast, fairly ordinary. They do have a restaurant but it was empty so we ate in town, where there were sufficient eating options. Previous reviewers have mentioned that the hotel is out of town (around 4kms) but they offer a free shuttle at set times, 7.30am, 9, 2pm, 7.30pm, 9 &10pm returning 5 mins later. If these times are not convenient there are no taxis waiting outside the hotel (but I guess reception would call one for you). The town pretty much closed by 9.30 so coming back at 10 is late enough.
The staff at this hotel were pleasant a tried to be helpful . When it was time to leave they gave us a free transfer to the bus station which was great.

We were surprised at how nice this hotel actually was as we weren't expecting much at all. It is in a really pretty setting with lovely big trees all around and a small river flowing through the grounds. The pool and outside deck was a very pleasant relief from the heat.

We stayed in the junior suite on the ground floor and were basically just beside the pool deck. The room although a little older style was huge and very nicely furnished and clean. The restaurant food was a little average but the food we ordered from room service was really good. Not a lot of choices in Mae Hong Son I would recommend this hotel as probably the best.

This is our second visit to Mae Hong Son and the second time we have stayed at the IMperial Tara. It is a very good hotel. It offers very good value for money. The hotel provides a shuttle bus into town and back and also can organise trips in the local area.

Mae Hong Son is not a downtown, big city location, so our comments should be read in the context of its remoteness.
When we booked a private itinerary for MHS the hotels of our choice were full due to the King's Birthday holiday. We did not choose Imperial Tara due it its highest cost in town and out of town location. It is in a nice spot, surrounded by trees and shrouded in the morning mists, but too far out of town to walk. Our travel agent had no choice.
It has clearly been a magnificent structure from the past but the rooms and building are "tired" and in need of a renovation.
For the supposed premiere hotel in MHS the front desk and waiting staff need to improve their English language skills and unless you like cooking wine, don't order a glass of white wine from the bar. Safety boxes are not available in rooms and Wifi is not free (as it generally is throughout most of Thailand).