With a location a stone’s throw from Tha Pae Gate, a large swimming pool, very reasonable room rates (and plenty of them), Top North Hotel ticks a lot of boxes.

That said, it is nothing fancy though—there are no boutique pretensions nor Lanna decor, but the rooms are clean and more than adequate, with workable air-con, hot en-suite showers, decent WiFi and functional furnishings.

A Top North deluxe room. Photo: Mark Ord

Top North Hotel is on the eastern moat road, Moonmuang, (they also have a cheaper guesthouse version around the corner on Soi 2), but set back from the main road a way so avoiding the worst of the traffic noise. The hotel is laid out with a ring of four storey blocks surrounding a very pleasant and spacious pool, bar and cafe area. The complimentary buffet breakfast from 06:30 to 11:00 is also very good and indeed, and at 100 baht per head is well worth considering even if you’re not staying at Top North.

Superior rooms are on the plain side, with tiled floors and spartan white walls, but are adequate, reasonably sized and clean and go for a mere 700 baht including pool and breakfast. Superior rooms saw a bit more effort decor-wise and they’re bright with large windows, better furniture and varnished floors. Deluxe rooms are correspondingly fancier again while their top of the range suites are comparable to any mid-range boutique spot.

Check the fridge size in this superior room. Photo: Mark Ord

If a simple, clean and inexpensive room is all you’re after then Top North is a good bet, but as we said don’t expect anything too fancy.