Everyone’s version of heaven is different — for some, it’s an edible candyland of chocolate paved roads and lollipop stop signs. For others, it’s an eternity of days spent with beautiful angels on fluffy clouds. For us, we imagine heaven to be something like the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, or, the closest thing to it.
Location
Nestled in the Mae Rim Valley north of Chiang Mai, it takes about 30-45 minutes to get to the Four Seasons by cab from the city, and it isn’t until you arrive that you understand why.
The resort (at over 80,000 square metres) is massive and feels like its own theme park, with golf carts whizzing around the Lanna Kingdom styled premises.
With 98 rooms including 22 private residences (which we’re told cost 75 million Thai baht each when the resort first opened in 1995), the resort is set in eight hectares (20 acres) of lush gardens and rice terraces with two small lakes, lily ponds, waterfalls and a working rice farm.
The room
We stayed in one of the two-storey Garden Twin Pavilions not far from the hotel lobby with a large, private outdoor Thai sala (terrace). At 70 square metres (753 square feet), the room felt exceptionally airy and spacious, especially in the bathroom with double sinks, a bathtub and separate shower.
We loved the room’s polished teak flooring, Thai silk decorations and vaulted ceiling with overhead fans for us to cool off naturally. Other amenities included a large satellite television facing the beds, iPod docking station, ultra-soft down duvets and pillows and complimentary Wi-Fi.
Dining
With a focus on local ingredients, Terraces and Sala Mae Rim at the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai blew our taste buds away. Both offered amazing views of the rice paddies from the restaurant’s respective terraces, and each excelled at its own cuisine.
At Terraces, we enjoyed casual Italian fare such as seared sea bass with cauliflower mousse, tender lamb chops and classic tiramisu, while at Sala Mae Rim, we filled up on authentic Thai specialties like a spicy tom yum goong soup and freshly grilled fish, not to mention a brilliant breakfast buffet with everything you’d expect from a Four Seasons resort (fresh honey off the comb and all).
The resort also has two lounges — Elephant Bar and Ratree Bar and Lounge — for snacks and drinks, as well as a Chef’s Table and Rice Barn (both of which seat two) for more intimate settings.
Activities
We never understood how some people never leave their hotels whilst on vacation, but after staying at the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, we finally do. There’s so much to do at the resort, from learning to cook authentic Thai dishes at the on-site cooking school and planting rice with the farmers to soaking up the sun at the hotel’s infinity pool or pampering yourself at the hotel spa.
For active types, there’s a gym beneath the pool along with a Thai herbal sauna for detoxing, plus bicycles for rent should you choose to leave the resort (gasp) and explore the surrounding areas.
Our favourite activity though, was hanging out with Tong and Tone, the two resident water buffaloes at the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai. These adorable giants have the toughest job ever: greeting and posing for photographs with guests twice a day, nibbling on fresh grass and getting bathed in between, and wandering the rice paddies to help with the harvest.
Verdict
We can only hope that our version of heaven is as peaceful, luxurious and serene as the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, and if not, we’d gladly accept reincarnation as a Four Seasons Chiang Mai water buffalo.
Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, Mae Rim-Samoeng Old Road, Chiang Mai 50180, Thailand, +66 53 298 181,www.fourseasons.com/chiangmai
(Originally published on LifestyleAsia.com)
