Chiang Mai Hotel and Driver/Tour guide
 

Going to Chiang Mai for 5 days with the family (kids 11 and 7). Looking for a centrally located hotel that have rooms that will accomodate 4. Serviced apartments also a good option. Ideally under 200/night. Any suggestions much appreciated.

Also, any recommendations for a tour guide/driver in Chiang Mai? I am sure hotels can provide but there are usually much more expensive that a local guide. Any must do activities?

Thanks!

PS: if we want to visit Chiag Rai or Pi is that a day trip or do we need to sleep there?

I can't think of anywhere in the Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai area where one would need a guide. You will need a driver, and you can negotiate this with any taxi driver. You could visit Chiang Rai as a day trip, but I think you would be better off staying at least one night. When you ask about Pi, I assume you mean Pai. I would also want an overnight there. Frankly 5 nights in Chiang Mai would be way too many for me. Five nights among those three locations would be reasonable.

In Chiang Mai I kind of like the Tha Pae Gate area.Local travel agencies (lots of them) can set you up with shared tours. Choose tour one day and leave following morning with pick up a your hotel. You in a van with several other tourists. Chiang Rai is on their list of places to visit. It does not cost anything to stop in and see what is available. (On trips out of the city area have sun block, TP and some wet - wipe tissues with you. Not all toilets have paper and some may not have running water. So be prepared so you do not transfer contaminates from hands to food!)

Some hotels show on above link. I use cheap hotels good for 2 people. For around $25 US per night you can find a simple basic room with A/C, hot water, private bathroom and television. Never had to find a room for 4 people.

Google search shows several links for family style hotel rooms. Below is a random sample. Do a search with your computer. Then look for reviews from reliable travel forums.
https://santorinidave.com/chiangmai-family-hotels

Good luck.

Presumably you want a family room with with 4 beds? If so I would narrow down the choice using the filters available on booking.com or similar. I would also just look at the old city area/Thae Pae gate area as Most places you will want to see will be within, or close to, the city walls. I can’t say I have had great experiences with the chain type hotels - Dusit, Shangri La etc ( although they may have improved in recent years.)

I would split your time 3 nts CM/2nts CR. If you can, try to be in CR on a Saturday night when the walking market is on. Really authentic and MUCH nicer than the markets in CM which are really tacky ( NB I would avoid staying in any hotels in CM that are close to the night or walking markets. It gets crowded to te point of unpleasant.

You can easily get taxi or bus from CM to CR it is a couple of hours. However we usually rent a car to get around. It is easy enough to drive around the region. If you are happy to drive, then 5 days is enough to do the Mai Horn Sorng loop : Chiang Mai to Pai or Soppong then on to Mai Sariang and Mai Hong Sorn before heading back to CM via Doi Inthanon NP. Great scenery, fantastic markets, interesting minority people villages - just a thought. May be an adventure for the kids as there are various activities you could do along the way.

Another alternative to CR might be Chiang Dao - see https://www.chiangdaonest.com/ for details. A nice places to stay and I am sure they have family rooms

I wrote some stuff and post our photos of Chiang Rai on our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/2015/10...ack-and-white/ a rental car would be handy to get around CR but there will be plenty of tours.

I haven’t stayed there but know the hotel. It would be too close to the night market for me. Very busy area in the evening.