Chai Lai Orchid

Amazing unique cabins, staff was friendly

We were blown away by our stay in Chai Lai Orchid. We began by doing a two-day hike through the countryside to a Karen village where we spent the night. The trek was fascinating and our really outstanding guide, Cam, shared his enthusiasm and knowledge of the local area, people and nature. He cooked a great lunch for us which we ate by the river. The return trip involved a bamboo raft ride along the river which was great fun. Once back at Chai Lai Orchid we were treated to some one on one time with several elephants which we found very moving, culminating in a dip in the river with a couple of elephants. Such an amazing experience. Every morning we had a delicious, beautifully presented breakfast on our verandah and were visited by two elephants and their mahout. We were able to feed them bananas and sugar cane - an unforgettable experience that we never grew tired of despite staying four nights! Our room was very spacious and airy. We loved looking out over the open bathroom 'wall' and seeing the beautiful changing skies and countryside. The cafe/bar/restaurant was a busy place offering hot drinks, beautifully presented cocktails (which were very popular during happy hour!!!) and really good meals. The staff were friendly and attentive. We were also very impressed by the ethos of the place and its work amongst refugees and local young women, all of whom were given life-changing opportunities for education and training. There was also an opportunity in the restaurant to buy an extra meal which would contribute towards the support of refugees and other vulnerable people in their care. All in all an amazing and unforgettable experience which we'd highly recommend.

Nothing at all.

Que dire de cet hôtel, si ce n’est qu’il est incroyable, magique, sublime, génial… Les chambres sont uniques, de véritables cabanes spacieuses et confortables, c’est une expérience incroyable de dormir en pleine nature. Se faire réveiller par les éléphants le matin, c’est tout simplement inoubliable. Nous avons participé à une excursion où nous avons pu nourrir les éléphants et même nous baigner avec eux. Nous avons eu la chance de rencontrer un tout jeune éléphanteau – un moment magique que nous n’oublierons jamais. Un immense merci à tout le personnel, toujours à l’écoute et bienveillant. Malgré une petite mésaventure, ils ont pris la situation très au sérieux et ont su trouver une solution rapidement. J’espère sincèrement pouvoir revenir un jour, cette fois avec mes enfants, pour revivre cette expérience extraordinaire.

Rien!

La rencontre avec les éléphants pendant l'happy hour de 16h à 17h était fantastique. Le matin au petit déjeuner, l'éléphant vient à la lodge, c'est un super moment mais un peu court (10 minutes). Le cadre est très beau. La lodge est spacieuse et les sanitaires à l'extérieur donne un côté Robinson sympa.

Le manque d'équipements dans la lodge : prises défectueuses, pas de meuble, porte qui ne se ferme pas. Le café restaurant : il n'y a qu'un seul endroit pour manger. Le personnel ne comprend pas toujours, il est vite dépassé : nous étions 4 et avons demandé 4 plats. Deux plats sont arrivés rapidement mais ensuite, au bout de 45 minutes nous avons compris que les 2 autres n'arriveraient jamais. Il a fallu les recommander. Au bout de 30 minutes, un seul plat est arrivé. Ils n'avaient pas compris qu'il en fallait 2. Le quatrième plat est arrivé encore une demi-heure plus tard et ce n'était pas ce qu'on avait commandé. Le restaurant ferme à 21h et les serveurs voulaient qu'on termine le repas dans notre lodge alors que nous avions passé la commande à 19h. La nourriture est bonne, mais il faut revoir la gestion du service.

Adorei tudo. Pequeno almoço fantástico servido no bungalow , com elefantes a passear no espaço. Oportunidade de alimentar os elefantes pela manhã no quarto. Tour espetacular. Animais muito bem tratados a circular livremente, tratadores carinhosos. Um sonho realizado.

Wow the stay was magical with elephant wake up call with breakfast and so many opportunities to feed and observe the elephants great value for money. The only thing I’d say is our “hut” wasn’t fully enclosed so we had lots of bugs and lizards in with us which didn’t bother us too much. We did get 2 loud geckos for the first two nights that kept us up but staff were brilliant and so friendly helping to get rid of them! We ended up staying 3 nights rather than 4 and I’d say 2 nights would be perfect amount!

The bed was very uncomfortable very hard could not sleep! Apart from that e everything was ok