Chiang Mai Hotels Thailand

Centara Duangtawan Hotel Chiang Mai (formerly Central Duangtawan Hotel, Chiang Mai): Chiang Mai, an old city of 700 years which still retains its natural charm and old culture amongst mist-shrouded mountain scenery and fertile valleys. The land of Thai art and handicrafts, where warm hospitality and good manners are guaranteed.

Centara Duangtawan Hotel Chiang Mai is located in Downtown Chiang Mai (that can truly be called ''Central''). This modern 507 room city centre hotel is but steps from the famous Night Bazaar, a shoppers paradise. varied restaurants and bars, magnificent pool, and exclusive fitness centre awaits at Centara Duangtawan Hotel Chiang Mai.

ACCOMMODATION


24 floors with 512 furnished rooms, including Superior, Deluxe, Business Plus and Dynasty Club accommodations. All rooms feature air-conditioning, mini-bar, hairdryer, separate shower and bathtub, voice mail box service, TV with satellite channels, wireless internet, smoke detectors, and sprinklers. Business Plus rooms and higher grades also feature private safe deposit box, tea and coffee making facilities, bathrobes, and slippers. Dynasty Club Level benefit from the exclusive 23rd floor lounge serving continental breakfast, evening cocktails, and all day tea and coffee service.

 Superior Room


Spacious 36 Sq.m. room located on floor 5-15 featuring individually controlled air-conditioning, private bathroom, refrigerator fully stocked, color TV with remote control, individual smoke detector and sprinkler, bedside light and air conditioning control panel, emergency lighting, international direct dial telephone, individual safe deposit box, etc.

Deluxe Room


Spacious 40 Sq.m. room located on floor 5-15 featuring individually controlled air-conditioning, private bathroom, refrigerator fully stocked, color TV with remote control, individual smoke detector and sprinkler, bedside light and air conditioning control panel, emergency lighting, international direct dial telephone, individual safe deposit box, etc.

Business Plus


104 Business Plus rooms located on floor 16th-19th comprise 40 square meters featuring individually controlled air-conditioning, private bathroom, refrigerator fully stocked, color TV with remote control, individual smoke detector & sprinkler, bedside light & air conditioning control panel, emergency lighting, international direct dial telephone, individual safe deposit box, bathrobes and slippers, tea & coffee making         facilities, welcome fruit and flower setup, etc.

Dynasty Club 


94 Dynasty Club rooms located on floor 20th-23rd comprise 40 square meters featuring individually controlled air-conditioning, private bathroom, refrigerator fully stocked, color TV with remote control, individual smoke detector & sprinkler, bedside light & air conditioning control panel, emergency lighting, international direct dial telephone, individual safe deposit box, bathrobes and slippers, tea & coffee making facilities, welcome fruit and flower setup, etc. Dynasty Club lounge and benefits included.

  RESTAURANTS & BARS

Sunflower Chinese Restaurant 


Elegant and stylish, with its unmatched panoramic view of the tranquil city. Featuring the very best of Cantonese cuisine prepared by experienced master chefs. Dim sum lunch is available as is an extensive a la carte menu. 
Type of Cuisine: Chinese.
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 14:30 hrs. / 18:00 - 22:30 hrs.

Tawan Coffee Shop 


The coffee shop offers all day dining, with a menu that highlights International and Asian favorites, served in casual and comfortable surroundings. 
Type of Cuisine: Thai and International.
Opening Hours: 6:00 - 23:00 hrs. / - hrs.

Lobby Lounge 



The meeting point of the hotel for guests and visitors. After a hectic day of sight-seeing and shopping, the Lobby Lounge is the perfect place for relaxing, offering cocktails, wine, whisky, juices, and homemade bakery items. The Lobby Lounge is located at the Mezzanine lounge of the hotel. 
Type of Cuisine: Bakery and Cocktails.
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 23:00 hrs. / - hrs.

