What’s it like?
Part of Dusit hotels, the D2 brand is a modern and functional hotel, though by no means is it limited service since it has (in this case) a large gym, swimming pool, Devarana spa, bar and full service restaurant. If you like, you can request a hotel transfer direct from the airport, or just take a local cab. The hotel is hard to miss, being outside the old city and therefore not limited to being low rise, you can find it by day or night simply by looking up or alternatively seeing the even taller Le Méridien hotel which is close to the D2.
The lobby is light, airy, and air-conditioned, and you immediately feel like you are welcome at reception. Service throughout is excellent.
Where is it?
Just off the Chang Klan Road in the city centre, a 45 minute taxi ride from Chiang Mai airport. It’s a two-minute walk from the city’s vibrant Night Bazaar and a 15-minute walk into the Old Town with its many temples.
Rooms
The 130 rooms are all of a good size, with entry-level Deluxe rooms 30 sqm (63 of these) and Club Deluxe the same size (39 of these), There are 27 Superior Suites (64 sqm) and one D Suite (128 sqm). All of the rooms are based around a palette of earthy browns and greens, brightened up by Spots of D2s signature orange. The style is minimalist contemporary, with low-backed corner sofas, large, low-hanging lights, and open-plan style bathrooms (with optional sliding doors).
My Signature Suite had a roomy sitting area with a sofa, easy chair and coffee table. The large bedroom with king size bed also included a flat screen TV and sliding doors to a good-sized bathroom with a roomy shower and a separate bath. A door off the bathroom lead to the dressing room, with ample hanging and drawer space.
The ambience is stylishly functional rather than being luxury, but quirky touches ensure it doesn’t feel soul-less, such as the orange perspex box on the coffee table in which you are left a new gift for every day of your stay (mine were a key ring, a book mark, and a notebook). There is free wifi in every room.
Restaurants and bars
There is one restaurant, Café SOI, which is directly off the lobby. It was bustling at breakfast, where an extensive buffet of Western and Asian choices were on offer, and serving staff were smiling and efficient. It was largely deserted in the evenings, but it’s no surprise given the hotel’s proximity to Chiang Mai’s hundreds of inexpensive restaurants, and the Night Bazaar with its excellent food court where you can eat freshly cooked authentic Thai food for a few pounds. Even with the 200 baht vouchers guests are given on checking in, it can’t compete.
The lobby bar, MIX, shows sports on a large pull-down screen in the evenings, and has a two for one happy hour offer on beer, but despite the amiable bar staff, it’s not the sort of place people linger when there is an array of bars on the doorstep. More appealing is the Club lounge on the seventh floor, where you can have pre-dinner drinks and appetisers but you need to pay the upgrade for a Club room for that.
Leisure facilities
There is an outdoor pool with loungers, parasols and a pool bar on the mezzanine floor. It’s small but a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of Chang Mai’s busy traffic filled streets. On the 10th floor, there is DFit, a well-kitted out gym with a good selection of free weights, weights and cardio machines and a separate boxing training area with a punchbag. It’s open to local residences and is clearly popular, so can get busy at peak times. The Devarana spa offers a full menu of massages and other treatments, but again struggles when every bar in Chiang Mai has a massage parlour next door.
Business and meeting facilities
These are on the lower lobby floor with the largest room capable of hosting 100 for a banquet.
Verdict
A great choice with all the facilities you might need and also good sound-proofing so that while you are in the centre of things, you needn’t be disturbed by any of it.
Contact
100 Chang Klan Road, Chiang Mai 50100, tel: +66 (0) 5399 9999,
