Will Be Visiting Pai, Any Recommendation On Hotels?

[Scott123]

We will be visiting Pai near the end of Feb, would like to stay at a nice, secluded, quiet resort.

I am trying to decide among Baan Krating, Rim Pai Cottage, or Belle Villa.

Our requirement are: AC, by the river, quiet, private, trees, and prefer with a TV in room.

We will be renting a motorbike in Pai town, so the hotel should be within distance where motorbike can reach.

Can anyone help us decide? or is there any other hotel suggestions?

Thanks.

[meadish_sweetball]

Generally I'd recommend Belle Villa, but it does not meet two of your requirements: there are not too many trees, and it is not situated directly near the river, there is a rather wide-stretched field in between.

Baan Krathing is not too far away from Belle Villa, and looked ok from the outside, but as I remember, does not have that many trees either. Most of the high(ish) end accommodation in Pai is built rather recently, and employ gardeners who focus on ordnung and brightly coloured flowers instead of nice, large, shady trees and the jungle-type environment at least I prefer a lot more.

I can't remember which one Rim Pai Cottage is... But Belle villa and Baan Krathing are both within motorcycle distance.

[just_Elaine]

We are talking about going to Pai soon also. Does anyone have a recommendation for accomodations in town? We would like a clean room with a fan and a private bathroom. If there is air conditioning that would be a plus, but it's not a requirement.

Also, I found on a Web site that during Nov-Mar, Amido's hours are:

high season (Nov-Mar): 12:00pm-10:00pm

low season (Apr-Oct): 6:00pm-10:00pm

The Web site had a copyright date of 2004 so I'm not sure it is to be believed. Does anyone know the hours? And are they opened every day of the week?

Thanks...

[db1tau]

I just came back from Pai this noon, but I can't help you with upscale accomodation, I never felt like spending 4000 THB for a wood hut...

I stayed in "Pairadise" and one night in tha pai spa camping and it's both great. No AC and TV though, but I never missed it, though I missed a heating in night.

The nice thing about pairadise was the swimming lake, cause swimming pools are still rare in Pai or at least they are quite small.

All accomodation near the river was damaged or destroyed in the big flood, but they are rebuilding it quickly. Baan Krating is still there of course, they just lost some huts(?) but it's way too expensive for me.

Of course everything in Pai is in range of a motorbike, even Tha Pai is only 8km from the city.

Have fun in Pai!

Marco.

[Ajarn]

We are talking about going to Pai soon also. Does anyone have a recommendation for accomodations in town? We would like a clean room with a fan and a private bathroom. If there is air conditioning that would be a plus, but it's not a requirement.

Also, I found on a Web site that during Nov-Mar, Amido's hours are:

high season (Nov-Mar): 12:00pm-10:00pm

low season (Apr-Oct): 6:00pm-10:00pm

The Web site had a copyright date of 2004 so I'm not sure it is to be believed. Does anyone know the hours? And are they opened every day of the week?

Thanks...

I can confirm that at least the 'high-season' hours can't be trusted, as I learned today at about 2 pm... Bummer, but I found another pizza joint a hundred meters away, just across the bridge... Fairly tasty pie.

But I can't remember the name of the place, except that it is a women's name...

Not many people around town, it seemed to me

Edited February 10, 2006 by Ajarn

[jackr]

Not many places have TVs. I expect Belle Villa will be your best bet and it has a little pool thing. Not sure you'll need air-con end feb but I think the new huts at Tha Pai Spa have air as well - approaching 2k in high season. Also near the river and is well-landscaped with hot spring pools everywhere...10 mins from town on a bike.

[sleepyjohn]

We just got back from an overnight in Pai.

Got in late yesterday and a bit tired so went straight into the Belle Villa despite 2700 baht.

We both thought it was very very good.

Rooms definitely a cut above, quite stylish. Looks a bit like a wooden hut but really OK.

TV DVD & Sounds (though slept well and quiet). Minibar & breakfast thrown in. Swimpool but not for real swimming.

The next day we checked one or two for next time and we think the Hut Ing Pai (?) about 1000 baht and the Muang Pai same price were quite good, latter has a reasonable sized swimpool...both out of town a bit and have TV. If you need the numbers I might be able to look them up.

John & Dtae

Oh here's the Hut Ing www.hutingpairesort.com

Muang Pai www.muangpai-resort.infothai.com

[Ulysses G.]

With hotel rates like these, no wonder, "There aren't many people around town".

[zzap]

I didn't know you're such a 'Cheap Charlie' when it comes to accomodaton rather than 'creatures' of the night...

[db1tau]

With hotel rates like these, no wonder, "There aren't many people around town".

Well that's the most upscale accomodation you can find in Pai.

Most resorts are around 500 THB per night and they have all I can wish for in pai.

I mean Pai is not Bangkok, so you have better things to do than sit in an airconditioned room and watch TV. And who needs breakfast if you have "All about coffee" in the city, maybe offering the best coffee and chocolate that you can find in all thailand ;-)

Pai is one of my favorite places here in the north... if it had a beach, I would never want to leave again ;-)

Marco.

