Small Luxury Hotels of the World - 137 Pillars House

All in all a very disappointing experience. Here’s an overview of my experience: - room(s): booked the Borneo suite (room #6) located on the ground floor. First impression highly negative as the room had a strong stench of humidity which literally took me by the throat. We had to move to another room after the second evening because the other travelling party was sick due to (allergy / asthma attack / constant coughing) the disgusting smell permeating every area of the room. We finally moved on the third day to room 8 which is one level just above room #6. Although not perfect, it was certainly an improvement. Probably because the room benefits from more sun exposure. The heritage style of the bathroom is very nice but obviously takes a backseat to the horrendous sanitary condition of the room. I was a bit underwhelmed by the staff reaction to our predicament since the first reaction was to suggest adding a dehumidifier in the original room. Only after intimating we would leave the hotel did we get a change of room. Overall, this is probably the worst room experience I’ve ever had (that includes cheap hotels during my student days) and I find it stunning that rooms which are clearly not fit for occupation are offered to clients especially considering the hotel seemed relatively empty. We ultimately left one day before since we were left with health issues and had to spend most of the time on the terrace. - facilities: (a) the swimming pool looks nice if you’re an instagram type but I didn’t manage to use it since it was not heated (there is little to no sun exposure at least in the afternoon so quite chilly), (b) the gym is fine if you stick to stationary bike or treadmill. The weights / machines section is essentially non-existent. Went to a professional and well equipped gym (Pump gym) about 25mn walk from the hotel (brisk pace) which charges THB 100 per session. - restaurant: from a visual perspective the restaurant looks nice (there’s only one I believe). The breakfast lacked in terms of variety but the quality was pretty good. Tried an in-room service the last evening as we were too exhausted to exert ourselves to walk to the restaurant. The food was OK but nothing special. Try Wanlamum near by which offers good Thai food at decent price and a nice setting by the river. - hotel premises: the hotel, the garden area and the bar / restaurant look great. Found it annoying that the cleaning staff spends the whole day cleaning the leafs in the garden area. You get this constant broom sound from very early morning. - service: found it to be uneven. The staff at the restaurant were very nice and helpful. Didn’t like being pitched twice an airport transfer at THB 1,100 (the airport is about 15 mn away). Do yourself a favour and just use Grab. The only compensation we were given for our lousy experience was a write off for a 5mn local call from the room fixed line phone. Never saw anybody from management taking an interest in our predicament. - location: the hotel is not exactly close to the city’s areas of interest but very straightforward to move around by ordering a car via Grab. It pains me to write such a negative review since I really wanted to like this place but our whole trip in Chiang Mai was completely wasted as my travel companion didn’t have the energy to move around after the second day and we had to cancel all our plans including excursions. It’s now 3 days since leaving the hotel and we have yet to be entirely on our feet due to the health issues we picked up and the rest of our trip in Thailand in likewise totally ruined. I’m sure some people will like the hotel (maybe some of the rooms with better sun exposure do not stink as much) but if you have issues such as asthma, allergies or maybe you are a person of a certain age I would highly suggest you try another hotel especially when you consider this is one of most expensive hotel in the Chiang Mai region.

It’s a very nice and pretty hotel with friendly stuff, the location is okay given that it’s a quiet and chill place to stay and not too far from the central. The breakfast was alright if only they can have more variety. They have this butler service which can help you arrange everything you need for the trip which is pretty convenient. Overall we enjoy our stay here and hope to visit again!