Away Chiang Mai Review: Is Thailand’s Famous Vegan Hotel Worth It?

When I was planning my most recent Thailand trip, I was most excited for Chiang Mai. I’d heard all about how vegan friendly the Northern Thai city is, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to discover that there was a fully vegan hotel: Away Chiang Mai Thapae Resort.

As a vegan, I’m used to skipping hotel breakfasts entirely – I’ve had too many mornings making a slow procession past an array of bain maries with slowly congealing eggs and mystery meats, only to realise that my options are toast and a banana.

Imagine staying somewhere where you can eat absolutely everything on offer. Instead of cobbling together a random assortment of fruit, nuts and bread, you can fill your plate with a proper, balanced breakfast without reading a single ingredient label.

So what’s it actually like staying in a vegan hotel? And is Away Chiang Mai the right place for your own visit? Let’s get into it.

At a Glance

• Best for: Vegan travellers who want the convenience of a full vegan hotel, couples looking for a relaxing bases, and solo travellers who want somewhere peaceful and safe.
• Location: Just outside Chiang Mai’s Old City, within walking distance of Tha Phae Gate, markets, cafes, and restaurants.
• Food: 100% vegan hotel with a breakfast buffet, vegan coffee, and on-site restaurant serving Thai and internation dishes. No alcohol served in the hotel.
• Rooms: We stayed in the Jacuzzi Pool Access Suite, with direct access to the pool from the terrace.
• Would I stay again? Yes. The food isn’t the only reason to visit Chiang Mai, but having a completely vegan hotel made travelling significantly easier and more enjoyable.

Location

Away Chiang Mai is located just outside the eastern walls of Chiang Mai’s Old City, close to Tha Phae Gate (hence the hotel’s full name of Away Chiang Mai Thapae Resort). For us, it was a nice balance of convenience and tranquility.

From the train station, it’s about 10 minutes in a Grab, about 35 walking. Then, once we were checked in, most of the places we wanted to visit were within walking distance or a short Grab away. We regularly walked into the Old City for temples, cafes and restaurants, and never felt like we were too far from all the sights.

Walking in the opposite direction, away from the Old City, there’s a night market and livelier streets with bars and restaurants. You’ll also find convenience stores like 7-11 a 5 minute walk from the hotel, and there are some local laundry places just around the corner. When we got to Chiang Mai, we were about halfway through our trip, so did a big load of laundry and ended up with a bag full of folded, fresh clothes the same evening.

The streets immediately around the hotel are peaceful and quiet. It’s a mix of hotels and private homes, on small, winding streets so you’ll never get noisy foot traffic or vehicles racing through.

Check in

Check-in is usually a hotel’s chance to make a good first impression. During mine, I’m fairly certain I made a terrible first impression on them.

We’d arrived into Chiang Mai at 7am on the overnight train from Bangkok. I’d barely slept thanks to someone who insisted on sharing their TikTok scrolling with the entire carriage, plus two enthusiastic snorers. Thankfully, I’m only married to one of them.

I walked into the lobby of this four star hotel with two backpacks strapped to my body, red faced, sweaty, and desperate to shower. It being early morning, our room obviously wasn’t ready, but the staff couldn’t have been more helpful. They whisked our backpacks away into storage, invited us to check in properly, and explained how their app worked.

Away Chiang Mai uses app throughout your stay for everything from requesting housekeeping to ordering room service. It also doubles as a clever early check-in system. We were given a QR code to scan and told we’d receive a notification as soon as our room became available.p if our room magically became available.

We set off to explore the neighbourhood, hoping to find breakfast and a coffee. Unfortunately, we’d forgotten one important detail: it was still early enough that much of Chiang Mai hadn’t really woken up yet. After wandering past mostly closed cafés and temples we were too exhausted to properly appreciate, we admitted defeat and returned to the hotel’s gloriously air-conditioned lobby with our books.

