Pai
Where to lay your head
Where to lay your head
There are literally hundreds of places to stay in and around Pai so for ease of use, we’ve divided our selection of the best places to stay in Pai into three areas—in Pai town itself and outside downtown Pai town and a few properties farther-flung from downtown. The former will give you easier access to the creature comforts of Pai town, while the latter two will deliver varying degrees of a more relaxed, countryside experience.
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If you’re wondering where to stay in Pai, here is our pick of the best places. Pai has over two hundred hotels, resorts and guesthouses, so read on for our comparison of the key areas to stay along with an overview of the best times to visit Pai. From huge holiday village-style resorts to tiny homestays offering a spare room or two, and from rundown bamboo shacks to chic boutique... Read our full review of Where to stay in Pai.
For the purposes of this travel guide, “In Pai town” refers to places to stay in Pai clustered in the town itself and along the west bank of the Pai River.
A lovely addition to Pai’s hotel scene, well-located Cherkaew Boutique slips into the gap between flashpacker and midrange categories. The location is on a quiet site down the lane running between Chaisongkran and Wanchalerm Roads, so it's one block removed from hectic Walking Street and the bars of Tesaban, yet smack bang in the centre of town. ###12956 The compact three-storey,... Read our full review of Pai Cherkaew Boutique House.
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A relatively new addition to Pai’s accommodation scene, the unusually named Soi One makes a serious bid for having the best decorated rooms in town. Indeed unusual is an adjective we could use a lot to describe Soi One: It applies to its location, layout and decor as well as its name (soi means alley or lane in Thai). ###12961 The setting for this funky boutique hotel is squeezed to the... Read our full review of Soi One, Boutique Bedrooms.
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Small, cosy and friendly, with an unbeatable location, Baan Sangheaun (Light House) is one of our clear budget faves in Pai. Every time we visit we half expect Baan Sangheaun to have been converted into a boutique-style garden resort but it’s still going strong, with bargain priced, old-style backpacker chalets laid out around what must be one of the most sought after pieces of real estate... Read our full review of Baan Sangheaun.
More of a low-key resort than a guesthouse, upwardly mobile Baan Tawan lies firmly in the flashpacker range in terms of quality and pricing. Set down a quiet lane off Raddamrong Road, Baan Tawan is well signposted and easy to find—just walk past the school on the way to the bridge and take the first right. Rooms are pleasant, but the fantastic garden is the guesthouse’s main draw. The... Read our full review of Baan Tawan Guesthouse.
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It’s good to see the old family-run Pai institution Charlie's House has received a much needed and successful makeover. Goodbye grungy dorms and gloomy huts, hello cute garden and airy courtyard rooms. It is still tucked away and easy to miss with just a concrete driveway leading off Rungsiyanon to the wonderful old teak reception building, but it’s much more worthwhile making the effort... Read our full review of Charlie’s House.
Another of Pai’s long-standing, classic backpacker guesthouses, Mr Jan’s lies off the main drag down a lane between Chaisongkran and Rungsiyanon Roads. It's well worth the effort to seek out if you’re on a tight budget—you won’t find many alternatives in town with 150 baht price tags these days. The slightly eclectic collection of chalets is dotted around a delightful garden which... Read our full review of Mr Jan's Guesthouse.
Long-running Pai River Corner is still going strong in what has to be Pai’s prime location. While it may just be starting to show its age around the edges, rates are far more competitive than some similar but newer Pai alternatives. Not only is their centrally located riverbank site—at the far end of Chaisongkran—a top piece of real estate, but their sprawling garden and lawns still... Read our full review of Pai River Corner.
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Located at the Chaisongkran end of Tesaban Road, Pai Village is an all-round excellent spot. Within its price category, it's one of the better low season deals in the centre of Pai. The location is central but quiet, with good rooms, friendly staff and excellent facilities. The reception is spacious and well done out with a teak finish, and they have one of the town’s more popular and well... Read our full review of Pai Village.
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Long-running Palm House is still going strong and providing very good value fan and air-con rooms in a quiet but central town setting. It boasts clean, generously sized rooms and bathrooms with hot showers—for once not directly above the toilets. Balconies lead out to a small but pleasant garden, all set far enough off the road to provide some peace and quiet. Palm lies between Rungsiyanon... Read our full review of Palm House .
Simple and somewhat retro in feel, Pravee’s offers basic but comfortable bungalows scattered around a cramped but cute garden—the king of place Pai does very well. As you’ll guess by the old-style but well-maintained chalets, this guesthouse has been around for a while—how else would they get such a well located yet quiet plot? Despite the address on the card, it’s located on... Read our full review of Pravee’s House.
