Mandarin Oriental, Dhara Dhevi
Where is it? Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, renowned as a haunt for backpackers looking to go native in the rainforests and hang out with the hill tribes. In recent years, however, the kingdom's second city has undergone a renaissance that has seen the resurgence of northern Thai culture, accompanied by the rise of a modern-art movement, the evolution of handicrafts into contemporary design and a surge in New Age activities. Consequently, cheap flophouses have given way to five-star luxury for well-heeled travellers looking to enjoy the cultural delights of this genteel mountain outpost.
What is it? By far the city's most luxurious and ambitious resort hotel development, set in 24 hectares of paddy fields and based around self-contained villas, it is a retreat within a retreat. For the reclusive, the hotel offers 'in-villa' dining where two attendants serve breakfast, lunch and dinner without guests having to set foot outside. The addition of the Mandarin's holistic spa allows for serious detoxing in style, as well as a classy means of escape from everyday stresses and strains.
What's the atmosphere like? An ambitious fantasyland, the hotel is designed to offer a flashback to 13th-century Thai culture from the Lanna period, which was influenced by the societies of Burma, Laos and southern China. Architect Rachen Intawong says the development represents a Lanna kingdom, with its wooden villas and ornate temples and palaces. The spa architecture takes its inspiration from a centuries-old royal Mandalay palace. The two-storey villas are supposedly recreations of rice workers' cottages, although they are ridiculously opulent, most coming with their own plunge pools and saunas and featuring handcrafted decor and antiques.
Anything else we should know? The village down the road gave the world the Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. As the kingdom's most successful businessman he is in on the Oriental act: at the entrance stands a 'marketplace' full of expensive little boutiques where pride of place goes to Shinawatra Silks, part of the family empire. Apart from all the earnest design and the 'living museum' spiel that accompanies accounts of the property, the hotel has made room for a sense of humour: a painter who worked on site has represented the bawdy side of the Lanna period in one of the men's toilets (a converted rice barn) with a series of risque pictures of couples having a 'roll in the hay'. Dhara Dhevi means 'star goddess', and apparently epitomises 'romance, mystique and legendary beauty'.
What's the bottom line? A special introductory rate of US$295 a room a night will be available until September 30. Although Dhara Dhevi's soft opening was in January, the official opening will not take place until July, when the colonial suites will be finished.
