Meliá Chiang Mai, a 260-key urban hotel in the heart of Thailand’s mountainous Chiang Mai, with some of the city’s most spectacular views and its highest rooftop bar, opened on 10 April 2022.
This is the first five-star hotel to debut in Chiang Mai since the onset of Covid-19. Situated on the lively Charoen Prathet Road, soaring over the River Ping and bustling Night Bazaar, Meliá Chiang Mai is part of a roll-out of the Meliá brand in key destinations across Thailand that began with the launch of the nautical-themed Meliá Koh Samui, Thailand in January 2020.
With a design that pays homage to contemporary aesthetics and Chiang Mai’s charming history and culture, Meliá Chiang Mai is located six kilometers from the Chiang Mai International Airport, near an array of tourist attractions including the Old Town with its ancient moat and red-brick walls. The city’s oldest temple Wat Chiang Man, and the scenic Ang Kaew Reservoir are also within close proximity, with the elephant rescue center Elephant Nature Park, the stunning Mae Ya Waterfall, and UNESCO’s latest biosphere reserve Doi Chiang Dao in the mountainous surrounds.
Housed in a 22-floor tower fronted by an adjoining seven-floor podium building, this hotel’s host of top-notch facilities includes two restaurants, two bars, and two lounges, one with an executive lounge on the 21st floor. Other facilities include Meliá’s signature YHI Spa with seven treatment rooms, a fully equipped fitness center, swimming pool, ballroom, four other meeting spaces, and a kids and teens club.
Meliá Chiang Mai’s Mediterranean dining
The hotel’s pièce de résistance is a 360-degree rooftop bar on the 22nd floor named Mai The Sky Bar. Comprising two bars connected by a glass bridge, the bar affords spectacular views of the River Ping to the city’s east and the famed Doi Suthep Temple on the mountaintop to the west.
Under the stewardship of multi-award-winning executive chef Suksant Chutinthratip, the hotel draws on Meliá’s Spanish origins and celebrates Spain’s famed gastronomy at its signature restaurant Mai Restaurant and Bar, on the 21st floor, and all-day dining restaurant Laan Na Kitchen.
Seating up to 38 diners, Mai Restaurant and Bar specializes in sumptuous contemporary Lanna (Northern Thai) style dishes with Mediterranean influences, as chefs prepare each dish à la minute from an open kitchen. Signature dishes include ‘Baked salmon trout fillet with nam prik oung pimentos’ and ‘Pappardella soi curry noodles with yellow curry chicken and homemade pickled cabbage’.
Laan Na Kitchen serves authentic Mediterranean cuisine ranging from ‘Salmorejo con tomate triturado’ to ‘Fideuá de marisco’ in a vibrant marketplace setting. In addition to its indoor area seating 110 diners and patio area catering to 26 more people, Laan Na Kitchen also features four private dining rooms.
Mai The Sky Bar serves an array of authentic Spanish tapas and pinchos as well as a vast selection of beverages including imaginative cocktails crafted by skilled bartenders.
The open-air Tien Pool Bar, located above the lobby on the second floor, embraces the hotel’s outdoor swimming pool ambience and lures guests with a variety of tasty snacks, many with a Spanish flair such as ‘Bocadillo serranito’, and a variety of refreshing beverages.
Next to Laan Na Kitchen on the ground floor, Ruen Kaew Lounge serves a healthy, small bites menu under the ‘My Balance by Meliá’ program as well as a wellness-inspired afternoon tea, coffee, and more.
Meliá Chiang Mai also offers a 24-hour in-room dining menu including five distinct healthy breakfast sets, as part of ‘My Balance by Meliá’, as well as a Spanish, Chinese, and local breakfast selection.
In partnership with ‘Ori9in, The Gourmet Farm‘, Meliá Chiang Mai is embracing the ‘farm-to-table’ social movement by establishing its own sustainable farm in San Sai District to harvest organic fruit, vegetables and herbs for its restaurants. Under its ‘360° Cuisine’ program, the hotel works closely with local farmers to improve sustainability, encourage ethical production, and help the farming community, give guests a peace of mind about where their food comes from and make communities and the overall food system more resilient.
Of the property’s extensive room portfolio, 38 rooms and six suites belong to ‘The Level’, an upgraded level of service and benefits that provides exclusive access to The Level executive lounge. A sophisticated area for savouring an upgraded breakfast, complimentary all-day snacks, afternoon tea and evening cocktails, the lounge is also suited to casual business meetings. Private check-in and check-out at The Level Lounge, late check-out until 2pm (subject to availability), complimentary ironing of garments, and a 10% discount at the YHI Spa are among other The Level benefits.
