Bodhi Serene Chiang Mai

SERVICE : 7/10 the people in reception (especially) were all friendly and helpful but those int he dining room and breakfast area didn’t give the feeling that they really cared for the customer, as we’ve experienced in other hotels on this trip to both Thailand and Cambodia, more perfunctory. HOUSEKEEPING : 7/10 Little to say here as the room was cleaned to our satisfaction each day, though maybe not promptly if, like us, you prevented them cleaning before we went out but then a couple of times returned after a few hours to find the room still not cleaned despite hanging the 'green' tag on the door. ROOM (what we liked) : 7/10 Spacious enough. It has dark flooring and decor which do make the room feel dark despite light coloured walls. The room doesn’t have any sort of ‘exclusive’ feel to it though. Just another ‘nice’ hotel room though not exceptional in any way. Nice balcony. Lots of electric sockets too, big thumbs up. BATHROOM 7/10 is spacious enough too however it feels as though 50% of that goes to a huge tub which looks good but obviously nowadays most people don't use it. FRIDGE was good = very cold and very spacious for stocking up your own drinks from the supermarket located just 20m away from the entrance to the hotel. BED: 7/10 We both found the bed comfortable and slept well on it though I felt I was sliding off the side (mattress issue)? CLEANLINESS (hotel common areas) : Excellent. 9/10 BREAKFAST : 8/10 Very good without being exceptional for Asian hotels of this standard. REAL fruit juices. A small choice of cereals (3 or 4) included muesli and the milk was kept cold next to them. Fresh fruit every day (the kitchen staff were great and prepared mango for me when there wasn't any on display). The coffee is standard hotel coffee, you know what I mean, and the tea just passable. Both standing in glass pots, not freshly made.

SHOWER 6/10 was adequate as was the power stream but the whole shower area, bathroom in fact, clearly showing it’s age with discoloured grouting (see photo attached) and one old-fashioned shower head, with just one setting, positioned at around 2m high, making it difficult to adjust for anyone not able to stretch that high. I did like the shampoo/bath gel dispensers on the wall - reduces waste and packaging. TOILET 6/10 lacks a modern ‘hydraulic’ lid closing system so if you forget (in the night when taking a pee whilst still half asleep) then it clatters down and wakes up your partner ! ROOM (what we didn't like) : We were disappointed in that the room felt a little plain by Thai hotels of this standard. It is also quite dark. TV was OK. Had a few Euro - American TV channels. WIFI : 6/10. Speed and signal just about adequate but could never be considered fast. I often used the SIM card I’d bought for 79 baht that gives unlimited internet access for a week and is better. Hotel Car : Uncompetitive pricing. We ordered a taxi to the airport for 250 baht (50 of which was the agency fee) from a travel agents just 50m away to the left outside the entrance to the hotel and paid 200 baht from the airport to the hotel. OVERALL : 7/10 Hotel is in need of a refurbishment of at the very least the bathrooms and personally I’d prefer brighter bedrooms too and also upgrade the common areas. The reception especially didn’t come anywhere close to feeling anything like a 4 star hotel (never mind 5 star). Common areas nice but felt tired and without being exceptional. We didn’t feel the hotel was value for money, 100m in either direction were another two hotels at the asme price level or cheaper, but that on walk-in inspection (so of course we didn’t experience the service/food/amenities) looked far better value for money offering at least the same level of amenities and higher quality rooms and looked far newer.