A Place to Rest Your Head & Stuff Your Face

Those are the two most important things on a trip right? While hotels don't make or break a trip for us, it's always an added perk when we actually look forward to going back to our room at night (because trust me, we've had many a times in our budget traveling that we tried to spend as much time out of the room as possible). Thankfully Chiang Mai was not one of those times.

We typically gravitate away from large chains when we travel and instead look for small, locally run boutique hotels. We feel that we can get to know the hotel staff more personally and not be as segregated from the culture of the country we are visiting. In Chiang Mai we really lucked out in this department because Qi68 was by far my favorite hotel we have stayed at. The owner Qi really makes this place stand out. He goes out of his way to help the guests make the most out of their stay in Thailand by helping find unique restaurants in the area and help book local day trips. And that's not even the best part. Qi also makes some of the best breakfasts I have ever eaten. Every morning, hubs would turn to me and ask if I could replicate it back home. The answer was always 'I wish, dear.' because each dish served every morning was so unique and different. I wish I would have grabbed some photos of them but it was gone before the thought ever crossed my mind!

This six room guesthouse's ambiance is so peaceful and every element and piece of furniture was handpicked by Qi and his father when they built it. Staying here was one of the many highlights from our trip to Chiang Mai and we wouldn't hesitate staying there again when we visit.

Another one of our favorite things about Chiang Mai was the food! No surprises there. We loved walking around the small backstreets and deciding where we would try next. The only trouble was deciding where to eat since the streets are often lined with unique little spots.
Among our favorites was the outdoor stands located at the night bazaar (good food to give you energy for some good bargaining). We went around from stand to stand collecting little parts of a meal (pad thai, Thai tea, dumplings) before we sat down at the little plastic tables in the middle of the square and dug in.

Here are some more of our favorite restaurants to try and what we loved there:
Rachadamneon-Green Curry
Ms. Cornery-Fish and Chips
The Corner Restaurant- Banana Egg Rolls (our favorite dessert along with the roti pancakes!)
The Good View- this was our favorite restaurant. It's located just north of the Nawarat Bridge. Not only was the food great but the views of the river were spectacular and they even had live music at night. I recommend getting the green curry and the Thai tea.

What was your favorite hotel experience? Or better yet, any horror stories out there?