Dusit Island Resort, Thailand
I remember sitting at the Chiang Rai Island Resort restaurant having dinner and watching the 24/7 construction at the new hotel. That was back in '89 when I was just visiting Chiang Rai.
At that time, hotel rooms were hard to get and don't even think about overstaying your booking. The town had a couple of nice hotels, but nothing like the Dusit.
The "Island" part is because this 5 star property is built on an island in the Kok river . The Kok meanders down from Burma and enters Thailand at Tatorn. Lots of tourists take a raft or long-tailed boat ride from Tatorn to Chiang Rai and land on the shore at the Dusit Island bridge.
I later moved to Chiang Rai and had many good reasons to spend lots of time at the Dusit Island Resort. It was the best place in town for quite a number of reasons.
The lobby lounge at the Dusit served as a great meeting place for people flying in from .. well, almost anywhere. The lobby was cavernous and the piano bar very comfy.
Chinatown was their best restaurant in most folks opinions. I can't ever recall one of their dim-sum lunches being anything other than memorable. The Peak .. which, oddly enough, is on the top floor .. is an international steak and chop restaurant with outstanding service.
I did have the experience of staying there one night. A friend of a friend didn't make his flight from Bangkok and his room was pre-paid.
When they offered it to me, I did a quick evaluation. Since the Dusit was about 6 stars better than the place I was staying, I grabbed the key and slept like a baby.
The Dusit Island Resort has any number of appealing niches. Two night-lighted tennis courts are a short walk from the main lobby. The pool could host Moby Dick. I don't like discos but I heard their's was quite well done. I did have a go at their pub and snooker one night. I think I won at pub and lost at snooker.
It's a tad pricey .. but, that dim sum .. yum!
