Looking for a fully furnished apartment in Chiang Mai? You can do better than this. The apartment was clean and not unpleasant but the room and the area around the hotel was devoid of any charm. Nothing interesting within walking distance and facing a big road and construction. Noisy at night due to the live music bar nearby. Breakfast was not good. Restaurant was limited as was the English speaking staff although they tried their best. All in all, after three days I was off to find better accommodations.

We (2 of us) had a long stay at the Grand Napat in Chiangmai (as part of our long South-east Asian tour) in December 2011 and January 2012.

Location:
It is outside Chiangmai city centre, just about 10 minutes red tuk-tuk ride away (cost about 100 Thai baht). Meaning, away from hustle and bustle of a busy city centre. But, if you enjoy walking, and we do walk every day from the hotel to the city centre, it is a good 30 minutes slow walk, if you do not mind walking in Dec/January northern Thai climate (about 25 degrees C. at mid-day), to the Ta Pae Gate.

There is complimentary one-time transport to or from airport to hotel.
You must let them know and make necessary arrangements in advance.

The hotel provides each evening complimentary transport into the city centre (to Ta Pae gate) at around 6.30 pm - but you must sign up ahead - and you have to make your own way back by tuk-tuk.

The city centre is where you find eateries and pubs that cater to tourists or "farangs" - you can eat Italian, Mexican, German, Dutch, English, Irish, Thai, French, etc. On the whole, compared to Bangkok, this city is much quieter and more relaxed.

Just outside the hotel are local eateries, a small 7-11 (besides drinks, etc. they also serve warm sandwiches), markets, barber, beauty saloon, laundry, bakery, and 10 minutes walk away are small restaurants, pubs and cafes, and a big Tesco supermarket which also includes food stalls cooking fresh warm meals to order, and you sit and eat at comfortable tables nearby.

Rooms:
They have various types of rooms. We chose to stay in a 2 bedroom suite. It has a very spacious living room, a small kitchenette with big refrigerator, magnetron, and dining table with 4 chairs ( for long term stay they provide pots, pans, electric water kettle, glasses and crockery, but you pay for use of electricity for the whole apartment during your stay based on actual usage), 2 spacious bathrooms and enough wardrobe space. There are 3 flat screen tv's (one in the living room, and one in each bedroom) and you can borrow dvd from their library. There is also a balcony, wide enough to place two chairs ad a side table to enjoy views in the evening.

The beds and matresses were comfortable for our needs and we slept very well there. We did not turn on the air-co during our stay as the room temperature was good enough for us.

Some wear and tear can be seen in the bathroom doors. The wooden floors in the second bed-room does make some noise when one walks on it, but this does not bother me.

One needs to get used to the water taps when taking a shower. The hot water takes several minutes to come on, so it is best to turn on the taps first to "boil" the water, otherwise you can get a surprise cold shower.

Quality of Service:
The front-office and housekeeping staff are very friendly, but speak little or no English. This can be frustrating to westerners not used to the experience. Most of the staff are from the villages nearby and have limited education, and they are trying their best to give us good service. Often they laugh and smile when we ask them something they cannot understand or do not know how to respond. This is mostly to cover up for their embarrassment or shyness. But they clean the room very well every day (except when you tell them not to do so on certain days if and when you are sick or wish not to be disturbed).

The front office staff will call a tuk-tuk for you, if you need transport into the city (at no extra charge). They can also arrange tours for you too. We did some tours and chartered an SUV with a transport company that they use, and the hotel did not charge us extra - we just pay to the transport company - and I had cross-checked with other companies to make sure we pay the going rate.

Must mention that there is free internet (use the two computers in the lobby) and free wifi in your suite (no problem with connection).

Restaurant, swimming pool and gym:
The restaurant serves mainly Thai food. We did not eat breakfast in the restaurant as we were long stay guests (and prepare our own meusli/cornflakes, eggs, etc.) but we order room service fairly often for dinner-type meals, and the food was very well prepared. Meaning, if you like Thai food, who else can prepare it the way the Thais do ? Price-quality wise, I give it the thumbs up. It is not expensive, especially with room service.

Swimming pool is near the restaurant and is big enough for laps. However, the western tourists (local Thai guests hardly use the pool) tend to "reserve" the limited 6 sun-beds by placing their belongings or towels and then go away shopping - this, I think, is very un-sociable behaviour, and a bad example to the Thais of how westerners behave.

The gym is small but in my opinion is adequate for this "boutique type" hotel.

Summary:
If we return to Chiangmai again, we will definitely stay there again.

Thanks very much to Ms. May and Ms. Atchara for helping us with our stay and making our Chiangmai experience a most pleasant one.

G. Seow

Having read other reports on Trip Advisor I must confess I do not agree with all that has been said. Firstly the hotel is out of town which is reflected very much in the price. If you have young children one must budget for travel in and out of town. If you are fit and able it is possible to walk up to the main junction; continue to stroll into town or wait on the corner until a Baht Bus comes along for which you will get a 20Baht ride into town. In our 10 days there we had little trouble getting into town. The hotel itself is in well maintained order however some of the furniture in the rooms is becoming a little tired. The housekeeping in our room was very good indeed and once we had organised with the girls that we wanted replacement soaps etc everyday we had no problems. We had a 2 room apartment both with TVs and a DVD; kitchen facilities and a balcony overlooking the carpark. Both my wife and I were happy with what we had paid for. Unfortunately the bulk of the staff had very little English but they were always friendly and willing to help but if there was a problem then Kitty with her grasp of the English language could overcome any problem. The breakfast on offer was adequate but I would suggest a little more training to the young staff who really have very little idea of what Europeans eat for breakfast or more to the point how they eat it. For example an egg with bacon will be bacon and whenever the egg comes which is typically Thai! The pool was good although very cold; the water quality was excellent due to the water filteration system employed; but one adverse comment was that there were no sunshades available around the pool area which was off-putting.

Within the location was an excellent supermarket - Tesco Lotus - and JJ market for young nightlife but not for us I would add. I would recommend this hotel for couples and families alike but do budget for transportation into town. We are a couple in our late 50s/early 60s and globe trotting flashpackers.