I stayed at Tamarind Village in Chiang Mai Thailand for 4 nights last week. Overall it was a lovely hotel.

My party was greeted in their open air reception area by being offered a seat on their comfy couches, a cold drink and icy cold washclothes to refresh ourselves with. It was a perfect start to the stay!

The hotel is very traditionally decorated in Thai style. The staff wears traditional clothing, the rooms are sparsely and tastefully decorated in Thai style with natural colors, wood and bamboo, and yes the floors of the rooms are concrete-kept the room nice and cool, didn't bother me. The gift shop even sells locally made hand crafted items at a more reasonable cost than expected.

I stayed in a room with 2 single beds. We had more than enough room. The A/C worked well and I like it on the cool side. We had beautiful traditional style robes to wear and slide on sandals for use in our room.

Breakfast came with our room rate-assortment of western and Thai foods-fresh fruit, omlets made to order, breakfast breads, cereals, yogurt, fresh squeezed juice, bacon, noodles and veggies, sweet sticky rice, smoked duck and chicken, Thai Sausage, Noodle Soup. If you go hungry you are too picky of an eater! And the service in the restaurant was impeccable-friendly and extremely attentive. We didn't eat other meals at the restaurant but the menu looked extensive. We did have a great cocktail there though.

We used the pool a couple of times and it was great. No problem getting a chair or it being too crowded.

The little touches are what made the hotel so special though-having traditional Thai umbrellas on bamboo sticks for us to borrow during the rain, beautiful hand styled postcards in our room (2 free per room), free massages each day for 5 minutes per person in traditional Thai Style. The grounds are decorated with local trees, greenery and flowers all are meticulously maintained.

They do have laptops available for 30 minutes per use free of charge-they don't advertise this and I found out through another guest. You can pay them for internet for more than 30 minutes, but there is a Wawee Coffee shop across the street that you can get 1hr of interent for 30Bahts if you need a lot of time.

The Tamarind Village is located on the major street the Sunday Market is on which is very convenient so you can drop your purchases off while strolling, but keep in mind if you are arriving or departing after 2pm on a Sunday, it will be harder to get to a taxi to leave as the streets close to vehicles.

What didn't I like-The bathroom was pretty but I didn't like the half door-not enough privacy. Otherwise the bathroom was well appointed. Certainly not a reason for me to not stay again though.

I would recommend Tamarind Village very highly to all types of visitors especially those who wish to experience a more "Thai Style" experience.

*I booked through Agoda.com which had the cheapest rates around $55 /night US. I highly recommend.

Tamarind Village is a great bargain if you book your room on one of the booking sites instead of with the hotel directly. I think our room was about $45, a good rate for this level of accommodation and about $100 cheaper than rack rates. Rooms are decorated in cool white, with art photos on the walls and simple, stylish furnishings--very comfortable. Pool is area is attractive and relaxing, as are the gardens and courtyards, very peaceful around the property. Location is excellent, especially for the Sunday Market along and around Th. Ratchadamnoen. Breakfast buffet included, friendly service, quiet atmosphere.

I checked in to Tamarind Village in September for two nights. I just needed to relax and just wander around. It was a wonderful experience. The hotel was excellent in both service and beauty. It has that very Thai flavor to it with all the comfort of modern hotel. The service was excellent. All very helpful and would go beyond the call of duty to help. The location was most appropriate especially for Sunday evening during the night market. A short walk and you can find access to coffee shops and internet services. Many great temples in the surrounding areas. I suggest visiting the Chedi Luang and Wat Chiang Mun (the oldest temple in Chiang Mai). At the end of the lane in front of the hotel you will also find Wat Pra Sing a very old temple.

Two great factors for the Tamarind Village - the staff are friendly at all times, and if you want to be in town in Chiang Mai, the location is perfect. Especially nice on a Sunday evening to walk out of the hotel right onto the Sunday Night Street Market. I liked the rustic farmhouse style of the rooms, with bare cement floors (but which still included all amenities) though my wife prefers a more traditional design. Breakfasts had plenty of choice, including some special Thai egg dishes. A few minor negatives: the cleaning staff set the air conditioner to 18 C (64 F) each day when we were out - too cold for most humans and a big waste of energy. The bathroom was designed for short people - both the lamp over the sink and the shower head were at about 5' 8". Hot water in the shower was not plentiful. Also, the pool was so shallow at one end, about 18", that swimming laps is not really possible. These are all rather small issues, and the friendly staff more than made up for minor inconveniences. The big issue is whether you want to pay $150/night/double, which seems high for Thailand. But we looked into some other hotels that we passed in town and didn't see any this nice at a cheaper price.