We just got back from a three day stay in the Imperial River House Resort in Chiang Rai and right away, my spirit was calm... We had an amazing view of the Kok River and the courtyard with the pool. On the first night, we saw lanterns floating up from the courtyard into the skies, what a nice, quiet way to end a day of exploring the tiny town where we had lunch at the Condoms and Cabbages restaurant. We also went to the night market. Oh, let me go back to the hotel--the staff is very friendly and helpful; our room was big and very comfortable. It was tasteful, elegant, and had a huge picture window. We also had very good breakfasts, included in our hotel fees. However, they have a restaurant called Tara and we ate two times and both times, we were very, very pleased - the service is polite and prompt yet friendly and the food was very delicious. We love the complexity of the Thai spices and we were not dissappointed. I recommend this resort!! We got here from Bangkok via Thai Air and it only took an hour or so. We were met by the hotel rep. From here, one can go to the Golden Triangle (we did) and some other trip to the Botanic Garden. I cannot review the Golden Triangle on TripAdvisor on a separate entry but I will say that it...We just got back from a three day stay in the Imperial River House Resort in Chiang Rai and right away, my spirit was calm...

We had an amazing view of the Kok River and the courtyard with the pool. On the first night, we saw lanterns floating up from the courtyard into the skies, what a nice, quiet way to end a day of exploring the tiny town where we had lunch at the Condoms and Cabbages restaurant. We also went to the night market. Oh, let me go back to the hotel--the staff is very friendly and helpful; our room was big and very comfortable. It was tasteful, elegant, and had a huge picture window.

We also had very good breakfasts, included in our hotel fees. However, they have a restaurant called Tara and we ate two times and both times, we were very, very pleased - the service is polite and prompt yet friendly and the food was very delicious. We love the complexity of the Thai spices and we were not dissappointed.

I recommend this resort!! We got here from Bangkok via Thai Air and it only took an hour or so. We were met by the hotel rep. From here, one can go to the Golden Triangle (we did) and some other trip to the Botanic Garden. I cannot review the Golden Triangle on TripAdvisor on a separate entry but I will say that it was an eye opener-we took a boat trip to Laos and then we drove into the border of Burma. We got into town, look at some temples, and went into the public market where we walked away with a gorgeous wood scuplture wall hanging art. Burma is hot and much poorer than its neighbor but we were met with smiles and people generally left us gringos alone. I was sad to see the poverty but glad that they are able to come into Thailand to work.

In any case, above is just an option. The drive to the Golden Triangle from the hotel is very picturesque. The resort's (Imperial River) garden is beautiful and they have a spa where I promptly fell asleep during my foot massage. I was out most of the time during my body massage and I woke up to a nice cup of ginger tea.

If I go back to Chiang Rai, I will stay in this resort again!! I am still on my vacation and currently cannot post photos but I will. I am now in Bangkok!More