Maeyom Palace Hotel — The Biggest Pool in Phrae and Carved Teak in Every Room
Ask anyone in Phrae which city hotel has a proper swimming pool and the name that comes up almost every time is Maeyom Palace Hotel. It's one of the town's older properties — open for around 30 years, a six-storey block on Yantrakij Kosol Road — and what guests keep returning to in their reviews is the large outdoor pool and the East Lanna styling, with carved teak furniture in every room that nods to Phrae's history as a teak-trading town. To be upfront: this is not a brand-new hotel. But the price and the location keep it on the shortlist for most people visiting Phrae.
Maeyom Palace has been open for over 30 years and was one of the first hotels in Phrae to have a swimming pool. The six-storey building holds around 104 rooms, split across Standard rooms, Deluxe rooms, and suites. What sets it apart from a generic provincial city hotel is the East Lanna decor — the beds, desks, headboards, and cabinets are all carved teak, a direct nod to Phrae's roots as a teak-trading hub in northern Thailand. Guests who appreciate woodwork tend to mention these details first.
The standout here is the large outdoor pool, which several reviews describe as the biggest and cleanest among the city-centre hotels in Phrae. It's ringed by palm trees and sun loungers with plenty of open space. From morning through to mid-afternoon it's almost empty and you can have the whole pool to yourself — though on some evenings local schoolchildren come for swimming lessons, so regulars suggest a daytime swim if you want it quiet.
One guest recalls a pool "much bigger than expected, empty in the morning, swimming alone with clear water and cool air" — and not wanting to get out.
The hotel restaurant is an open-air Lanna-style pavilion with a timber roof and lanterns at night — a nicer setting than the room rate would suggest. Breakfast covers Thai, Chinese, and Western options, and most guests agree the breakfast is good and generous, with staff keeping the dishes topped up. In the evening the same space runs as a restaurant and bar, with affordable à la carte dishes you can order without leaving the grounds.
The location works strongly in your favour if you arrive by bus — the Phrae bus terminal is only a few minutes' walk away and Wat Chom Sawan is a 1-minute walk. The walking-street market and the old-town quarter sit about 2 km away, easy enough by motorbike taxi or the local red songthaew. If you rent a scooter, Khum Chao Luang and Wat Phra That Cho Hae are both straightforward day trips, and the hotel lends out bicycles for a ride around town.
The Trip.com score sits at 8.1/10 from real guests. The recurring praise is for cleanliness, the pool, and staff who look after you well even when English is limited. The honest caveats: the building is old and showing its age in places — some rooms still have boxy older TVs and dated furniture — and the most common complaint by far is the slow Wi-Fi, which at times is barely usable. If you need to work online seriously, bring a mobile-data backup.
On price, Maeyom Palace sits firmly in the budget bracket, starting around ฿800/night for a Standard room, with promotions occasionally dropping to about ฿750. Deluxe rooms and suites cost a little more but remain cheap for what you get — pool, breakfast, and free parking included. Rooms fill quickly over holidays and festivals because there aren't many hotels of this size in Phrae, so it pays to book ahead.
The bottom line: Maeyom Palace suits travellers who want a pool, a good breakfast, and a central location to get around Phrae easily — without paying for luxury, on a budget of around ฿800. If you can accept the building's age and the slow Wi-Fi, it offers value that's genuinely hard to find in a small town like this. If you need a brand-new room and fast internet, look at a Deluxe room or another property and expect to pay more.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Large, clean pool — rare for a city-centre hotel in Phrae
- ✓ Generous breakfast with Thai, Chinese and Western options
- ✓ Friendly, helpful staff
- ✓ Free parking and close to the bus terminal
- ! Building is old and dated in places
- ! Wi-Fi is slow and at times barely usable
- ! Standard rooms are on the small side
- ✓ Carved teak furniture and a genuine Lanna atmosphere
- ✓ Open-air Lanna-style restaurant, lovely in the evening
- ✓ Excellent value for what you get
- ✓ Clean rooms and comfortable beds
- ! Some in-room equipment is dated, such as boxy older TVs
- ! Pool can have schoolchildren's lessons in the evening
- ! About 2 km from the old town and walking street
- 💡If you depend on the internet — slow Wi-Fi is the single most common guest complaint, at times barely usable → bring a mobile-data package or pocket Wi-Fi if you need to work online
- 💡If you want a quiet pool — it's near-empty from morning to mid-afternoon → some evenings local schoolchildren have swimming lessons, so privacy isn't guaranteed after about 4 pm
- 💡If you want a modern room — the hotel is 30 years old and some rooms have dated fittings → ask to see photos of a renovated room when booking, or choose a Deluxe over a Standard