Malibu Lounge 


Perfect Drinks over Live Music; Enjoy the soothing sounds of our resident band after a day of activities. Wind down over a perfect cocktail, cool draft beer or glass of wine. 
Type of Cuisine: Cocktails.
Opening Hours: 17:00 - 01:00 hrs. / - hrs.

Marco Polo 


Marco Polo serves various kinds of delicious Pasta and Noodles, including drinks, fruits and desserts. Marco Polo is located on the ground floor of the hotel. Open daily from 11:00 to 23:00 hrs.
Type of Cuisine: Pasta and Noodles.
Opening Hours: 11:30 - 23:00 hrs. / - hrs.

Pool Bar 


The Hotel's extensive outdoor swimming pool wraps around the front of the hotel and is surrounded by flowering and ornamental plans. All of this is set against the backdrop of Chiang Mai's highest peak, Doi Suthep. Delight you with various kinds of thirst-quenching drinks such as healthy smoothies, cool draft beer, cocktails, juices, and light snacks.
Type of Cuisine: Poolside Bar 
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 19:00 hrs. / hrs.

        MEETING ROOMS

Centara Duangtawan Hotel Chiang Mai is accommodating up to 800 people with Duangtawan Grand ballroom and several breakout rooms such as Chiang Dao, Chiang Sean, Chiang Kam, Chiang Roong, and Chiang Mai where include Business Centre, secretarial services, overhead and slide projectors, screen video, multi-system VCR + TV, Electronic white board as well as LCD projector for rent.

WEDDING

If your plans for the near future include tying the knot, we can readily provide for every detail that could possibly be needed for a wedding starting from the arrangements of traditional lustral water ceremony to the reception, and more!

A Wedding Reception will come with a host of extras by way of decorative ice sculptures, flower arch and stands, traditional garlands and corsages for the wedding party, guest books, multi-tiered cake, and so on. Plus, the special rate of an overnight stay with complimentary meal voucher at the hotel / resort.

Simply contact our Wedding Organizers, who come with a plethora of ideas for celebratory themes, menus and decorations; a choice of wedding packages, and a collection of albums of past events. Better yet, make an appointment to meet personally and discuss your plans for the big day at leisure, amid the elegant confines of our very own Wedding Studio.

SPA CENVAREE

Your health and well-being is so essential in today's world. At SPA Cenvaree, we put you first with pampering treatments that are both relaxing and good for you. You will find SPA Cenvaree at almost all of our hotels and resorts plus an expanding collection of spas at locations around the world.

Put yourself first and visit SPA Cenvaree, you will soon discover why they are so Centara to your health and well-being needs.

FACILITIES & SERVICES

Centara Duangtawan Hotel Chiang Mai and its romantic outdoor Swimming Pool and sun terrace is surrounded by lush hinterland and panoramic views of hills. The hotel also offers a range of recreational facilities include Fitness Centre, Sauna and Steam room, Jacuzzi, body massage, Aerobic studio room, jogging track, beauty salon, shopping arcade, sightseeing and travel agency, golf nearby, and so on.

Facilities
- Dynasty Club - Fitness Center - Spa Cenvaree - Jogging Track - Outdoor Swimming Pool - Aerobic & Yoga Studio Room - Jacuzzi - Sauna & Steam Rooms	- Locker Rooms - In Room Massage - Tulip Massage - Beauty Salon - Service Centre - Internet Lounge - Shopping Arcade - Sightseeing and Travel Agency

LOCATION MAP

Centara Duangtawan Hotel Chiang Mai is located in the heart of downtown Chiang Mai's Night Bazaar area, only 15 minutes from Chiang Mai International Airport, bus terminal and railway station.

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Tourist attractions. Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai travel guide and hotels

The ‘culture capital’ of Thailand is a charming and laidback 700-year-old town famous for sightseeing, trekking, soft adventure, shopping, spas and mountain resorts. It’s no wonder Chiang Mai was runner-up favourite city in the 2010 Travel + Leisure readers’ poll.

