It was our honeymoon and we arrived at the Chedi in the early evening. We loved it...absolutely loved it.
Modern, peaceful, professional. The location is perfect, the unlimited mini-bar is a wonderful bonus as well as the free laundrey service....not to forget the robes!!!!
We did go to the Four Seasons for a spa and it is an amazing sancuary - however the Chedi is right in the middle of all the buzz, yet manages to be private and quiet. Lunch at the restaurant on the river serves amazing food too.
We loved every aspect...from the driver to the breakfast staff remembering I prefer low fat milk with my coffee.
We stayed at the Chedi and Chiang Mai for only 3 nights and wished it was a week. We cant wait to return.

I spent five nights at The Chedi during March '08. I travelled alone and wanted nothing but sunshine and pure relaxation. Based on the reviews on this site I opted for a suite, although I would say a standard room is more than adequate for one person.

I arrived at the airport to find no-one there to meet me. A very bad start. I finally found a young lad who had not been standing at the arrivals bit when I came through. He did apologise and I was whisked off in the hotel's silver mercedes, with bottled water and a cold towel soon after. I am amused at the reviews that rave about this detail as it is pretty standard in any 5 star hotel!

My room, 412 was on the top floor and was fantastically spacious. However I will say that the copious amounts of wood in the room is not standing the test of time and is staining easily. I think the rooms will need refurbishing sooner than they think! There are NO branded toiletries in the room they just fill there own pots up with, nice but simple stuff. It is this detail that makes this a 4 star + rather than a 5 star hotel, although some travel agents do rate it as 5 star. Molton Brown products wouldn't go a miss here! The suite provides you with a complementary stocked fridge and I have to say this is an absolute joy on holiday. Instead of paying a fortune for drinks from the pool bar, I simply went back to the stocked up fridge in my room and took a load of drinks back to the poolside with me! Having a complementary laundry service was a major plus, - how fantastic not come home with a load of dirty washing! This includes dry cleaning. They even sewed up a hole in one of my jackets without being asked. I paid an extra £400 for the suite and for me this was worth it. The standard rooms are the same but only half the size and no complementary laundry or fridge. However the smaller rooms DO get the sun on their balconys all day whereas the suites do not!! Very poor planning! And the suites and rooms over look each other. Room service was fast and efficient. I asked for a firmer mattress and this was done and dusted in half an hour!

I spent every day by the pool. The pool side service was great and you get a complementary fruit drink each day and each one was amazing. One of the attendants even got me the recipe for one drink it was so delicious! The view from the pool side was a river whose banks consisted of run down shacks. I have shown this in my pics. It didn't bother me too much as the sky was blue and it was 35 degrees everyday. This brings me onto location. Have a look at my photo of the front of the hotel and you will get an idea of where you are situated - in the middle of a bustling street, with a dirty river the other side. Yes I did get woken up by dogs barking and motorbikes roaring up the road one night but again I was not unduly disturbed by this. I would agree however that it is like walking into another world when you enter the hotel. The outside location may not be to everyone's taste though. I like the fact that you can walk to the night market from the hotel, despite the fact I stupidly took a tuk tuk on the first night.

As a female on my own I felt completely safe going to the night market every night but then I'm a tough cookie! I came home loaded with good quality fake bags and perfumes. The night market is huge - make sure you bargain hard and don't buy at the first stall you come too, they're all selling the same stuff!

Back to the hotel. The mosquitoes did not bother me at all and I have blonde hair with fair skin!! Sadly I didn't use the spa until the last 2 days I was there. The hotel was surprisingly empty when I was there and I had carte blanche when it came to booking my treatments. I had a pedicure which took an hour and I really wish the hotel would invest in some chairs with high backs as I had nothing to rest my head on during that hour. A more comfortable chair would be advisable rather than one that 'looks' nice. A word of warning whilst treatments are relatively cheap you have to pay for use of the steam room or sauna (about £7.50) which is truly a first in all my travels! My aromatherapy massage was out of this world. The whole procedure and attention to detail was superb and I was very impressed, considering I have been to the world renowned Chiva Som, that is some compliment! Thank you to Natthaya, my therapist.

Another huge thank you to 'Chonpatt' Daoruang (Night Reception Manager). This guy was so warm and friendly and spoke excellent English. He was the only member of staff who bothered to show concern and help and advise me when my mobile phone was stolen on my first night there. He deserves a very special mention. The General Manager Eleanor Hardy never spoke to me at all despite my unfortunate incident and the fact I was on my own. The theft and my trips to the police station were clearly of no concern to her yet another guests sunburn was of great concern. Food for thought perhaps?

The use of the club lounge was nice and the complimentary cocktails between 6 and 8 are very pleasant. Not many people made use of it whilst I was there which was a shame. The breakfast was nice but as others have said nothing special. I wasn't given a cooked breakfast menu until my fourth day there, which was a shame as I would have like to try other options but I didn't know they were on offer! No-one wants to get up early when they are on holiday or jet lagged and breakfast goes onto the very sensible time of 11am. That brings me onto the yoga classes which are from 7am - 08.30! How about 2 sessions of 8-9 and 9-10? And have the classes out on one of the beautiful lawns there. It would be so much more encouraging than the grotty studio they had there! Not surprisingly I never made it to a yoga class! The provision of laptops anywhere in the hotel was fantastic. I'd usually eat breakfast then have my dirty dishes replaced with a fully charged laptop. The staff anticipated this most mornings!!

Finally the service. Apart from the blip at the airport, the service was excellent. The staff they have employed were thoroughly nice people and I thank them all for their attention to detail and kindness.

Would I visit this hotel again? Yes I think I would? The attention to detail in this hotel is inconsistent in places and as I have said I would rate this hotel as 4*+ because of that. It took me a day or two to get used to the minimalist style of this hotel, it doesn't have the sumptiousness of the Shangri-la type hotels that I am used to. Overall I was provided with a very restful stay which is what I wanted. The two flights from London to Chiang Mai are a bit of a drag.

Short and sweet, this was the best hotel we have stayed at in Thailand and one of the best in the world (in my opinon). We have holidayed in Thailand 5 times now and this hotel was truely awesome as my wife and I are very fussy. We stayed for 4 nights from the 29/02/08. The hotel appearance and cleanliness is deluxe to say the very least and the staff are extremely pleasant and courteous. We arrived having already booked a deluxe room and were pleasently suprised being immediately upgraded to a club suite. The cooked breakfasts were the best we've had and the products were fresh unlike your usual breakfast buffets. Mosquitos - the hotel provided coils and spray in your rooms and they were not a problem. The night bizaar was only a 2 minute walk from the hotel and was great for shopping for fake brand name shirts, dvd's etc... One recommendation when in Chiang Mai, take a day visit (at least) to the Elephant Nature Park run by Elephant Nature Foundation. A truely memorable experience.

The Chedi exceeded our expectations in every way: it has a zen-like calm and sense of space and harmony, which when coupled with good service and a beautiful riverside location adds up to perfection for me.

An example of the level of service: my partner loved a particular way that pomfret fish had been cooked at Baan Kanitha reataurant in Bangkok but was disappointed not to find it on the Chedi menu - no problem! The lovely restaurant manageress Konoklek sent to the market for it and there it was ready for him that night!

More than that, the management have clearly taken a great deal of trouble to select good quality fixtures, fittings and supplies - everything from the luxurious toiletries, through the understated quality and elegance of their porcelain tea service. Incidentally, I tasted the best Jasmine tea ever there at afternoon tea!

Basically, we didn't want to leave and would go back tomorrow without hesitation.