KIWI APARTMENTS
Kiwi Apartments has three separate units, each with its own entrance, sleeping, cooking and laundry facilities. Apartment #1 is 124 square meters (1350 square feet) in size, and comprises 3-bedrooms, a living room, an eat-in kitchen, and three bathrooms (two hot-water and one cold-water). It shares with two other apartments a new salt-water swimming pool, and a rooftop deck and backyard patio, each with a picnic table and chairs, and electric outlets. From the deck, there are lovely neighborhood views and of Chiang Mai's guardian mountain -- Doi Suthep.
The apartment is ideally situated outside the congested Old City and Nimmanhemin Road areas, so that you can come and go without having to contend with the ever-present traffic jams in those areas. Yet, it is just an 8-minute drive or 20 minute walk to Chiang Mai's busiest and most elegant tourist neighborhood.
The kitchen is equipped with fridge, microwave oven, toaster, electric water kettle, and all essential utensils; and a washing machine.
In the living room is a flat-screen TV with 180 channels, in-room safe; and free WIFI. The property perimeter is secured by CCTV. The entire space has been newly reconditioned to as-new condition. There is an off-premises gym available to guests for a fee of 65 Thai baht per visit.
Guests have their own keys to the apartment, which is accessible at all times without limitation.
Your host, Kiwi, natively speaks Thai and Lanna languages (of course), fluent English, and has a working knowledge of Japanese. He lives just a 10 minute drive away, and is available 24/7 for assistance. Kiwi will meet you at the airport or train or bus station, accompany you to the apartment, and see that you are comfortably settled, and provide you with maps of of the neighborhood and of the City. If you wish, he will give you a one-hour tour of the neighborhood, and answer any questions you may have. Kiwi will usually be present around the premises for an hour or two each morning and again in the evening for any assistance that you may require, but, but will not intrude upon your enjoyment of your stay in Chiang Mai.
The apartment is just a 5-minute walk from two neighborhood shopping areas on Photharam Road and Nong Hor Road. These areas house a variety of shops and services (including a 7-Eleven) catering to the local population, including about 15 food shops (street stalls to sit-down restaurants) and 10 coffee shops. Most of the patrons of these establishments are local people who know good from bad, so you are assured of getting authentic Thai cuisine at bargain prices. Another 10-minute stroll gets you to ThaJene -- one of Chiang Mai's best seafood restaurants. Yet another 10 minutes takes you to Maya Mall, Chiang Mai's newest and most elegant, where you will find all the latest fashions; a whole floor of eating establishments; and a branch of Rimping Market, Chiang Mai's equal to the best of those of USA and Europe. Maya Mall also marks the beginning of the tourist shopping areas of Huay Kaew Road and Nimmanhemin Road, where the finest and most vibrant shops are to be found.
Rental of a bicycle, motorcycle or car can be arranged at several locations on Huay Kaew Road (east of Maya Mall, toward the old city) to which Kiwi is available to direct or to accompany you. Many guests will prefer to catch a ride in Chiang Mai's unique jitneys, called songtaews), or take 3-wheeled motor taxis (tuk-tuks). Songtaews and tuk-tuks can be hailed on many public streets from morning to midnight, and are always available and waiting at Maya Mall. As noted above, your host, Kiwi, can put you in touch with a congenial English-speaking songteaw driver with whom you can make arrangements for picking you up at appointed times.
There is a vacant parcel of land adjacent to the apartment, which is available for off-street parking (or for just digging in the dirt, if that is your desire).
For your added security and peace of mind, there is a complete closed circuit television (CCTV) system, operating round-the-clock seven days per week, monitoring the entire perimeter of the property.