0.3 business
Address:
51/4 chiang mai - sankampaen, Moo 1 t tsasla a muang
, Chiang mai 50000, Thailand
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Lonely Planet Review
- Joe Cummings
- Lonely Planet author
Almost a kingdom unto itself, the new Dhara Dhevi has filled 52 acres east of the city limits with architecture inspired by historic kingdoms in northern Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Guests can choose between villas in Thai Lü village-inspired setting or suites in a grand British colonial-style edifice.The inspiration for the Dhara Dhevi hails from a 15th- to 17th-century golden age when the Chiang Mai-centred Lanna empire garnered allegiance from neighbouring states in northern Myanmar, northern Laos and southwestern China. Certain buildings are close renderings of historic architecture from the region, such as the replica of a wihaan (Buddha sanctuary) from Wat Lai Hin in nearby Lampang. The 1000-sq-m, multiroofed Dheva Spa - the largest spa in northern Thailand - owes its general inspiration to the royal palace fort at Mandalay. A group of individual guest villas clustered around ponds and rice fields resembles a Thai Lü village, while a separate wing containing capacious suites takes its cue from colonial quarters in British Burma. The grounds are so vast that bicycles are loaned to guests (the less fit can choose to be shuttled around via a golf cart or horse buggy).
