LOCATION: Less than an hour's drive from Thailand's northern capital of Chiang Mai, amid thickly-forested hills and misty valleys, lies the Mae-Sa Valley Resort. Two thousand feet high, in an area of great scenic charm, the landscape has been adapted to provide a new experience in holiday enchantment. Individual thatched-roof houses and bamboo cottages provide accommodation that blends beautifully with the setting and meets high standards of comfort. The mountain climate provides bright sunny days for exploring : crisp, cool evenings for fireside gatherings. And the cultivated terraces provide a riot of tropical and temperate flowers, along with all the vegetables served fresh at our restaurant. The Mae-Sa Valley is a totally new experience of Thailand. It's remote but easily accessible, fresh with the joys of a natural environment while providing the pleasures of fine food and warm hospitality. SHOW MAP.

ACCOMMODATION: Mae-Sa Valley Craft Village offer a new range of deluxe rooms, each with a different "Village Life" theme. Our resort was the first to open in Mae Sa Valley, twenty years ago, when weekenders from Bangkok yearned for escape from the pressures of the city and were happy to find a simple with fresh air to breath and nothing to do but lie back and relax. Recognizing that times have changed and that visitors today want all that and more we have been building new accommodation and refurbishing the old in a way intended to preserve the simple qualities of the original while adding some of the conveniences of the present. The solution is our themed cottages, each with twin-bedroom, fully equipped modern bathroom and air-conditioning and individually decorated by the artists from our craft village to provide a unique atmosphere that is both charming and colourful. The new chalets are decorated in six village styles: Farmer's Cottage, Fisherman's Cottage, Villager's Cottage, Garden's Cottage, Hilltribe Cottage, Honeymoon Cottage. Each chalet has a distinctive motif reflecting an aspect of Thai traditional country life subtly blended with the best of contemporary design.

HOTEL FACILITIES & SERVICES: A restaurant that serves you from the land... Our menu gives you the choice of Thai or Western food, with all vegetables fresh from the Mae-Sa Valley gardens. A wealth of unique attractions to explore.. The Mae-Sa Valley provides lazy days of quiet relaxation, plus the chances to explore. Nearby are tribal villages of the Meo, where the ancient way of custom and costume are little changed today. There's an elephant camp, with a daily show, a short hike or bus ride away. You can even return to the resort on an elephant's back, along a mountain trail. Your touring can include an orchid nursery, and a lobster farm, and take you deeper into the famous mountain scenery of the north.

CRAFT VALLEY: Mae-Sa Valley Craft Village offers a day out with a difference. Nestling within one of Thailand's most beautiful botanical gardens, with its own stream and tiny waterfall, The Craft Village is home to a group of the region's highly -skilled artisans : potters, weavers, silversmiths, wood-carvers. But here, visitors can not only enjoy watching them at work, they can join in! Morning and afternoon activities enable participants to learn some of the skills that have made northern Thai craft work famous throughout the world. Mae-Sa Valley Craft Village has three centres of activity : a Thai cookery school, a health centre and the craft village itself. Each has an English-speaking instructor and each session, morning or afternoon, lasts two and a half hours. Participants can spend a half or a whole day and can learn two different crafts or practice one in greater depth. Where appropriate visit that they have made themselves. This is a day-out that everyone can enjoy - adults and children. No prior experience is required and everyone is helped to achieve their best results. The Craft Village Parasol and Fan Painting This is one of the classic crafts of northern Thailand yet it is remarkably easy to learn how to create stunning effects, from flower designs to realistic scenes of village life. All the materials needed are provided and participants can take away their work at the end of the session. "Sa" Paper-making Handmade, or "sa" paper making is another traditional northern craft, especially beautiful when flowers and leaves are pressed into the liquid paper. It is very easy to achieve remarkable results. All materials are provided and participants are encourage to be as adventurous as possible in creating their own designs. The paper sheets are dried overnight and delivered to hotels in the Chiang Mai area within 48 hours. Those who wish may pay for postage to their home address. Batik Dyeing We provide a plain piece of material for the first attempt at wax painting and colour dyeing. After that first stage a range of materials, including shirts and blouses, is available for those who wish to make something special. Ceramic Painting Participants are given an undecorated pot and shown how to hand paint a simple traditional design. This will be fired in our kiln overnight and delivered to hotels in the Chiang Mai area within 48 hours. Those who wish may pay for postage to their home address. A selection of undecorated ceramics is available for those who wish to create their own unique designs.