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| Le Meridien Baan Boran |  | Please send in your pictures of this resort or hotel
| | Report number 1 of 1 | | | Ratings: | Location
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| | Details: | | Male Adults: | 1 | Date: | June 2002 | | Female Adults: | 1 | Tour Operator: | Hayes and Jarvis | | Number of Children: | 0 | Board: | Room Only |
| | Comments: | The Le Meridien Baan Boran as it's best known (now part of Royal Garden/Marriot Resorts) is situated right at the very point of the Golden Triangle were the three countries of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos converge at the point of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.
We holidayed here for 3 nights as the second part of a three cenre trip which also included Bangkok and Koh Samui.
The resort is absoultely beautiful and immensly quiet and relaxing. A great deal of attention has been paid to the whole building including the reception, accommodation and restaurants in keeping to a Lanna Thai theme. The views over the surrounding countries are excellent and can be viewed from most rooms. There is a lot of acreage in this resort and it is beautifully kept. There is a hilltop area of the hotel where they have evening barbecues in the summer months. The views from here are amazing but as it is very steep expect a very sweaty walk to the top.
The Pool and Jacuzzi area seem to have no more than 5 or 6 couples around it at any time and it is so relaxing with everything done for you from folding and tucking your towels into the loungers to supplying you with lemon scented facecloths straight from the freezer when the sun is at it's hottest. Many occasions we were the only couple around the pool and it made you feel like you were in an exclusive environment and being treated like royalty.
The evening entertainment consisited of a very good pianist with a not so good repertoire (The Last Waltz etc) and a bar named 'The Opium Den' which showed up to date movies twice per evening which was a bit of a yawn.
The restaurant was beautifully set out with tables kept well apart in an idyllic atmosphere with immaculate service. Sadly, the food, while pleasant enough, did not match up to the standards of service and environment. Whilst the food was expensive in Thai terms you were paying for the location and ambience, however, a touch more flair and taste from the chef(s) would be worth a small price hike on the food. Beer and wine was mega expensive even in Thai terms with addititional costs added for local/state taxes 7% and service charges 10%. To add to this they still had an empty space on the bills headed TIPS. A wee bit much after assuming a service charge.
Locally, there is a small village named Sop Ruak which is residential and has few facilities but did house the Opium Museum. We went down to a local restaurant on World Cup Final night and had to hurry through a meal before the place closed at 9pm. Nothing else seemed to be open after this time and we could not find a taxi to take us the 2 to 3 kilometres back to the hotel. Stupidly we decided to walk for about 1.5 kilometres in pitch black (no street lights) when a mini bus stopped and asked if we were heading for the Baan Boran. When we said we where headed there the woman passenger told us to jump in and proceeded to give us a row for walking in those conditions as we may have been attacked by snakes, mad dogs or Burmese refugees trying to cross the border. It was a bit of an ear bashing but well heeded and due to our fear subsiding I handsomely tipped the mini bus driver when we were dropped off. I only added this paragraph for anyone considering the same.
All in all this hotel merits a 4+ star rating and I would have given it 5 stars had the food been better. Most people come here for elephant trekking and visiting the hill tribes. After 3 nights in Mad Bad Bangkok we were ready for a rest and a mixture of my sore back and sitting with my wife in a basket on an elephants back for two hours put paid to the trekking. As for the hilltribes, well who wants to see a staged appearance from native dressed women and kids requesting 20 Baht for each photograph you take, not me.
Very much recommended for rest.
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