While many Chiang Mai restaurateurs and chefs are still waiting with baited breath to be awarded a Michelin star—or three—from the iconic Michelin Guide, six of our local hotels have made the cut and joined the highly prestigious list of Michelin Key hotels—ranked as One Key, Two Keys and up to Three Keys, similar to the coveted restaurant stars—which award the most outstanding hotels in the world.
Citylife thought it would be of interest to our readers to have a sleepover at Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai, recipient of One Key from Michelin Guide, to see for ourselves what a Michelin starred hotel experience feels like.
Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai’s location, a stone’s throw away from Wat Umong along the foothills of Doi Suthep mountains, was first to impress. Not only just because it was close to home, but because it was intriguing to see such a luxurious hotel set in one of the most charming and unsung neighbourhoods in the city. The Wat Umong neighbourhood has long been filled with artists and students, being closely located to the Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University. This area is criss-crossed with tiny little lanes dotted with galleries, bars, restaurants and markets, making for a vibrant and bustling local community. A major part of its charm is that to date, this neighbourhood has remained mostly neglected by mainstream tourism. All the better for Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai guests to explore and experience!
Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai is a wellness retreat which embeds its commitment to holistic health into its very DNA. The resort circles its serene pool, which sits at the heart of the Aleenta oasis. The resort’s traditional Thai wooden spa, restaurant bar, reception, four-bedroom villa as well as its two more modern buildings, lined and camouflaged by tropical trees, all casually overlook the cool pale blue waters of the pool at its centre.
The brief check-in was personalised and seamless, and soon I was opening the door to my luxurious suite, where I quickly dumped my bag and immediately jumped into a swimsuit…before diving into the cool pool where lounge beds came with a woven fan to air away the heat. A lovely touch.
Soon it was Happy Hour and I made my sun-soaked way to the 1892 Bar set in a 200 year old teak building, named after the year Siam managed to give colonialism the slip to become Modern Thailand. The seats were velvety comfy, the bar was super stocked with a great number of imported spirits as well as regional local up-and-coming brands, and the mixologists were more than eager to show off their latest distillations, pickles and homemade syrups made from rare and unique local spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables. In fact, the mixologists had so much more to show, I decided to call a few friends who lived nearby to come join me for drinks after supper. While Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai highlights its commitment to wellness, its fabulously stocked 1892 Bar encourages some cheeky fun and a good time, in line with the resort’s casual and welcoming vibe.
Being a wellness retreat means that the commitment to food has to be wholly holistic. And Aleenta Resort Chiang Mai’s Chef Komkrich ‘Arm’ Issarajinda, third generation in the Chiang Mai restaurant business, has created an award-winning menu for the Garden Restaurant which doesn’t sacrifice one drop of taste, for sustainable and healthy cuisine. Open the menu and the first page features the restaurant’s concept and product sources, a list Chef Arm is constantly adding to as he explores the great number of environmentally responsible quality produce coming out of all corners of Thailand.
Diners will find next to each menu item not just a beautiful photograph and full explanation of the dish but also symbols which will help them navigate the menu, ranging from vegan or vegetarian to levels of heat or carbon footprint each dish emits.
To kick start my healthy feast, I ordered a succulent oven roasted bone marrow infused with a heady bouquet of Chef Arm’s grandmother’s ‘larb’ spice mix which showed off classic European techniques but with a generous dose of distinctive Thai flavours. Once my appetite was whetted, Chef Arm brought me a bowel of deliciously seared and succulently tender farm-raised buffalo tartare served with Eastern and Western condiments, making for a really fun dish to put together and self-flavour. I also indulged in a vibrant dish of snake’s head fish, pan fried with local vegetables, which featured bold flavours and timid calories. Before my dessert of coconut kaffir lime crème brûlée arrived, I managed to also try the giant river prawns served with organic steamed rice and curry, one of many dishes on the menu which were on the slightly more decadent calorie scale. While the all-day restaurant serves up a great selection of salads and healthy bowls from poke bowl to superfood bowls, they also have a full Thai and local Northern Thai menu selection as well as many international favourites and comfort dishes for all tastes and preferences.
A pre-dinner cocktail were had upstairs while listening to wonderful jazz music being played live in the piano bar. Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai also serves izakaya-style bar snacks—aged dashi spicy tofu or pulled wild boar taco, anyone?—along with its comprehensive and rather reasonably priced menu of new and old world wines, spirits, digestifs, cocktails and mocktails.
Retiring, a little unsteadily, to my spacious room was a treat, as I slipped into my beautiful bathrobe and matching slippers, sat down to read the short bedtime story provided under a whirring fan on my balcony’s scrumptious day bed, indulging in a late night (healthy) treat of complementary dried strawberries, logged into my Aleenta application to see my schedule for tomorrow, order my pillow for the night and check out the room service menu (there was even a live chat option on the Aleenta app, should I have had any questions at all throughout my stay).
I am ashamed to admit that my night’s deep slumber in the 400 thread count sheeted Aleenta beds had me missing my early morning free bamboo stretching exercise. But after an a la carte breakfast of frothy cappuccino and poached fresh organic egg on a bed of avocado and toast, I was ready for my sound bath. As I lay on a yoga mat in a wooden building next to another hotel guest, I felt the vibrations, the waves and the rhythms of gongs, Tibetan singing bowls, chimes and other instruments wash over me, preparing me for the treat to come at the Ayurah Spa next door.
A dedicated wooden spa building sits next to the pool. The Ayurah Spa is the heart of the retreat’s wellness centre, where guests can enjoy a number of luxury and bespoke spa treatments which run the gamut from an hour to weeks-long treatment programmes. Ethically sourced and sustainable organic products are used at this multiple-winner of the World Luxury Spa Awards…Whether it is an Ayurvedic oil treatment or a traditional Thai massage, guests can indulge in focused and results-driven treatments as well as more pampering or leisure treatments. There were also a number of wellness activities from yoga, tai chi, personal training, Qi Gong and meditation available on request or as part of the resort’s weekly free programme. I melted under the firm but tender hands of my massage lady who kneaded oils into my tired old bones and left me supine and fully saturated with satisfaction.
Rejuvenated, refreshed, but yet not quite ready to check out, I decided to explore the rest of Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai, visiting their charming library and kids’ playroom, wandering around their opulent four-bedroom villa, a perfect location for wedding groups or large families, stopping off at one of their herb gardens and eventually returning to the Garden Restaurant for a final meal of jasmine rice risotto with wild local mushrooms, before reluctantly heading home.
Aleenta Retreat impressed with its architecture, its décor, its setting, its food and beverage, and memorably, its staff. The level of attention to details was quite extraordinary and members of the staff were well trained, confident and beyond friendly. It all came together in a seemingly effortless experience which felt casual and friendly, healthy and relaxed with a dose of fun thrown in.
The parking attendant waved merrily at me as I sighed to myself and waved back at magnificent experience, feeling refreshed, deeply relaxed…and just a little bit spoilt.
Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai
189 Soi Ban Mai Lang Mo 18, Suthep, Muang Chiang Mai District Chiang Mai, Thailand, Chiang Mai 50200
Tel : 052 090 333
Email : reservation@akaryn.com