[Scott123]

I was told there is not much night life in Pai, this is why I thought a TV would be good for evening entertainment :-)

and ideally, we would like both AC for daytime and heater for nighttime. But heater seems to be a rare thing in Thailand anyway.

I checked Rim Pai Cottage website (www.rimpaicottage.com)....it's by the river, got a lot of trees, seem very nice. Has anybody stayed there before?

[just_Elaine]

We are talking about going to Pai soon also. Does anyone have a recommendation for accomodations in town? We would like a clean room with a fan and a private bathroom. If there is air conditioning that would be a plus, but it's not a requirement.

Also, I found on a Web site that during Nov-Mar, Amido's hours are:

high season (Nov-Mar): 12:00pm-10:00pm

low season (Apr-Oct): 6:00pm-10:00pm

The Web site had a copyright date of 2004 so I'm not sure it is to be believed. Does anyone know the hours? And are they opened every day of the week?

Thanks...

I can confirm that at least the 'high-season' hours can't be trusted, as I learned today at about 2 pm... Bummer, but I found another pizza joint a hundred meters away, just across the bridge... Fairly tasty pie.

But I can't remember the name of the place, except that it is a women's name...

Not many people around town, it seemed to me

Thanks Ajarn. We'll probably be going up there next week and I'll try to remember to ask if they have any set hours.

Elaine

[Ajarn]

I was told there is not much night life in Pai, this is why I thought a TV would be good for evening entertainment :-)

and ideally, we would like both AC for daytime and heater for nighttime. But heater seems to be a rare thing in Thailand anyway.

I checked Rim Pai Cottage website (www.rimpaicottage.com)....it's by the river, got a lot of trees, seem very nice. Has anybody stayed there before?

Beware of advertising photos of horticulture taken in the rainy season. Also ask them about flood damage

Edited February 13, 2006 by Ajarn

[db1tau]

This: http://www.rimpaicottage.com/images/img/large/5.jpg

is past for sure, don't forget the area around the river is mainly a big construction site covered with sand and mud.

The river is wider now and took a lot of land from the resorts and farmers near it.

But the huts on the pictures are still there.

Baan Tawan lost the hut near the river too. I stayed in that last year. It was reinforced with concrete but obviously that didn't help. But huts more than 20m from the river are still ok.

One good thing about rim pai cottage is that it's directly in the city. You won't even need a motorbike.

It's just a minute walk to the 50 satang bar where they serve good cocktails and the guy who server hot lemon-grass tea with honey, if it's getting too cold in the night ;-)

Since you never been to pai before you will be surprised that most shops close at 6.00 pm (including fuel stations) and at 10.00pm nearly everything is closed, except some bars.

But since you can't compare to before the flood, you will sure still find it very beautiful.

Marco.

[just_Elaine]

We are talking about going to Pai soon also. Does anyone have a recommendation for accomodations in town? We would like a clean room with a fan and a private bathroom. If there is air conditioning that would be a plus, but it's not a requirement.

Also, I found on a Web site that during Nov-Mar, Amido's hours are:

high season (Nov-Mar): 12:00pm-10:00pm

low season (Apr-Oct): 6:00pm-10:00pm

The Web site had a copyright date of 2004 so I'm not sure it is to be believed. Does anyone know the hours? And are they opened every day of the week?

Thanks...

I can confirm that at least the 'high-season' hours can't be trusted, as I learned today at about 2 pm... Bummer, but I found another pizza joint a hundred meters away, just across the bridge... Fairly tasty pie.

But I can't remember the name of the place, except that it is a women's name...

Not many people around town, it seemed to me

Thanks Ajarn. We'll probably be going up there next week and I'll try to remember to ask if they have any set hours.

Elaine

Ajarn and anyone else:

We went up to Pai and Amido says he opens at 6pm. The phone number for Amido's Pizza Garden is 011-797-283.

We also went to the Bepop for the first time. We asked earlier in the day and they said the band started at 10:30pm (normally we're in bed by then). Anyway, we stayed up and the first band was very good, but only played until 11:00pm. We left before 11:30pm.

Elaine

[Ajarn]

Thanks, Elaine

[DaMan]

I just returned from Pai after a 4 day stay. I stayed at Baan tawan also (I just happened upon it on my motorbike and read this thread afterwards), which I really enjoyed. Nice people, and right by the lake. There is nothing the matter with living well, but 2700 a night seems unnecessary to me when there are excellent options in much lower ranges. Just my opinion. The name of the restaurant before the bridge is Cristina. It seems italian run with an isaan wife. I got a slice from take out window which was really good. The slices are deep dish style with a good sauce, 40 baht. If you buy a whole pie (95 thb) it is thin crust style, which i did not like as much but still was pretty good. I did not sit down in the restaurant so I do not know if it is possible to buy a whole pie, deep dish style or what the rest of the food is like..........