Meliá Chiang Mai
Meliá Chiang Mai: Contemporary accommodation
Meliá Chiang Mai’s nine categories of contemporary, bright, and homely accommodations include rooms ranging in size from 30sqm to 54sqm and suites starting at 62sqm and topping out at 113sqm. All accommodations feature a king-sized bed (with two single beds also available) and mod-cons such as a flat-screen TV with a selection of international channels, tea and coffee-making facilities, and ironing facilities.
The lead-in ‘Meliá Room’ offers city vistas with west-facing rooms providing a window on sunsets over one of Thailand’s most iconic attractions, the historical Buddhist temple on Doi Suthep mountain, and east-facing rooms that take in sunrise over the Ping River.
The ‘Meliá Corner Room’ and ‘Meliá Premium Room’ are both fully soundproofed and feature a chaise-longue that stretches the entire length of the glass wall. The 54sqm ‘Premium Corner Room’ is fully equipped with a sofa, table and chairs, and modern amenities including a mini-bar and alarm clock. The Family Room, also 54sqm, offers ample room for additional beds, with connecting rooms available upon request.
Located on the higher floors of the hotel, the 62sqm ‘Level Suite’ offers a round bathtub and sweeping views of Chiang Mai. Commanding 113 sqm on the 20th floor, ‘The Level Presidential Suite’ is the epitome of elegance and sophistication. The Level Lounge is available to guests staying in ‘The Level Room’, ‘The Level Premium Room’, ‘The Level Suite’, and ‘The Level Presidential Suite’.
Spa and wellness
The hotel’s YHI Spa will feature seven private treatment rooms, designed in an underwater theme, and a traditional Thai herbal sauna to help cleanse, detox, and ease muscle tension.
The YHI Spa features four single treatment rooms, two double (or couples) treatment rooms, and one double room for Thai massage as well as a separate room for pedicures with two seats.
The spa’s professional therapists use ancient Asian healing wisdom combined with modern wellness techniques in a full range of body treatments from massages and scrubs to wraps and facials, leaving spa-goers revitalised and refreshed. Treatments are based on organic Thai wellness brand HARNN’s products, made with natural ingredients via methods handed down the generations of Thai artisans.
Overlooking the outdoor swimming pool on the second floor, the gym includes premium fitness equipment from the latest Matrix line by Johnson including treadmills, elliptical trainers, and exercise bikes, as well as a free weights station and a collection of weights machines.
Spa, Meliá Chiang Mai
Meeting facilities
An idyllic venue for events and weddings, the property’s extensive conference facilities include a 358-sqm ballroom named Yi Peng Grand Ballroom and two function rooms on the tower’s second floor above the lobby, and a 185-sqm multi-purpose function room on the podium building’s top floor, the seventh floor.
The ballroom’s 173-sqm pre-function area is connected to the outdoor swimming pool and Tien Pool Bar. As part of the ‘Power Meetings by Meliá’ programme, the Power Lounge features a pool table, drinks area and funky seating suited to down-time between meetings.
Khom Multi-Function Room, on the seventh floor, opens to a 222-sqm outdoor terrace that also lends itself to events due to views of Chiang Mai, the river, and the mountains. The Khom Multi-Function Room adjoins a secret garden that makes for a welcome surprise during coffee breaks.
“As one of the most popular places to visit on any travel itinerary to Thailand, we can’t help but be optimistic about the future of Chiang Mai’s tourism industry,” said Mrs Wallapa Traisorat, Meliá Chiang Mai’s owner and AWC’s CEO and President. “Trading on the mystic splendor of Northern Thailand, this flagship hotel is part of AWC’s efforts to build a better future for Thailand’s tourism landscape and economy amid the new normal.”
“Following the successful launch of Meliá Koh Samui, Thailand, Meliá Chiang Mai marks an exciting expansion of Meliá Hotels International in Thailand,” said Mr Ignacio Martin, Area Managing Director South East Asia of Meliá Hotels International. “To deliver Meliá’s warm Spanish hospitality, distinctive passion for service and focus on the customer’s wellbeing, this hotel’s launch is all the more remarkable in these trying times.”
“Meliá Chiang Mai opens with about 160 employees and will eventually employ a total of 240 people,” said General Manager, Mr Edward E. Snoeks. “In addition to being hugely beneficial for local employees and their families, the launch of the first five-star hotel to open in the city since the start of the global pandemic is a much-needed morale boost for the local tourism industry.”
“It could not dampen our determination to unveil an extraordinary hotel that promises to exude the mystic splendour of Northern Thailand with Meliá’s warm Spanish hospitality, distinctive passion for service and focus on the customer’s wellbeing ever-present.”
