Within the Chiang Mai city limits the hugely popular 137 Pillars House is about as plush as it gets—we visited during one of the quietest periods and all 30 of the rooms were full so firstly, if you do fancy a splurge, and to our minds 137 is one of the few spots that warrants it, then make sure you book up a long while ahead.

The resort has a slightly unusual location in a clutch of suburban streets behind Wat Ket on the eastern bank of the Ping approximately on the same level as Worarot Market. Not too convenient for in-town sites but if you can afford to stay here you can afford a tuk tuk! As with the Anantara, 137 Pillars is built around a venerable old historical building, yet here they’ve made it a central feature and attempted to blend in new constructions around it rather than it sticking out like a sore thumb. The building in question is a 130-something year old teak, stilt mansion, (yes there are 137 teak stilts or pillars), which we were assured was constructed by the family of a certain famous 19th century English governess going by the name of Anna!

Plush. Photo: Mark Ord

The family were apparently involved in the teak trade and a path where elephants dragged logs down to the Ping has also been preserved in the gardens. They also have a small museum underneath the teak mansion—which now serves as bar, gym and restaurant area—displaying objects unearthed during restoration work.

The resort is set in lush gardens and they’ve thankfully kept a lot of the mature trees that used to grace the mansion’s garden. Rooms are split between a series of two-storey villas, each of which contains four rooms—two up and two down. All were occupied when we visited but peeking through windows they looked as plush and well-appointed as the price tag would suggest. Decor is inevitably Lanna style with plenty of wooden furniture and Thai fabrics. All rooms are spacious and come with huge tiled balconies.

Cool off here. Photo: Mark Ord

A major plus for the 137 Pillars is that they have restricted the number of rooms to 30 rooms so, although it is consistently popular and as we said availability is an issue, it does have a more intimate and casual feel to it than many other, larger top-range establishments. Among the 30 rooms though they do offer four slightly different variations—all suite style—but some with better views, some with their own plunge pools and so-on.

As Thai staff were unable to pronounce the names of the various suites they offer this is where things got a bit tricky so please check their very comprehensive website for full details. (We’re not quite sure who Mr Banes is but Leonowens is the family name of the royal governess.)

Impressive rooms within. Photo: Mark Ord

As is common with this category of hotel, pricing is of that “dynamic” ilk so changeable on a weekly basis depending not only upon season but also occupancy rates. We’ve listed indicative rates by season, but you’ll have to check on their own website or see what on-line agents have to offer for rates specific to your stay.