12/10/2011

About Me, Patrick Smith, Private Tour & Taxi in Chiang Mai


“The reviews are true... an oasis with exceptional service!”
ramonarub...
West Hollywood, California
5 of 5 starsReviewed 29 December 2009
All the reviews of Fern Paradise are true. The service was incredible, and you would have no idea that you are in the middle of a big city when in this haven. It is a family owned establishment, and that is just how you are treated: like family! As part of our package, we had a home cooked dinner for breakfast every morning, and it was GOOD! 
Also, thanks to the owner we had a good hook-up with a cab driver that took care of us during our entire stay. The cab driver (Patrick!) was our personal tour guide for our days in Chiang Mai. He gave us history, drove us around, stopping at spots he thought we might like to take a picture or shop, joined us for lunch at a restaurant he recommended, and waiting for us while we shopped the night markets. One thing to note about Fern Paradise: it is more like a B&B than a luxury resort, and it is tucked in a fern forest, so you will hear interesting insect sounds in the night outside your barn.


“GREAT STAY”

PDKUK
PDKUK
4 of 5 starsReviewed 18 March 2008
2
people found this review helpful
Spent 4 days at the Fern Paradise and it was a great base for exploring Chiang Mai. It's a small family run hotel with rooms built in beautiful gardens.The staff are very helpful and the owner, Om , was always around to help out if required.

The highlight of our trip was meeting a fantastic local taxi driver named Patrick who acted as our guide for 3 days and took us everywhere including the Golden Triangle.His English was perfect and his knowledge of the area was fantastic.
If you need a local guide ask Om to contact Patrick for you, he really is a gem.


      “Pure Magic-Absolutely Unforgettable”
5 of 5 starsReviewed 3 June 2009
2
people found this review helpful
MrsMangio...
Huntington Beach, CA
1 review
2 helpful votes

Words cannot describe what an incredible experience my wife and I had at Fern Paradise. Not having any time to plan our honeymoon or any activities, the two of us literally came straight from our wedding to Chiang Mai without having a clue of what to do, where to stay, or where to go. My wife found Fern Paradise through Trip Advisor, and based on the glowing reviews
and the photos-we felt that this was the place for us, and indeed it was and so much more.

We arrived at Fern Paradise late Saturday evening. Om, the kindest, gentlest person there is, was already waiting for us at the airport to pick us up. On our way to the hotel, Om asked us if we wanted to stop by for some authentic local Thai food, and we picked up some fabulous chicken fried rice. It was quite dark by the time we pulled into Fern Paradise and caught a
glimpse of our new home away from home-little lights scattered throughout the ferns created a romantic glow about the entire place, it was like we were in a completely different world. This was unlike any place we have ever been before in our entire lives-it truly was a paradise. The sweetest gesture was when Om's wife and son came out and brought flowers for my wife to
wish us a happy honeymoon. Then came the next surprise-up some stairs and into our room, which was a converted rice barn-truly just like a real treehouse! It was quaint, cozy and absolutely perfect for us.

The next morning, Niwat, the owner of fern Paradise, master architect, designer and man of pure talent and wisdom, took us on a tour of the property--A skillfully orchestrated collection of nine rice barns that were amazingly transformed into separate dream cottage tree houses. Niwat had layed out the floorplan for the surroundings to bring back many of the important
tradtional elements of Chiang Mai while at the same time providing us with a level of modern comfort that was unparalled-a superb blend indeed.

We had no need to go anywhere, meals were served throughout the day, breakfast was included in our stay and was homecooked by the family, was fresh and delicious, the fruit was different everyday and fantastic (my wife especially loved the exotic rambutan). Fern Paradise also gave us bikes to ride around the rice fields around the property, and Om helped plan and
recommend activities for us in Chiang Mai. We did a Kantoake dinner one night through Sabai tours, which included a great meal with different authentic Northern Thai dishes to try, and an amazing performance including several different Thai traditional dances. After the show, we even got to light a floating lantern and watch it sail away into the night sky.

If you get a chance to be here on a Sunday, there is also a great local Sunday night market with some great shopping and fantastic eats-our whole dinner was 7US for the both of us. The Sunday market is different from the daily night markets in Chiang Mai.

Om arranged to have a very knowledgeable, English speaking tour guide and driver Patrick Smith to take us to the west part of the city for a half day tour.
We decided to visit the Mae Sa National Park (beautiful waterfalls that you can swim in) there were 10 waterfalls total that you can hike up to... we got to the 9th one before heading back down (make sure to bring your bug spray!). After our waterfall hike, Patrick took us to the Tiger Kingdom where you can actually play with the baby tigers and the adult tigers!

Incredible. (And pricey, but worth it-740THB per person if you want to do a full half hour with both baby tigers and adult tigers, if its only an adult or baby tiger its about 500THB) We took home 2 CDs full of hundreds of photos of us with the lions. They also had a buffet lunch there, but it wasn't very good at all and pricey to boot.
On our way back, Patrick even took us to his favorite market for mango sticky rice...soooo delicious!

Niwat, Om, their wives, At and Op and the entire staff treated us like family, always going out of their way to ensure we were comfortable, and showing a level of care and concern that we could not believe. The two of us are eternally grateful for everything.