Chiang Mai tourist attractions

                                                                   

Wat Chedi Luang is still the highest point in old CM

With a legacy of 700 years of history and its own distinctive culture Chiang Mai offers its five million annual tourists a busy brochure of attractions. Only Bangkok has more urban sites to point your camera at, and this laidback city offers numerous stunning temples, waterfalls and national parks, ancient ruins, fascinating markets and animal parks for family fun.

To visit all the popular Chiang Mai tourist attractions, you would need several days; we have listed the main ones here in order of importance and popularity. Renting a moped and finding your own way around is practical, although a tour guide is useful to impart interesting history and mysticism behind the city and its attractions.

Doi Suthep temple - Suthep National Park

Wherever you are in Chiang Mai city you can’t help notice the imposing mountain to the west. Look more closely and you’ll spot the temple perched on the mountainside. This is Wat Prathat Doi Suthep; Chiang Mai’s most important temple. The summit behind it is Doi Pui - Thailand’s eighth highest mountain at 1,685m. Since the founding days of Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep temple has acted as a spiritual guardian to the city and it remains one of Thailand’s most visited temples.

On a clear day you can easily see the shimmering gold of the temple's chedi. It was built in the 14th century and the rest of the temple complex has been added over the centuries. According to legend, a relic of the Buddha was placed on the back of an elephant that trundled up the mountain and came to a halt at the place where the temple now stands, making it symbolically auspicious. Before a road was built up the mountain by famed monk Khru Ba Srivichai in the 1930s, people walked up to the 1,050-metre high summit to make their merit. Today, it is a 20-minute ride and Thais come from all over the country to visit this particularly important temple.

The meandering journey up the mountain is lovely, winding through lush rainforest and passing several waterfalls. It’s an easy afternoon trip on a rented motorbike. Tours are also widely available and include a visit to other sites of interest on the mountain. Half way up is an excellent view courtesy of a lookout platform.

There are also several wonderful waterfalls; most notably Huay Kaew Waterfall near the base where you’ll notice the Thai visitors stopping off to pay their respects to the statue of Khru Ba Srivichai. A third of the way up is a more impressive waterfall, Monthatan Waterfall, and nature area (200 baht entry).

The temple sits on a distinctive peak and supports a community that sells souvenirs and runs restaurants. Entry to the temple is via an exhausting 300-step stairway lined with two elongated nagas (protective serpents), or you could cheat and take the funicular.

Ringing all the bells is good luck

The centrepiece of Wat Doi Suthep is the magnificent gilded chedi and its peaceful courtyard. Take note that you should dress respectfully when entering the temple, which means no skirts, shorts, and vest tops. Fisherman's pants can be hired for a minimal fee.

Here, you will notice plenty of Thais making merit: walking clockwise around the chedi three times, clasping a lotus bud and incense. This temple is considered one of the most important in all of Thailand and there are also a number of religious antiques and symbolic icons on display. A humbling view of Chiang Mai valley is the other main highlight, and there is also a meditation centre onsite.

The Doi Suthep - Pui National Park, which encompasses the entire area, has other attractions as well. A 20-minute ride farther up the mountain will take you to the Phuping Winter Palace, which is a popular residence for the current royal family. Although entry to the palace is restricted, you can admire the lovely gardens.

Getting to Doi Suithep temple

The easiest way to visit the temple is to rent a motorbike (150-250 baht per day) and ride up - the switchback road is safe and in good condition and it only takes around 20 minutes from Chiang Mai Zoo (at the foot of the mountain). This option also gives you the freedom to stop at viewpoints and waterfalls, though if you're not confident with bikes then consider renting a car or chartering a taxi, minibus or songthaew. The latter is the cheapest option (40 baht per person, shared) and they wait outside the zoo for tourists. To get to this point from the city, other songthaews make the run throughout the day for 20 baht. Tours to Doi Suthep are also offered by agents in Chiang Mai.

Not far beyond the palace, if you bear left at the t-junction, you descend sharply into a Hmong village nestled in an isolated valley. While this is a commercialised version of a hill-tribe settlement, it nonetheless is an accessible glimpse into such a community and boasts its own waterfall decorated with nice gardens.

