This hotel is a great example of one that looks perfect on the internet but holds a disappointing surprise when you get there. In this case, it is the location. Literally, it is tucked away down two alleyways and far from the places in town you want to be. It was really a disappointment for us in that we couldn't get out and walk anywhere. It was just too far of a walk and not a walk that we felt totally safe making. Safety concerns were primarily from the narrowness of the alleys and streets to walk on. They are made for one car and not for people.
They try to compensate for this by offering a free, hotel tuk tuk to the central part of Chiang Mai. The hotel itself is pretty nice. Not great, but nice. Only the rooms are air conditioned, so once you step out of them, you heat up quickly. The staff was very attentive. The rooms were very elegant and well maintained. To be honest, we felt bad for the staff and the owners of the hotel. They have a great thing going, they are just in an awful location.
If we had known about the location going into the trip, it would have made our stay less of a disappointment. It was just such a let down to realize we were stuck down some alleyways in our hotel. It took a couple of days to shake this frustration and accept it for what it was.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
(Management representative)
Jul 15, 2009
It was such a great honor for having this group of guests with us during their trip to Chiang Mai. We are sorry to hear that the guests did not happy with our hotel location. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify about our location as well as telling why Puripunn has to be located in this area.
The location where Puripunn is located call “Wat Gate (or Wat Ket) community” where hundred something years ago it used to be an old pier next to Ping river (about 10-15 minute walk from the hotel, but it does not exist anymore). Please use key word “Wat Ket Chiang Mai” for searching more details about the history of this area. That’s during King Rama V period which was the period when our king opened the country. At that time, multi-nationalities had been entering to do commercial trading as well as spread their religious all over Siam (former name of Thailand). When boat was the main transportation, Wat Ket pier was historically a major hub of transportation and drop-off. People from many households in this area have been living like this for generations since there was no car up back then, the street has never been any wider until nowadays. We chose our hotel to be on this location because we want to naturally deliver the actual way of life of ordinary local experience to the guests of the country and the Puripunn . They have been living from generations to generations with a very strong faith in their community which has “Wat” (temple) as their center. We are proudly honor to be part of this typical charming community, and we never want them to change or asking them to. Our community may be not representing a touristic scenery or any picturesque. Our entrance may be a narrow lane, and tuck away from the main street. But in our opinion and many of our guests’ , it does deliver the sense of living in local Chiang Mai. We hope that every morning when the guests wake up, they can feel that they are in Chiang Mai and not somewhere else in the world. Of cause, we can not expect everyone to appreciate this in the positively same way. We do, however, respect the guests’ comments if they do not appreciate our intentional location purpose as this is purely depend on individual perception and experience.
Many of our guests prefer to walk rather than taking our Tuk-Tuk as they want to see how the local people live. On the other hand, for only 5 minutes walk from the hotel, there is the Nawarat Bridge, the main bridge, to either get across the Ping River or walk along side of Ping River where various nice pubs, riverfront restaurants, Chinese shop-houses, as well as unique silk shop, arts, typical noodle houses along the way. A bit further is the Wat Ket Temple where its local Community Museum is opened for free visit daily. Across the bang, taking the old walking bridge, they will get to see the Flower Market and Warorot Market which is a major local market for Chiang Mai people and many visitors who look for Local Produces & other traditional foods & souvenirs. Across Ping River, via Nawarat Bridge, it will lead to either Chang Klan road where the beginning of Night Bazaar is awaiting, or go straight directly to the Thapae Gate where the Chiang Mai old city holds its famous Sunday Market every week (this is a little long walk for another 15 minutes to get to the old city).
The places of visit and the Wat Ket area-the-around- Puripunn-sightseeing, mentioned here are partially what the coming travelers could expect to see when they are here in Chiang Mai, Northern Thai historical destination, since there will be much more throughout the city and extendedly up to mountain hills, outskirt where Royal Botanic , elephants camps, hill tribe villages, outdoor activities & other extreme centers, authentic offers plotted from areas to areas. We hope this information is helpful for anyone who interested to plan their visit to Chiang Mai.
Once again, we are indeed thankful for the opportunity for us to take chance introducing the other aspect of Chiang Mai & Wat Ket (Wat Gate) Area. We all at Puripunn do appreciate you time reading the management respond. We hope ones will find Chiang Mai, Thailand charming and looking forward to include this destination in their next trip.
All the best,
Att & Koy Viravaidhya, Owners of Puripunn Baby Grand Boutique Hotel
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