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At Rim-Pai Cottage you’ll find beautifully decorated and well-appointed traditional wooden chalets, set in a lush riverside garden where shaded paths wind through ornamental ginger and heliconias. Staff are three-star resort standard: Efficient, helpful and friendly, and they run a very pleasant restaurant and bar serving Thai and Western favourites at sensible prices. Location is a big... Read our full review of Rim-Pai Cottage.
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Set in a quiet location, Sylvana offers swish chalet rooms set around a mature garden at decent low-season rates. Set down the lane aside Wat Pa Kham and leading to the river, Sylvana is just a stone’s throw from Walking Street, but without the noise and through traffic. This used to be the location of Family House, which has re-invented itself as a midrange spot, so Sylvana was lucky to... Read our full review of Sylvana Pai Boutique Resort.
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Yotaka@Pai offers some of the best-appointed and comfortable 500 baht rooms we’ve seen in Pai. Formerly Baan Suan Rim Pai, the low-key chalet resort is still something of a work in progress since they also own next door's Yotaka Riverside, which was under renovation when we visited in mid-2017. With a long, thin garden, at present lined by ageing A-frames stretching all the way to the river,... Read our full review of Yotaka@Pai.
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Popular and long-running Breeze of Pai offers clean, decently sized rooms and, unusually for Pai, excellent value for money across both low and high seasons. Breeze of Pai has a block with rooms along with detached bungalows in the garden to choose from, with either fans or air-con. All come with private bathroom and hot water. The place has something of a Mediterranean feel to it, with the... Read our full review of Breeze of Pai Guesthouse.
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“Elegant simplicity” is Family House @ Pai’s motto and for once it’s pretty accurate. The garden is lush and well maintained without being fussy, while the rooms are simply decorated and uncluttered. Family House Guesthouse had been around for a while in Pai as a half-decent backpacker spot, but in its new location it has reinvented itself as a smart little midrange resort (and added... Read our full review of Family House @ Pai.
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Smartly run, two-storey Huan Saran Guesthouse sits at the river end of Chaisongkran, and is a hugely popular spot year-round. There’s not much to the place: A small reception with a few tables outside, an upstairs row of wooden rooms and a downstairs row of concrete dorms, but in this case simple is effective. The very central location is a big plus for those who value being in the thick of... Read our full review of Huan Saran Guesthouse.
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As with numerous other spots in this area, Li Lu falls into the great deal in low season but forget it during high season category. This in-town mini-hotel near the junction of Rungsiyanon and Raddamrong Roads has a classic wooden exterior with a reception and cafe, behind which a newer two-storey modern construction contains the rooms. Decoration is clean, sharp and tasteful throughout and... Read our full review of Li Lu.
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Tucked away towards the river end of Chaisongkran you’ll find mini-hotel style Namu offering some good value for money low season rooms and reasonable (for Pai) high season ones. As we saw several times in Pai, it’s a case of squeezing a hotel into a space that isn’t really large enough. They’ve made a good job of Namu though, and have slotted 10 not too small rooms into a two-storey... Read our full review of Namu Hotel.
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Pai Country is a good example of a no-frills but good value-for-money room in Pai town. Pai Country has no cafe or restaurant, the communal area is restricted to one table and the garden extends to a couple of pot plants. The rooms themselves however are fine and the downstairs ones come with pleasant, though viewless balconies. What raises Pai Country above several very similar basic spots... Read our full review of Pai Country Home.
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Pai In Town, right next door to Li Lu, has equally clean and comfortable though simpler rooms at substantially better rates. While they claim no high season supplements, they do add on a huge extra whack for peak periods. It's located in a good position on Rungsiyanon, but set slightly back from the road behind their substantial reception and cafe, so it ought to be quiet enough. The front... Read our full review of Pai in Town.
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Pai River Villa flips from flashpacker in low season to midrange in high season, but has a very pleasant setting and convenient location, so it gets our vote among several similar operations. The small resort has been around for a while, though under a different name until the owner presumably deduced that River Villa rolled off the tongue a bit better than Wang Chang Phuek Pai Resort. It’s... Read our full review of Pai River Villa.
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This section covers properties on the east bank of the Pai River, properties out towards the airport and a few farther flung options.