Whether it was good fortune, or just to get rid of us, our room was ready by 10am, and I’ve never been so grateful to see indoor plumbing. Our luggage had already been taken to the room, and the moment the door closed behind the receptionist, I made a beeline for the shower.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a great experience with early check-ins in Southeast Asia. In Europe, an early check-in is often either impossible or something you pay extra to arrange in advance. While it’s never guaranteed, I’ve found hotels in Thailand and Vietnam far more willing to accommodate weary travellers whenever they can. I certainly wouldn’t expect a 10am check-in as standard, but Away Chiang Mai got our holiday off to a fantastic start by making it happen.

The Room & Pool

We booked one of the swim up rooms, the Jacuzzi Pool Access Suite, one of the hotel’s adults-only room categories. The room itself was lovely: decorated in calming shades of blue and white, with direct access to the swimming pool from our private terrace. The pool access rooms have dividing walls between them on the terraces, so even though you face the pool directly, there’s still a sense of privacy.

One thing that’s worth pointing out is that while the swim up rooms are adults only, the pool and hotel in general isn’t. Families staying in the hotel also use it, so there are naturally times during the day when children are playing and the usual excited pool noises carry across the space. If you’re looking for complete peace and quiet, it’s worth bearing in mind.

I wasn’t able to make full use of the pool because I’d had an ear injury just before the trip, but I still loved having the terrace. Sitting outside with a book and dangling my feet in the water after a day spent exploring turned out to be one of my favourite parts of the day.

The Food

Okay, let’s talk food. Since Away Chiang Mai is a vegan hotel, the food is obviously the biggest draw in staying here. As a vegan, the novelty of knowing I can have anything on the menu always brings me so much joy.

At Away Chiang Mai, everything is plant based. You don’t need to hold up the breakfast line studying the back of yoghurt pots, or quickly googling “Soy milk” in the local language.

Breakfast

The breakfast at Away Chiang Mai was my first introduction to their hotel’s kitchen.

Every morning, there’s a buffet with a mix of hot dishes, seasonal fruit, cereal, breads, and a few sweet treats. On each table, you’ll also find a small order form for ‘omelettes’ or scramble, both made from chickpeas. There was also a menu of coffees made to order, including vegan cappuccinos and lattes.

The hot dishes changed every day, with a mixture of Thai inspired dishes and western options. During our stay, we saw everything from stir fried glass noodles, tofu with Chinese celery, and stir fried vegetables to pesto pasta, mixed vegetable porridge, and baked beans.

You’ll also find fresh juices on offer, plus a juicer to create your own mixes.

The quality was consistently good and the food tasty, but I found the balance inconsistent. Some mornings there were several tofu dishes alongside plenty of veggies, while on other mornings we saw the buffet leaning more heavily towards rice and vegetable dishes, with fewer protein rich options.

I tend to only consider a vegan meal “good” if it has as much protein as a meat eater would get, so I would have liked to see more tofu, legumes, seitan or similar on display. Likewise, there were quite a few mushroom-based dishes throughout our stay, and I would genuinely rather lick a shoe than eat mushrooms – although I fully acknowledge that’s a me problem, and not the hotel’s.

One practical tip: The breakfast is served from 07:00 – 10:30, but I’d recommend aiming for about 08:00-08:30am. By around 9/9:30 each morning, the buffet was usually in its final state and we didn’t see fresh dishes or top ups coming out after that.

Was this the best breakfast I ever had? No. But that’s missing the point.

If fully vegan hotel breakfasts were commonplace, Away Chiang Mai probably wouldn’t stand out so much. The reality is that, as vegans, we’re often left with a couple of congealing hash browns, a slice of toast and perhaps some fruit if we’re lucky. Walking into a breakfast buffet where everything is vegan feels surprisingly liberating.

What makes breakfast at Away Chiang Mai special isn’t that every dish is extraordinary. It’s the simple pleasure of filling your plate without reading ingredient labels, asking awkward questions or wondering whether the soup contains chicken stock. That sense of ease is remarkably rare when travelling, and for me it was one of the hotel’s biggest selling points.

Dinner

Although Away Chiang Mai technically has two restaurants, we only got to experience one during our stay.

