As charming as the city it belongs to

Somewhat situated by the Ping River (I say somewhat because you don't really get a view of it from the hotel itself), Ping Nakara sits on what used to be a forest station mahouts parked their elephants at. All the history is long gone, and despite the interesting and quaint architecture (a combination of nine influences if I'm not mistaken) the hotel is a surprisingly modern building, no more than a few years old.
There's the colonial feel, the spacious rooms--each named after a flower/plant, tasteful decor and always-smiling, English speaking staff. The spa is not cheap but it's definitely clean, professionally run and nicely appointed--popular enough to warrant an advanced booking.
A stroll through the garden will take you to the Nakara Jardin, a cafe/restaurant on the hotel grounds offering seats perched by the Ping River. Here, under overhanging branches, you get the crickets, frogs, serenity and view.
Location wise, although the Night Bazaar is just a short stroll away (and not particularly worth its hype), the Old City (its walking street is not to be missed on weekends, especially the evenings) may take about 15-20 minutes to get to on foot. There are enough tuk-tuks to ensure a short-cut is always available, but as always, haggle to keep it within 100 baht.
I went to Chiang Mai to get away from the mad city life for a few days, and the Ping Nakara had a big part in making sure that went without a hitch. (Well, the air-con stopped working the first night, and after the technician failed to fix it, we were upgraded to a larger, pool-facing room the next day. It's a detail I only recalled at the end of this review, and that says plenty about how much I enjoyed myself.)