Fern Paradise is such a magical place-this was a complete dream for us-our honeymoon was completely unplanned and this was such an amazing surprise. No other place in the world has has had such an effect on us, we are absolutely in love with Fern

Paradise and can't wait to return.

“perfect start to a perfect honeymoon”
NatandBec
Basingstoke
2 reviews
2 helpful votes
5 of 5 starsReviewed 27 October 2008
2
people found this review helpful
My wife and I spent the first part of our honeymoon here. having never been to Thailand before, we didn't really know what to expect. The Fern paradise is everything the other reviewers have said it is and they quite rightly deserve the praise in our opinion. Om and his family couldn't have been more considerate and caring both before and during our stay. The place is stunning and the rooms are really unique. 
They helped us find our way around Chiang Mai and with the aid of the local taxi firm (especially Patrick Smith - a great Thai name! ) , we very quickly found our feet. We had a brilliant time and no doubt like a few others, just wished we had booked for longer! If we get back to Northern Thailand, we would definitely stay again.

“Wonderful retreat in Chiang Mai”
rjsellers
york
5 reviews
4 helpful votes
5 of 5 starsReviewed 16 August 2008
2
people found this review helpful
After the hustle and bustle of Bangkok we were ready for a change and we certainly got that with Fern Paradise.

A beautiful place. Accomodation was very unique and pretty yet had all the modern ammenities you need. It is set in such a quiet setting it really was wonderful

The breakfast was very good we had both traditional thai and western breakfasts and they were both very good.

Om was an excellent host - he helped us book a trip to a cookery school and sorted us out with taxi's whenever we needed them. Om's mother even bought my wife some flowers.

I do not understand the point that some people have made about Fern Paradise being far away from the city centre. Surely you knew this when you booked it (it really is only 10mins from the centre)? and secondly we did not find it a problem - we always got a taxi when needed and just arranged with the driver a time for them to pick us up (Patrick was an excellent driver - and had great knowledge of the area - we wished we had more time in Chiang Mai to do one of his tours).

Thank you again to Om and his family for making this one of the many highlights on our honeymoon
  • Stayed February 2008
    “perfect start to a perfect honeymoon”
    5 of 5 starsReviewed 27 October 2008
    2
    people found this review helpful
    My wife and I spent the first part of our honeymoon here. having never been to Thailand before, we didn't really know what to expect. The Fern paradise is everything the other reviewers have said it is and they quite rightly deserve the praise in our opinion. Om and his family couldn't have been more considerate and caring both before and during our stay. The place is stunning and the rooms are really unique. They helped us find our way around Chiang Mai and with the aid of the local taxi firm (especially Patrick Smith - a great Thai name! ) , we very quickly found our feet. We had a brilliant time and no doubt like a few others, just wished we had booked for longer! If we get back to Northern Thailand, we would definitely stay again.

“A Tranquil Oasis”
5 of 5 starsReviewed 16 April 2009
1
person found this review helpful
KDW2
San Francisco
2 reviews
1 helpful vote

Beautiful grounds, charming rooms, wonderful setting for good meals and the friendliest and most accomodating family staff. It just feels good to be there.

Also, the owners found us a taxi driver to drive us to various sites who was terrific. Very knowledgeable, friendly, good English and a true gentleman. He uses the name Patrick Smith.


“Unique and Peaceful Environment”
4 of 5 starsReviewed 10 November 2008
1
person found this review helpful
We stayed at Fern Paradise for 5 nights. It was lovely. The rice barns were beautifully set up and provided us with a very comfortable place to relax after our tours or shopping. Each barn has a TV with a DVD player and Austar/Foxtel. They also have free use of their computer for internet.
The breakfasts were lovely and were served down by the creek which was very atmospheric. On days when it was raining and it was too wet to have breakfast there, they would set breakfast up under your barn and bring breaky to you. It was really very lovely. The breaky fairy would have everything ready under the barn when we came downstairs.
The only thing I can pick at is our washing took 3 days to get back to us and not the next day service they had written in their facilities guide in the room. So make sure you have some other clothes to wear, we didn't.
Also as it was rainy, things around the place get a little bit slippery. My partner had a nasty fall down the stairs and we both slipped a few times on the mossy paths. My partner also sat on the swing under the barn within the first 5 mins of arriving and the rope broke. Om and family had it fixed instantly and replaced the rope. Obviously the wet weather had weakened the rope.
We are a couple in our 20s and my partner is usually the stable one. I'm a little clumsy though lol. I wouldn't suggest elderly people with walking dissabilities to stay here as they would find getting up and down the stairs and the damp mossy ground difficult to get around.
Don't forget to pack the insect repellent as I was eaten alive and the bites welted up. My legs looked like I had chicken pox and I was putting insect repellent on everyday. But this is just to be expected in Chiang Mai. However I didn't notice any insects inside the rice barns, so inside is a safe place to be.
Otherwise Om and his family were wonderful people and any request was never any trouble and dealt with immediately. The service was fantastic.
Om would arrange a taxi for us when we needed it. It would cost 200bht to get into town or 250bht at night. Om organised Patrick (a taxi) who took us to the Winter Palace, Temple and Chiang Mai Zoo. We had him for most of the day for 1200bht. Patrick was awesome and speaks excellent english. He took great care of us.
Overall a wonderful experience staying in such a unique and peaceful environment.

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