If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (THB6,192.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
However hectic the streets of Thailand’s second city may get, you’ll be sure to feel far from its flurry at Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai, a holistic hideaway on the edge of the Doi Suthep mountains. Each of the centuries-old teak dwellings have been lovingly restored, and now house one- two- and four-bedroom residences, some dressed in cream hues, others in dark mahogany accents, and all with hand-cast ceramics and traditional tribal tapestries. But it’s outside where the placidity really peaks: meditation, yoga, breathwork and sound-bath sessions are all set up around the frangipani-fringed pool and, over at the spa, masseurs tailor treatments based on personalised palm reading. There’s no need to rush out, Chiang Mai’s hustle isn't going anywhere…
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A drink at the bar, two wellness activities each and 10 per cent off à la carte options at the restaurant
Noon; check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £159.13 (THB7,350), including tax at 18.7 per cent. Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai is unable to accept payment by credit card.
More details
Rates include an à la carte and buffet breakfast.
Also
All of the communal spaces are fitted with ramps for wheelchair users, but unfortunately none of the rooms have been adapted for those with limited mobility.
At the hotel
Wellness and fitness centre, concierge, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, minibar, yoga mat, tea- and coffee-making kit (with local beans), free bottled water, cotton bathrobes and pyjamas, and custom essential oils.
Our favourite rooms
Aleenta’s rooms are stylistically similar, dressed with tribal tapestries and hand-weaved furnishings; but if you’re looking to bag something extra special, we’d suggest the Four-Bedroom Golden Teak Villa, which is not only primed with a private pool, fully equipped kitchen and plenty of restful spots, but also set in the hotel’s 100-year-old teak outpost.
Poolside
You’ll find the outdoor pool, open from 8am till 10pm, nestled behind the garden’s manicured frangipani and bamboo trees.
Spa
Ayurah Spa (open 9am to 7pm) is Aleenta’s holistic haven, set in a two-storey teak building just beyond the central courtyard. Once you’ve had a pre-session palm reading, your personal wellness guide will tailor a programme of ayurvedic and Thai treatments to their findings. There’s also a decked-out fitness centre, where you’re welcome to book in for private training, yoga, tai chi and meditation classes.
Packing tips
Comfortable clothes if you’re planning on hiking the Doi Suthep trails; otherwise, your chicest city get-up will work well.
Children
Welcome; there’s no kids’ club or crèche, but extra beds can be added to all rooms for THB1,100 (free for under-sixes).
Sustainability efforts
All amenities at Aleenta Retreat are recyclable and made locally and sustainably, single-use plastics are banned, the land’s natural contour was protected during construction, the low-level structure of the hotel was designed to protect the forest’s ecosystem, and all materials were sourced responsibly.
Bag a spot under the frangipani trees in the courtyard.
Dress Code
Lightly toned linens will contrast well with Aleenta’s teak interiors.
Hotel restaurant
The Garden Restaurant is set in one of the hotel’s 200-year-old teak dwellings, where head chef Kittipong Thepka has concocted three extensive menus, each with dishes made from locally sourced and organic ingredients. Starring northern Thai specialities, the authentic menu is a fan-favourite for its gaeng hung lay (a traditional pork curry); the wellness-focused menu offers vegan and vegetarian alternatives to these traditional dishes; and the western menu takes the classics and gives them a slightly more modern spin.
Hotel bar
The dimly lit 1892 Bar is just above the restaurant and connected to a garden-facing terrace. Mixologists shake and stir cocktails any which way, just so long as they’re based with traditional Lanna spirits and hand-strained syrups. Live piano players perform every Friday and Saturday, and there’s an izakaya-style menu that’s filled with light bar bites.
Last orders
The Garden Restaurant serves from 6am until 10.30pm (breakfast ends at 10.30am), and the 1892 Bar pours between 4pm and midnight.
Room service
Dishes can be delivered to your door during the Garden Restaurant’s opening hours.
You’ll find Aleenta Retreat at the edge of the Doi Suthep mountains in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
Planes
International flights will land in Bangkok, where you’ll need to catch a 90-minute connecting flight to Chiang Mai. From there, the hotel is just under a 15-minute drive away, and private return transfers can be arranged for THB900.
Automobiles
You’re unlikely to need a car in the city, but if you do decide to rent a set of wheels, there’s free parking at the hotel.
Worth getting out of bed for
Once you’re ready to leave Aleenta Retreat’s calming gardens and explore further afield, we’d recommend starting with the Doi Suthep mountains – they are on your doorstep after all. On your way to one of the many hiking trails, stop off at the 13th-century forest temple of Wat Umong Suan Phutthatham, built in honour of the so-called ‘mad monk’ who used the chedi’s tunnels to meditate. Head east if you’d rather visit the Old City – famed for its Lanna-style architecture, ancient temples and flavourful fare – and the craft-focused Kalm Village (the Elephant Rescue Park is also nearby, and well worth a pitstop). If you’d rather be within walking distance of the hotel, bustling Nimmanhaemin Road is flanked with boutiques and up-and-coming cafés. For those with accompanying little Smiths, the Chiang Mai Zoo is just a little further north, and the Mae Sa Waterfalls make for a scenic day trip.
Local restaurants
Family-run Ginger Farm Kitchen, on Nimmanhaemin Road, serves traditional Thai cuisine cooked with ingredients straight from its own farm and recipes handed down through generations. Menus change seasonally, but expect plenty of tempura, spring rolls, spicy stir fries and Thai salads.
Local bars
For atmospheric aperitifs, head to Mai the Sky Bar, on the 22nd floor of Maliã, for vast views over the River Ping; or, if you’re looking for something a little closer, Rise Rooftop Bar has equally idyllic scenes.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this holistic hotel in Chiang Mai and unpacked their market finds and hand-dyed silks, a full account of their soothing stay will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Aleenta Retreat in Chiang Mai…
Bustling markets minutes away and temple-crowding queues wouldn’t typically invoke a sense of serenity, but Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai has managed to balance it all in blissfully holistic harmony. In the city’s western corner, nestled between lofty bamboo trees and backdropped by the Doi Suthep mountains, the Akaryn hotel group has carefully revamped the original structures – rumoured to have stood for centuries – into the reposeful retreat that rests today. Exteriors blend with the traditional Lanna architecture that characterises much of Chiang Mai, mismatched masonry and teakwood being the main players, while interiors take a calmer tone with natural hues and tribal tapestries scattering the walls. Spend days pottering down Nimman, marvelling at Won Umong’s golden chedis and weaving through the Old City before heading back for healing sound-bath sessions and meditative massages at the hotel’s spoiling spa. Throw in a traditional Thai dinner, dished up under the stars, and you’ll be set to start it all again tomorrow.
