137 Pillars House

Thisis built around the original 1889 teak house of the Borneo Company’s EastAsiatic trading post — and it is the most atmospheric hotel in Chiang Mai by amargin nobody else is closing. Thirty suites connected by teak walkways thatcreak the way century-old wood should. The original house is now the bar, andthe evening cocktail on its veranda — through frangipani trees, over the MaePing River — is one of the quiet great moments in Southeast Asian hospitality.The pool is small and it does not matter. We stopped sending people to thebig-brand Chiang Mai resorts after we spent two nights here and realised thatscale is not the same as atmosphere. The night market at Chang Klan Road is atwelve-minute walk, which is exactly the right distance — close enough to go,far enough to not hear it from the veranda. Not currently on any of the fourcompetitor sites for Chiang Mai. This is a differentiation play.

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