The commendable Brook View has always been one of our Pai budget to flashpacker favourites and didn’t let us down on our latest visit. Comfortable chalets are set in a spectacular garden which extends from botanical garden tropical style around the entrance and chalets to wide, mature tree-dotted lawns stretching down to the Pai River. It's possibly the best garden we’ve seen at any... Read our full review of Brook View .
Pai Homey is an unpretentious, low-key little establishment with just a few chalets set around a garden and lawn but what chalets they are! These large, well-designed wooden bungalows on stilts could grace any upmarket resort in the valley, but instead are in this relatively new establishment—a very welcome addition to the low season budget and high season flashpacker array of options in... Read our full review of Pai Homey.
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Pai Klang Na has refined the design of classic Thai bamboo huts to the ultimate level. While there’s no shortage of resorts in this area offering chalets, these are undoubtedly the classiest you’ll come across around here. There are just seven chalets at Pai Klang Na set in a line, with paddy behind and another in front. (Klang na means “amid paddy fields”.) We’ve visited several... Read our full review of Pai Klang Na.
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One of our longstanding Pai favourites, Bann Mai Konmuang boasts friendly staff, wonderful views across the Pai Valley from their attractive garden setting plus fine value-for-money rooms. Bann Mai Konmuang (sometimes written as Bannmaikonmuang) is slightly out of town on the Mae Hong Son road. It's far enough off the highway to keep the noise down, but close enough to town so that a brisk... Read our full review of Bann Mai Konmuang Pai Resort .
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Pai Chan Cottage offers a picturesque and tastefully decorated restaurant and chalets set in a great garden with a small swimming pool. The location is a good one, with a just out of town spot providing peace and quiet yet requiring only a short walk to access the delights of downtown Pai. Set just on top of a rise overlooking paddy behind and across the valley to Pai in front, Pai Chan is... Read our full review of Pai Chan Cottage.
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Simple and unpretentious with a small string of classic wooden chalets, Pai Lanna is one of the best options in the countryside budget to flashpacker resort range. Conveniently, it lies within easy walking distance of Pai town, too. Cross the road bridge and take the Wiang Nua left fork and you’ll see the entrance to Pai Lanna a short distance on your right next to Pairadise. The entrance... Read our full review of Pai Lanna.
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Pairadise Resort—not a typo, and be warned you’ll also see Paitopia and Pailifornia among other nearby efforts—boasts attractive individual chalets placed around a large fish pond and small swimming pool. The resort is located near the beginning of the Wiang Nua Road, so cross the road bridge over the Pai River and take a left and you’ll see Pairaidise on a rise on the right side of... Read our full review of Pairadise.
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The Countryside Resort has been going for a while now but still offers well-maintained bungalows and good service. While it is somewhat out in the sticks, if you don’t mind a walk then it’s a good flashpacker option. Countryside is located on the track that heads off towards Mae Yen Waterfall from the junction of the Mae Yen and Wiang Nua village roads. It's not so bad if you don’t mind... Read our full review of The Countryside Resort .
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Formerly Pai Circus School Resort, Pai Circus Hostel have since changed their name as it was neither really a school nor a resort, but basically a cheap backpacker guesthouse with frills. Frills include a trampoline, pool table, juggling, yoga and fire-breathing lessons (though not at the same time), plus their highlight, an infinity pool with spectacular views across the Pai Valley.... Read our full review of Pai Circus Hostel.
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For those less fussed about being within easy range of Pai town, there are plenty of farther-flung options to choose from. These can really deliver on the serenity stakes.
Belle Villa is to our mind one of the best of Pai’s myriad mid- to upper-range out of town resorts. It's low-key, friendly and offers remarkably good low season deals with relatively fair high ones. This is a mid-size resort with some 44 room options in total, but comes with two swimming pools, a large restaurant and cafe plus extensive gardens, so even in the busiest moments it shouldn’t... Read our full review of Belle Villa Resort .
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Dutch-Thai-owned Pura Vida has excellent chalets in a very cute garden with efficient service, friendly atmosphere and bargain low season prices. The downside—or up for lovers of tranquility—is the somewhat remote location, meaning not having your own transport could be a major drawback of staying here unless you were planning on hibernating on your balcony for the duration of your stay.... Read our full review of Pura Vida.
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Reverie Siam is a relatively recent addition to Pai’s upper range selection and probably the plushest within the town itself. They do offer some reasonable low season rates and online deals so if you have a bit of cash it’s worth considering. The hotel is very smartly turned out, with white-painted, two-storey buildings looking out over manicured gardens including a hedge maze and pools... Read our full review of Reverie Siam .
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