We spent our last two nights in Chaing Mai at Hotel Yayee. When deciding how to spend our time in Chiang Mai we knew we wanted to experience the Old Town but also spend some time in the younger, trendier part of town around Nimmanhaemin. This area is filled with great bars, independent coffee shops, small boutique shops, and also close to the larger shopping malls.
Hotel Yayee is a small hip boutique hotel just off Nimmanhaemin Road in Chiang Mai. When we were looking to book a room there were just a handful of reviews on tripadvisor and other sites. Which makes me a little nervous and feels a little risky! What did we do before the internet! But we had left it quite late to book so there wasn’t much choice unless we wanted to pay hundreds of pounds a night. We lacked a little forward planning on this trip and the rooms did look lovely so we just risked it! But did it pay off?
Checking in: Hotel Yayee Chiang Mai
We arrived in the early evening having picked up our backpacks from our previous hotel. After two days in the jungle we couldn’t wait to get straight to our room, shower and change into clean clothes and go eat some food! We walked up to the reception desk and although there were a few members of staff it was a little slow as everyone seemed to be running around doing other things. But after a few minutes the friendly staff got us checked in.
The place had a cool and clean look – lots of care has been taken over the design of this hotel. Art covers many of the walls, with clean lines running through the wooden furniture. It felt bright and airy but cosy and friendly. And everyone working here looks ultra-hip which was very in fitting with the area of Nimmanhaemin. You feel like you’re in the middle of Shoreditch!
The rooms
The are two options when booking a room at Hotel Yayee: a small room or big room. Like I mentioned, we booked this trip all quite last minute, so we actually got the last room in the hotel which was a small one!
It was a little snug once we ‘unpacked’ our backbacks – in other words clothes everywhere. But the room was lovely and cosy and the bed so comfortable! The bathroom has a shower and was definitely smaller than most on our trip, but again absolutely fine, and most importantly clean! We also had a little balcony where we could sit and enjoy a cold Chang!
The Rooftop bar and restaurant
I think the biggest selling point of Hotel Yayee apart from its amazing location, right off Nimmanhaemin Road, it the rooftop bar and restaurant!
So many interior goals all in one place. It has been beautifully fitted out. There are lush green plants everywhere, the marble bar takes centre stage and mismatched wooden furniture fills the space.
On our first night we came straight up here to eat because we were absolutely shattered from our trek and all we wanted was food and bed. We would explore tomorrow.
The menu was a mix of East and West. We went straight for home comforts and ordered a burger each and one of the delicious sounding salads with a couple of cocktails on the side.
The cocktails here are very good – they use lots of local ingredients to add depth to the drinks. Two favourites were Ananda’s Flyboy (Juniper spirit, aloe-vera, white grape, elderflower and fig) and Bubbly Bee’s (malted barley spirit, honey, lemon, ginger beer, cinnamon, mint).
With the food you could definitely tell it is a new hotel. With dinner and breakfast the next day, we never actually ate together! Everything came out at different times, some dishes coming 20 minutes apart. I’m used to dishes coming out when they’re ready, but our two burgers came out miles apart! The food though was very good. The burgers were cooked well with a nice spice and the chips lovely and crisp and a nice comfort to have after the jungle.
Breakfast is served down stairs and was very strange! There were three options that you had to pre-order the night before. I went for eggs with mushroom soup with parmesan croutons and D went for asian sausage, eggs and other things we didn’t know what they were! There was also congee on the menu.
Overall
I was worried in the run up to our stay as I sent a couple of emails to confirm things and didn’t hear back and when I did try to call I couldn’t get through to anyone who spoke English. But we booked through booking.com so I knew it should be fine, which it was!
Hotel Yayee is still very much a newbie at only about 6 months old and it’s still having some teething problems in my opinion. But only small ones. The room was lovely, perfectly equipped and beautifully styled, like the rest of the hotel.
The location of Hotel Yayee is brilliant, it sits right in the heart of Nimman so it makes the perfect base. At about £50 per night this is a great option if you want something nicer than a hostel but without breaking the bank. Even if you don’t stay here its worth just coming for at least one cocktail in the rooftop bar.
Hotel Yayee
17/5 Sainamphueng Rd, Suthep,
Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
*Some of these photos have been taken from the hotels website as I lost some photos from this part of the trip!
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After the jungle this must have felt a little like paradise!
It definitely did! Slept amazingly!
I absolutely loved Chiang Mai when I visited 2-years ago! It is such a beautiful city and the people are all just so nice. The hotel you stayed at looks stunning! And at a decent price for Thailand! 🙂 love the photos btw!
Paula | Lifestyle & Laffs
Thank you! Yes, I loved Chiang Mai too. Such a friendly city, and the food was some of the best we had whilst in Thailand! x