One of the reasons I’d booked the hotel was Moreganic Restaurant, their fully vegan restaurant in the main building. Unfortunately, that entire wing of the hotel was closed for renovations while we were there, so breakfast, lunch and dinner were all being served from Seiva Brunchery instead.

The food itself was excellent. Despite the different location, the full Moreganic menu was still available. I got a Khao Soi with vegan chicken that was rich, creamy, and just the right amount of spicy.

The downside here though was the atmosphere. Seiva Brunchery is open plan with the hotel’s lobby, and while it’s a lovely, bright, airy space for breakfast or coffee, it didn’t have the same feel as “going out for dinner”. I was very aware I was essentially eating in the hotel’s reception area. We ate here after a long day out exploring Chiang Rai, and I was very grateful to have the option onsite, but just one to be aware of if you’re looking for a “special occasion” kind of vibe.

The prices are also a little higher than many of the restaurants we ate at elsewhere in Chiang Mai, although many of the booking options do give you 10% off as a guest of the hotel. You’re really paying for convenience here, and it’s definitely worth it after a long day, but also worth bearing in mind that there are other great, cheaper options out in the city.

Things to Know Before Booking

When you’re booking a room at Away Chiang Mai, you’ve got a few options. There are plenty of options on the booking page that include breakfast, breakfast and dinner, and even an option that comes with a 60 minute massage.

We went for the breakfast included option, which is probably what I’d do next time. Chiang Mai is an amazing city for vegan food, so as great as the food was at Away Chiang Mai, I personally would want my dinners to be open to explore the city.

A few other things worth knowing before you book:

• The swim up rooms are adults only, but the pool itself isn’t. Families are welcome at Away Chiang Mai, so don’t expect an adults-only atmosphere around the pool during the day.
• If you’re hoping for peace and quiet, I don’t recommend a swim up room. The hotel is honestly very relaxing, but you’ll have a quieter experience in a hotel on a higher floor.
• Arrive early if breakfast is important to you. The buffet officially runs until 10:30am, but the best selection was available earlier in the morning – aim for before 9am.
• Check whether the renovations have finished. During our stay, the hotel’s main building and Moreganic Restaurant were closed for refurbishment. It didn’t affect the quality of the food or our room, but it did change the dinner atmosphere.
• Alcohol is not served in the hotel. The hotel does not have a bar, and neither restaurant serve alcohol with meals. As far as I could tell, there’s nothing stopping you enjoying a drink on your own balcony or terrace, but don’t expect a party atmosphere in the hotel.

Overall, I’d happily stay here again. Knowing that every meal, snack and coffee on the menu was vegan removed a surprising amount of friction from travelling, and that’s something that’s difficult to put a price on.

Final Verdict

So, the final verdict: Is it worth staying at Away Chiang Mai? I would say absolutely yes.

If you search for vegan hotels in Chiang Mai, it tends to be a toss up between Away Chiang Mai and Green Tiger House. I’m really glad we picked Away Chiang Mai, but I did get chatting to another traveller at a vegan cooking class who was staying in Green Tiger and also had positive things to share about her experience.

If you’re looking for a more convivial, backpacker style experience, Green Tiger might be the best fit for you. If you’re looking for a quiet, peaceful type of stay, then Away Chiang Mai is the winner.

I do wish we’d known about the renovation work ahead of our stay, but to give credit where it’s due: all renovations took place in the building across the street, during the daytime, so there was absolutely no noise within our room.

We stayed in Away Chiang Mai for a total of 5 nights, and had a wonderful stay overall. The little neighbourhood and surrounding streets became familiar very quickly, and we loved being able to wander out to the night market, grab a beer and people watch, before heading back for a great night’s sleep.

As I’ve mentioned several times throughout this post, the food really is one of the biggest selling points. The rooms are beautiful, and the swim up terrace feels luxurious, but there’s little that can beat the satisfaction of heading out to breakfast, knowing you’re going to get a good meal into you before you’ve even left for the day.

The staff were also lovely, greeting us each time we walked into the hotel, and making conversation about our sightseeing plans.

I’m already looking forward to going back to Chiang Mai one day, and I’d gladly stay at Away Chiang Mai when I do.