Layer upon layer of mountains dissolving into mist above a still lake at dawn

Chiang Dao, northern Thailand

Six pavilions on a silent lake.

A private retreat at the foot of Doi Luang. Twelve guests at most, and thirty people who know exactly when to disappear.

The retreat

Nokham was built slowly, by hand, around a spring-fed lake that one family has kept for four generations. There is no lobby and no schedule. There is water, teak, firelight, and your own time, returned to you.

6: pavilions, each alone
12: guests at most
30: people looking after them
14: hectares of forest and water

A thatched pavilion and its private pool seen from above, enclosed by dense tropical garden

A small wooden pavilion on stilts at the edge of a still green lake, under tall pines lit by low sun

IArrival

The road ends at the water.

A driver meets you in Chiang Mai. Ninety minutes later the forest opens and a boat is waiting. Your luggage has gone ahead.

A bedroom at dusk with a glass wall open to a private pool terrace and a violet and orange sky

IISuite

A room with one wall missing.

Each pavilion stands alone: stone underfoot, a bed that faces the weather, a pool of its own. Nobody can see in. You can see for miles.

A lake in golden haze at sunrise, a lone boat on the water and a mountain fading into mist behind

IIIWater

The lake keeps its own hours.

Spring-fed, and twenty-four degrees at dawn. Swim from your deck, take the teak boat out, or simply watch the mist lift.

A long dining table in the dark, set for many guests and lit only by candles and flowers down its centre

IVTable

One table. Twelve places. No menu.

Chef Anong cooks what the garden and the valley gave that morning. Dinner is at seven, by candlelight, and lasts as long as the conversation.

A long swimming pool glowing green in the dark, beside a wooden deck, loungers and a string of small lights

VNight

Then the valley goes dark.

No road, no neighbours, no light but yours. The pool glows, the frogs begin, and the sky fills in.

The suites

Four ways to be alone.

Every rate is for the pavilion and includes all meals and drinks, the car from Chiang Mai, the boat, and a daily ritual. Drag, swipe or use the arrows.

A warmly lit bedroom lined in dark carved wood, with a low bed, teal cushions and doors open to a walled garden

Among the old teak

Forest Pavilion

Carved teak, low light and a garden door that opens onto ferns. The most private of the six.

Size: 95 m², 2 guests
Bed: One king
Outlook: Old teak forest, morning light
Yours alone: Plunge pool, outdoor bath, walled garden

24,000 bahta night, 2 pavilions

A calm, dim bedroom with a wide white bed and floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening onto a terrace and trees

At the water’s edge

Lake Pavilion

Glass on two sides and the lake on both. Step from the bed to the deck, and from the deck into the water.

Size: 120 m², 2 guests
Bed: One king
Outlook: The lake, end to end
Yours alone: Swimming deck, daybed, pantry stocked to your list

32,000 bahta night, 2 pavilions

A bedroom with a polished stone floor and a steel-framed glass wall opening to a private pool and green hills

Above the lake, facing the mountain

Pool Pavilion

A twelve-metre pool that ends in the sky, a stone floor cool underfoot, and Doi Luang filling the glass.

Size: 160 m², 2 guests
Bed: One king
Outlook: The lake and Doi Luang Chiang Dao
Yours alone: Twelve-metre private pool, sala, fire bowl

42,000 bahta night, one only

A white canopy bed draped in muslin beneath a high thatched roof, with carved wooden furniture and a long hall beyond

The family house, entire

The Residence

Two bedrooms under one great thatched roof, a kitchen with its own chef, a boat and a boatman. Yours alone.

Size: 310 m², 4 guests
Bed: Two kings, or a king and twins
Outlook: Garden, lake and the eastern ridge
Yours alone: Private chef, twenty-metre pool, teak boat with boatman

78,000 bahta night, one only

I of IV: Forest Pavilion

The days

Nothing is scheduled. Everything is ready.

A stone bath filled with red, pink and purple flower petals beside a garden plunge pool

Ritual

A bath drawn before you ask.

Each afternoon a bath is prepared in your pavilion with lemongrass, kaffir lime and flowers cut that morning. A therapist comes to you; there is no spa to walk to.

An outdoor table at dusk laid with candles, white flowers, glasses and small dishes

Kitchen

Breakfast whenever you wake.

On your deck, on the boat, or at the long table under the rain tree. The kitchen has no closing time and no printed menu: tell us what you are in the mood for.

A four-poster bed veiled in white muslin, lit by a single hanging lamp

Rest

Linen, muslin, silence.

Beds are made with hand-loomed cotton from Mae Chaem and netted at dusk. There is no television in any pavilion. There is a very good library.

Arriving

We come and fetch you.

Chiang Mai International Airport: 76 km. Your driver waits at the gate; the drive takes about 1 hour 30.
By helicopter: 22 minutes from Chiang Mai to our lakeside pad, arranged on request.
The last kilometre: By teak boat across the lake. There is no road to the pavilions.

The house

A few things worth knowing.

Arrival: From 14:00. Earlier if your pavilion is ready, and we will try to make it so.
Departure: At 12:00, or whenever your flight suggests. We do not hurry anyone.
Included: All meals and drinks, the car from Chiang Mai, the boat, a daily ritual, laundry.
Children: Welcome in The Residence at any age, and in the pavilions from twelve.
Settling: On departure, by card or transfer. No deposit is taken for stays under five nights.
Changes: Free until 14 days before arrival. After that, the first night is charged.

Cloud drifting through a forested hillside, seen from above

Come quietly.

Suites are held in the order requests arrive. Tell us your dates, or simply write: one of three hosts answers, by name, between seven in the morning and nine at night.