If you backtrack up the hill to the t-junction and then head in the opposite direction, you will climb steadily through a wonderful wooded environment and chance upon a great lookout point with a sweeping view of the mountains, with a hill-tribe village immediately below you. Continue on the road and you will eventually reach the national park check point, with a restricted access path to the summit.

From the check point, the road descends sharply to a campsite, forest station (with simple coffee shops and huts for hire), and a more authentic hill-tribe village, Baan Chiang Khian, before winding its way down through some incredible scenery. The road is now sealed as far as the coffee shop but, thereafter, it’s strictly for 4X4s with experienced drivers or mountain bikers. The road eventually exits at the Huay Tung Tao reservoir beside the base of the mountain, from where you can find your way back to the city. This lake is surrounded by floating restaurants and is a good recreation area.

There are also plenty of roadside spots to stop and go walking into the wonderful rainforest that becomes increasingly lush as you climb the mountain.

                        

Wat Phra Singh

Within the walls of the ancient city are several old temples of interest. Among them, Wat Phra Singh is perhaps the largest and most interesting, although it may not seem so at first glance. Upon entering the main gate, you're greeted by a large and dusty parking area. Across the lot is a large wiharn (prayer hall) with an intricately carved front. This is your first clue that there's more here than there might appear.

The altar at right is the one inside the large chapel. It's beautiful, though rather standard for Thai temples these days. We were somewhat amused by the plethora of "account books" strewn about on the right side of the altar (behind the columns in the picture we're afraid). In any temple that gets visitors, there is almost always a donation box with a guest book for you to write your name and amount donated in. Well, in this temple there were at least half a dozen boxes, each with a different purpose - maintenance of the temple building, electricity, taxes, etc. - and so each with its own account book. Upon making a donation to one or more purpose, you then have to scrabble around for the proper book to write it down in.

As you face the big wiharn, to your right is a small elaborate ho trai (library) built on a high stone base. The base has many beautiful carvings which have recently been renovated, as have the gilded carvings on the gable ends. Continuing on around the complex in a counter-clockwise direction, you'll find a drum tower set in a yard shaded by many old trees. Sometimes there's an artist or two at work here, and selling their work of course.

Directly behind the large prayer hall is a smaller building that serves as the temple's ordination hall (ubosot). This is where young monks are ordained and some other important religious events are held. The wooden building shelters a large brick and plaster altar, that I suspect pre-dates the outer building and was originally out in the open. The clues to this are the altar's shape and the fact that it sits in the middle of the building rather than at one end. The orientation of the entrances on a north - south axis rather than east - west is another clue. Like the library, the ubosot has recently been restored.

Next to the ubosot, in a line with the wiharn, is a large whitewashed pagoda (chedi). Next to it is a small but very ornate Wiharn which is worth a closer look. The outside is decorated in gold and ochre in a style which is ornate but without the gaudiness of many other temples.

The decoration inside is also quite rich. There is a brocade-like gold and red pattern on parts of the roof and back wall behind the altar. On the altar here (and not on the altar of the main wiharn) sits thePhra Singh Buddha image from which the temple takes its name. "Phra" is Thai for a priest or cleric and also used to refer to Buddha images. "Singh" means lion, but may be a corruption of the Thai word for Sri Lanka, where the image is supposed to come from.

Wat Phra Singh was founded in the 14th century to enshrine the ashes of King Kam Fu.

From Wat Phra Singh, you might want to go on to Wat Chedi Luang, which is just a short walk away. Another important temple within the walls is the oldest: Wat Chieng Man. It's another short walk away, near the Chang Puak gate and the Thai Airways ticket office.

The entire temple was completely restored in 2005 - 2006. To see pictures of the "new and improved" temple, see our online photo gallery, part of our travel journal.

Getting There

The temple is located at the end of Ratchadamnoen Road which nearly bisects the old city, running from the Tapae gate all the way to the temple, which is just inside of the Suan Dok gate.