I’m back in Chiang Mai for the holiday celebrating the beginning of the rains retreat. It’s been more than a year since my last visit, but not much has changed. When I arrived last night, I took it from all the lights on that the Le Meridien was finally open, but it turned out to just be an expensive and wasteful display. The hotel is almost finished, but it ain’t open yet. Apparently, it will soft-open next month. The hotel is located more or less in the heart of the night bazaar, which should make it a good location, especially if you’ve got Starwood points to use. I can’t say that the exterior design really impresses me, but compared to what’s around that area, including the new Shangri-La hotel, it isn’t bad.

The pool and guest rooms of the Manathai Village.

 
As for me, I’m staying at the Manathai Village, a small hotel in the warren of narrow alleys between the night bazaar and the old city. The location is handy, and quiet at night, but the streets around it are quite a maze, so if you have a bad sense of direction, you might get lost trying to find your way back to the place on foot. Many taxis seem to know it, as the airport taxi guy seemed to know exactly where he was going.

Manathai is from the same mold as Tamarind Village and Tri Yaan Na Ros, both of which I’ve stayed at before. All these hotels shoot for designs with a bit of local flavor, through simple white-washed spaces and clean-lined dark wooden furniture. Each of them will appeal to some people, and totally turn off others. My room at the Manathai is comfortable enough, and in looking around at the other rooms this morning, it seems I have one of the least desirable rooms in the property. If you decide to stay here, go for the deluxe or better rooms, and try to get one on the second floor for more privacy.

As with many "design" hotels, there are a few annoying details, or lack of them. The part that’s lacking is any place to put my suitcase, other than on the floor. The other detail is the towel rack, which is on the farthest wall of the bathroom, behind the huge square bathtub. The trouble with this is that if you’re taking a shower using the separate rain-shower head, you have to step into the tub to reach a towel. It’s kind of silly when there’s plenty of space on the wall next to the shower for a towel rod.

Aside from the above minor annoyances, there are some very nice things about Manathai. The room has free wi-fi Internet access, and if you don’t carry your laptop with you, there are some computers in the library to use free of charge. The library also has several DVDs you can borrow to watch in your room, if there’s nothing on the several cable channels that appeals. Breakfast was also a surprise. The buffet is rather small, as you might expect from a place with only 20 to 30 rooms, but most everything is well made, fresh. I haven’t seen any frozen processed hash-browns or warmed up sliced ham. This morning they had freshly shredded potatoes and big chunks of ham stir-fired with onions and sweet peppers. There’s no "egg station" as they do at most hotels. Instead, you order your eggs from a list of half-dozen choices and the waiter will bring them to your table from the kitchen.