Recommendation: Chiang Mai Furnished Apartments

[BFD]

I just wanted to put out a recommendation for Chiangmai Furnished Apartments (.com). I won the draw for a three-night stay, and I took my girlfriend there earlier this month. While all the apartments aren’t finished yet, I think this place will be a mainstay in Chiangmai for a long time to come. I should clairify that I have no financial interests in the place at all; I won the contest and told the owner that I’d post my thoughts here on ThaiVisa.

Pros:

Extremely friendly service (even went out for drinks with the owner, although his liver might explode if he did that with all his customers)

Great location (5 min walk from night bazaar)

Beautifully equipped apartment:

TV/DVD/Speaker system, great kitchen facilities (full-sized fridge, stove, toaster, kettle, cookware/cutlery/etc) tasteful design, food already in the fridge, great security (with imported locks, so folks can’t just go down the street and get a copyof the key), more stuff that I can’t remember.

Price (hey, it was free!)

In all, the overall benefit of this place is autonomy. If you don’t like eating the food from your hotel/guesthouse lobby, you can cook for yourself here. If you don’t like the fact that the only movie being played in the common room is ‘I, Robot’, you can put on something good in your own room. I rented a motorcycle from a place just down the road and had a degree of freedom which I don’t even have at my apartment in Bangkok (just too afraid to drive here!). This applies doubly if you already live in Chiangmai and have folks coming to visit you; giving them the ability to fend for themselves will help with their sanity and your own. A word about price; of course, I stayed there for free, so I can’t complain at all. However, even if I had paid, I would have found it to be great value. I stayed in what’s called a ‘Small One-Bedroom’, which is 1760B/night, with service charge. Definitely on the more expensive side of accommodation in Chiangmai, but I tell you right now that it is worth it for the benefits of autonomy.

Cons:

Too bright in the mornings

Too hot

Hard to find (first time)

I feel I must put in the caveat here that these cons are pretty subjective. In other words, my girlfriend had no problems with the lighting and was cold, rather than hot (I’m a robust sort, so I’m always too hot). Similarly, I quite possibly have the world’s worst sense of direction, so ‘hard to find’ applies to everything from distant locations to my bathroom in the dark.

Again, I have no interests in this place; I just had an excellent stay there and wanted to spread the word. If you have other questions about my stay there, feel free to PM me.

BFD!

[ChiangMaiFurnishedApts]

Thanks Brian and I am glad you and your girlfriend enjoyed yourselves.

I only wish that every one of our Guests left the place as clean as you two, the maid was in and out in 20 minutes.

Hope to see you again sometime.

I just wanted to put out a recommendation for Chiangmai Furnished Apartments (.com). I won the draw for a three-night stay, and I took my girlfriend there earlier this month. While all the apartments aren't finished yet, I think this place will be a mainstay in Chiangmai for a long time to come. I should clairify that I have no financial interests in the place at all; I won the contest and told the owner that I'd post my thoughts here on ThaiVisa.

Pros:

Extremely friendly service (even went out for drinks with the owner, although his liver might explode if he did that with all his customers)

Great location (5 min walk from night bazaar)

Beautifully equipped apartment:

TV/DVD/Speaker system, great kitchen facilities (full-sized fridge, stove, toaster, kettle, cookware/cutlery/etc) tasteful design, food already in the fridge, great security (with imported locks, so folks can't just go down the street and get a copyof the key), more stuff that I can't remember.

Price (hey, it was free!)

In all, the overall benefit of this place is autonomy. If you don't like eating the food from your hotel/guesthouse lobby, you can cook for yourself here. If you don't like the fact that the only movie being played in the common room is 'I, Robot', you can put on something good in your own room. I rented a motorcycle from a place just down the road and had a degree of freedom which I don't even have at my apartment in Bangkok (just too afraid to drive here!). This applies doubly if you already live in Chiangmai and have folks coming to visit you; giving them the ability to fend for themselves will help with their sanity and your own. A word about price; of course, I stayed there for free, so I can't complain at all. However, even if I had paid, I would have found it to be great value. I stayed in what's called a 'Small One-Bedroom', which is 1760B/night, with service charge. Definitely on the more expensive side of accommodation in Chiangmai, but I tell you right now that it is worth it for the benefits of autonomy.

Cons:

Too bright in the mornings

Too hot

Hard to find (first time)

I feel I must put in the caveat here that these cons are pretty subjective. In other words, my girlfriend had no problems with the lighting and was cold, rather than hot (I'm a robust sort, so I'm always too hot). Similarly, I quite possibly have the world's worst sense of direction, so 'hard to find' applies to everything from distant locations to my bathroom in the dark.

Again, I have no interests in this place; I just had an excellent stay there and wanted to spread the word. If you have other questions about my stay there, feel free to PM me.

BFD!