My girlfriend and I stayed a night in a deluxe room for THB 800. We arranged for pickup at the airport (200 THB), which went flawlessly and was done by a really nice guy who seemed to be the night manager. The transfer took about 30 mins. If you arrive from BKK after dark, forget walking into the city. Transfer to and fro is about 100 THB each. Apparently taxis sometimes won't come out to the hotel, in that case the really nice hotel staff takes care of the transfer with a hotel-owned car (same rates apply).

We had a decent stay, though there was certainly nothing deluxe about the room except maybe the AC. The mattress was borderline okay while the bathroom was about the same quality we later saw in significantly cheaper guesthouses during our trip.The building and the premises are fairly nice, but I couldn't find much of the romance some of the other reviewers talk about.

Mind you that a hotel located at a pond means mosquitos and the room was not equipped with a net. When we approached the staff about this we were given an electric squatter accompanied by some chuckling. A decent dose of no bite made sure we were only bitten once or twice that night, though. The breakfast is about as minimalistic as the other reviewers have suggested, btw. You'll probably end up ordering from the menu or hit some place in the town if you transfer out of Chiang Rai in the morning,

When my husband and I first arrived at this hotel I had to quickly double check to make sure I got the price right because we couldn't believe it! This place was beautiful yet the least expensive place we had stayed in in Thailand.

The rooms are immaculate, spacious, and come with all the amenities (including flawless wifi). Ours had a balcony which was lovely to enjoy our complimentary coffee on which we could find down in the lobby.

The breakfast (included) was buffet style and out of this world delicious and with both Asian and western options. Again, we could not believe what we were paying for this place. The restaurant for dinner was disappointing for us as the service wasn't great and they forgot to bring my meal out and although I let them know, they didn't bring it out for another forty-five minutes while everyone else's dishes came out. By this point I had eaten my husband's left overs and to their credit, they took it away and didn't charge us for it. His meal was supposed to be red tilapia but was truly just deep fried batter shredded on a plate with no fish to be tasted.

The only drawback could be the location. We felt a bit isolated as a young foreign couple as most of the guests appeared to be there for a local wedding or gathering although the staff made us feel very welcome of course. A taxi ride to town was only 50 baht but the tuk tuks will charge 100 baht to return. This may not be the best place for a backpacker feel or if you are looking to meet other travelers.

Communication in English was a little tricky so it was a bit tough for us to figure out how to navigate ourselves (we rented a motorbike). My main suggestions would be to offer your guests a proper map since the one we were given was a very blurred print off from the computer and it didn't have any streets shown or street names listed around the hotel (they just drew a line into space and wrote "hotel"). We didn't realize this so one night it took us over an hour and a half to find our way back. That same night we had difficulty as well because as you come down the off street you need to turn left into the hotel's road and needless to say, their signs are only in Thai so we kept missing the turn until a local showed us. I think it would be a nice gesture to have a small English sign at the turn, even in marker!

These are small things and really just suggestions. The hotel is amazing and the best deal I have come across in three months of traveling! (I also liked how you could use booking.com to book the room without using your credit card details).

Very impressed with Kong Garden in all respects, from the moment a representative was waiting for us at the station.

Exceptionally clean, large, well equipped new double room with great bathroom, great view of the lake, good quality bed. Nothing felt budget about this room - good lighting, quality television, fridge, lots of drawers and storage space, large power shower etc etc

I have never enjoyed such quality within this price range.

Staff very eager to help in English and Thai,

Good food at restaurant.

Good walk to town but scooter hire was sorted out for us.