Le Meridian Chiang Mai, Elephant Preserve
This hotel came pretty highly recommend here on Flyertalk so it was a no brainer to stay in. Also, there are no Marriott properties in the city so there wasn’t really a choice if I wanted to use benefits and earn useful points. I was upgraded 2 days prior to a Junior Suite, so that was a great start.

Upon arriving at the hotel, the front desk agent escorted me to the lounge on the 22nd floor to check in. Waiting there was a cold towel, arrival drink and a wall street journal! I got checked in, the agent escorted me to my room where I was given a (very) thorough explanation of every part of it: from how the lights work to how to flush the toilet. I’m not sure if the agent was just being nice or wasn’t sure if I could figure it out or what. It all was very easy so it was a little insulting, but I went with it anyways.

Let me start off by saying the hotel itself was very nice. The room was well appointed, modern but had a little Thai feel to it too. The bathroom area was huge, with a large tub overlooking the mountains, a huge walk in shower with rainfall showerhead and a large changing area along with a double vanity.


Breakfast in the lounge

I was pretty beat but knew I had to stay up for just a few more hours so I walked around the neighborhood a bit. For having not ever been in Thailand it was somewhat of a shock/eye opening. The streets were dirty; there was a sewer smell throughout though it seemed generally safe. I had a few beers and by 930 I was ready for bed. I had a long day ahead the next day and was getting quite excited!

Going to the Elephant Nature Park (and Chiang Mai itself) were not originally in my plans for the trip. However, I met a fellow FT’er a few weeks prior at the TWA Flight Center open house and he highly recommended it, so I added it to my itinerary.

I had booked it a few weeks prior and was told the shuttle would pick me up right at 8am sure enough it was there!

It was about an hour and a half ride to the park. During the ride, our guide showed us a few videos highlighting the founder (Lek) and the work that the park does. We arrived around 930 am and began the program shortly thereafter.

We started by assisting with feeding the heard for breakfast. There’s a volunteer and paid staff that does some of the prep work like washing and cutting up the fruits and vegetables. You can actually volunteer for days or weeks to do this. The park provides lodging, meals and activities to those who choose to do this. During my day I met quite a few people who had been there for different lengths, one lady had been there for a month.



After feeding time, we were able to get even closer to the herd. We descended some stairs and were then at their level. We then began our walking tour of the park. We were able to see some of the toys, stables and play areas the herd has. We also met a few additional elephants along the way. The thing that shocked me the most was how gentle they were. I’m sure it comes from years of being around people and certainly is helped by being in a preserve compared to their old homes where they were abused or mistreated. They all seemed genuinely happy to have us with them and certainly loved that we generally always had food too.




Each elephant has his or her own handlers. The handlers spend about 10-12 hours a day with their elephants and become quite attached to and trusted by the elephant. You could see it in their eyes, their motions, etc that those enormously large beasts really knew they were in good hands.

After the walk around the park, it was time for OUR lunch. The park sets up a really great spread that includes both Thai dishes and western dishes. During lunch, it was great to talk to some of the other people in the group. There were 2 girls from Germany that decided they wanted to travel for a few months, a couple from The Netherlands, a few Aussies and a few additional Americans.

After lunch, it was bath time! This was probably the coolest part of the day. We actually got in the water with them and were able to get so close and bath them.





We then boarded the shuttle back to the City of Chiang Mai. The whole ride back I couldn’t help but think this was such an amazing experience and I was so lucky to be able to do it. If you are ever in Thailand, take the extra day, go to Chiang Mai and do this, it’s simply astonishing.