A Merry Christmas in Chiang Mai with all m'pals from SpicyThai.

Spicythai is a real, real jewel of a hostel. One of those places where after having stayed for just a day or two you know one thing for sure. 1) Yes there may well just possibly be accommodation as good as this somewhere out there in Chiang Mai and you have no basis for comparison but 2) you frankly don't care and will return to this one place everytime you ever find yourself in the area again.

Spicythai is just the most super-friendly, comfortable, relaxing, clean and cosy accommodation I have stayed in my 4 months travel to date. Run by husband and wife Noom and Sao, Spicythai has everything you could possibly wish for. Great people (staff and guests alike); great atmosphere; free and decent internet technology, super-clean rooms (8 or 10 bed mixed or the ladies only dorm + a double room), fantastic hot-hot showers in lovely bathrooms, a real homely vibe to the whole place with smartly appointed communal living room (large TV with endless DVD collection and cinema surround sound); exhaustive library of guide books and board games; pool table; communal kitchen; BBQ garden etc...

Breakfast is included in your US$7.73 per night (as much toast'n'jam, bananas, cereal, coffee and tea as you can stuff down your face). There's a large fridge cabinet in the kitchen area with a constant supply of various beers (30 - 45 Thai Bhat/THB: 55 - 80p each), soft drinks and water in that you just mark up on a tally sheet pinned to the side of the fridge and pay when you leave. Everything here operates entirely on trust.

The guys are on hand all day everyday and you basically become part of the Spicythai Family. You'll find yourselves, like all of us over this Christmas period extending your stay "just one more night"..."just one more night"... "ok Noom, just ONE more night mate" 'cos ya just get so cosy and chilled out. Almost too much! You forget to keep moving. Noom and Sao can organise anything you want to do at the drop of a hat whether it's jungle/tribal trekking and rafting in the area, transport connections of any time, type, budget or complexity. The slow boat to Laos seeming to be a favourite. There is also a sister hostel SpicyLaos there I'm told.

We have been treated with exceptional hospitality the entire time we have been here. Invites to join the guys at their personal favourite eateries and bars come almost everyday with Noom using the Spicythai-mobile to cart people around on cuty tours or trips out of town when the mood takes him... which is often.

It sits incongruously in a little 'village' of expensive looking condos for wealthy Thais and ex-pat 'falangs' (foreigners) just ever-so-slightly out of the city centre (but in easy walking distance) which makes it perfectly positioned for total security, calm (zero traffic) and perfect quiet at nights.

Everything about this place is spot on. Well deserving of its No.2 Hostel in the whole of Asia award 2007 from a certain major hostel rating website that shall remain unnamed ;D