Ban Sabai Spa Village Chiang Mai

First, the few (very few) negatives. At 5km (3.5 miles) from Chiang Mai the distance to town was a bit daunting for the three of us - Taxi rides are not expensive, but not cheap either and we felt the need to plan out our days to avoid multi-trips. Taxis were readily available from the hotel & it was easy to find out which ones in town would make the trip out to the hotel, however, the later at night we had to return, the more expensive it became - a little inconvenient when you want to spend time at the night bazaars. It would have been helpful if the hotel had had a regular schedule of a lower cost hotel taxi rides to and from town. The other, very slight, negative was the lack of information on hotel services and prices. In American hotels there is always a folder listing what is available & the cost - but at the Ban Sabai we had to inquire about each thing we needed as it occurred. However, the emphasis seemed to be on the spa side of the enterprise - we were the only hotel guests for a few days and as we checked out there were only two other rooms taken - quite a shame as this is a beautiful and very well appointed spa/hotel. Being westerners (Americans) we are not used to the slower pace of service in restaurants - but this is true across the board in Thailand & we came to understand that & simply enjoy it as part of the culture. That being said - the food was very, very delicious. The breakfast buffet consisted of three varities of Meuslix, an assortment of delicious breads for toasting (if you wished) at least 5 different jams, egg dishes cooked to order and at least one traditional Thai breakfast soup with condiments and coffee varieties & tea. Although we most often ate our evening meal in town, we made a point of eating our last dinner in the hotel restaurant & it was wonderful. My deep fried fish could not have been more perfectly prepared & even though I had no idea what constituted the crispy herbs it was nested on, they, too, were a treat. Our room was delightful - we were three women (my sister, her daughter, and myself) traveling together & the room was the most roomy and well set up of any place we stayed during our three weeks in Thailand. A very well equipped hospitality table was full of local fruits, coffee and tea, and a mini bar. At bedside we found a sweet little basket with insect lotion packets and a flashlight - a nice bow to keeping us comfortable should power be lost or insects come in. Our beds were draped with mosquito netting, but the only insects I saw bedside were a moth or two. There were a few more - and a couple of small lizards in the open air bathroom, but they added to the charm of the place. There was only one computer in a room off the dining room, but we had FREE access to it from about 7am to 11pm - which is a lot more than we got at hotels in Bangkok, Ayutthaya or Koh Samui. I've looked at pictures of this hotel on a few websites & the reality was even better. In spite of the minor inconvenience of being a few miles outside of town, I would stay here again - the only reason I gave it the less than excellent rating is the location.