Green Tiger House is an all vegan hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Previously a vegetarian hostel, the hostel closed during COVID-19. The owners therefore decided to utilize that timing to revamp and build a vegan hotel in Chiang Mai instead. During this time, one of the co-owners turned vegan. So not only did the cafe (Reform Cafe) at the former vegetarian hostel fully become plant-based, but they also made the decision to replace all of the animal based physical items with vegan-friendly items, making this another vegan hotel in Chiang Mai. Rest assured, that your toiletries, bedding, and furniture in the room is also vegan (despite their branding saying “plant-based hotel”).
This hotel also offers an overwhelming unlimited order to table “buffet” where the food is then prepared fresh for you (more on that later), and will provide you with enough fuel to explore the town. The Green Tiger House vegan hotel in Chiang Mai is centrally located, meaning it’s the perfect location for walking to vegan restaurants, festivals, temples, and exploring the tranquil nature of the city. If you prefer to stay at the hotel, there’s a relaxing cafe with colorful tables, a bar with alcohol, a swimming pool, and a rooftop terrace with stunning views of the Chiang Mai mountains and neighboring temples and houses (if the view from your room wasn’t enough).
If you’re trying to decide which hotel to stay at in town with vegan options, note that there are two vegan hotels in Chiang Mai! The other vegan hotel in Chiang Mai is Away Chiang Mai Thapae Resort – A Vegan Retreat. I decided to stay at both, and at the Green Tiger House vegan hotel, I decided to stay for 5 nights, which is what this review focuses on.
ROOM
While I was waiting for my room, I was greeted with a welcome drink which was a butterfly pea tea drink. I then was taken to my room which was on the 3rd floor. This is when I learned that this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai isn’t equipped with an elevator, and only has lifts for the luggage. If accessibility is a personal concern, then unfortunately this is a huge con! I’ve reached out to Green Tiger House and will update this with info as to if there are ground floor rooms or not.
There are 3 types of rooms at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai: small, standard, and superior, each tritiating up in price of 10 USD per night at the time of my booking, with rooms in November 2022 costing 30-50 USD a night. I just checked and now the Superior Room I paid 50 USD a night for is now 2050 Thai Baht (58 USD) a night for November 2023 (as the US Dollar has been dropping, this may go up in US Dollars).
I found the room at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai to be simplistic but include all of the necessary functionalities. Also my Superior Room came with this stunning mountain view – and my room had these large windows to thoroughly enjoy it, and a balcony too with two chairs and a table. I also liked how the room had two separate desk areas, so two people in the room can use a desk simultaneously, although I prefer seating with back support, so I brought in a chair from the balcony which had backing. I found the wifi speed from my room to be slow, and had difficulty with video and internet based voice calls. Uploading files to a drive was also tremendously slow from my room. I was in the farthest room in the corridor from the staircase, so location may vary. I ultimately ended up working from the cozy cafe at night, where download speeds (Mbps) averaged in the high 40s to low 50s when I ran tests on various nights, and uploads were in the 80s. As for the bed, I found it to be very firm, as with most Thai mattresses I’ve come across, although it was still comfortable to sleep on and it didn’t interrupt my sleep. And the bedding was comfortable and breathable; enough to keep you warm during chili nights but cooling enough so you don’t burn up midday. The bathroom toiletries felt great on my skin, and the ingredients felt as if they were made of great quality.
COMMON AREAS
POOL
There’s a small pool at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai where you can take (very) short laps in, or just soak and enjoy relaxing in the water. You can also just relax next to the pool, either at the lounge chairs, or at the cafe at the poolside dining tables (these are reserved only for guests – just notify a waiter you’ll be dining there so that they’ll know to serve you food as these are also used for relaxation). I looked forward to dining here as it was a way to get a view of water, fresh plants, and some of the cafe – while enjoying the quietness from sitting on this side of the cafe.
TERRACE
On the 4th floor at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai, you’ll find a terrace with bar style seating, tables, and lots of free space. You can borrow yoga mats for free; this is a lovely and peaceful spot to practice yoga, meditate, and just be. I’ve also heard you can catch some speculator sunsets from here, but I never made it back to the hotel in time. Oh well, I’ll make it a priority next time I’m at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai!
REFORM CAFE
This is the space where food is served all day, and where the infamous order to table “buffet” which is included in your room rate will be served. Once the pool closes and the cafe stops serving food, you’re free to sit down in the cafe (this was a great place to work, just have a sweater). Although, the ambience will be different as the mood lighting will be turned off and the pillows from the bench style seats are removed (they can get wet due to the rain). Instead, you will hear the sounds from the frogs at night and the ambient sounds of either trees blowing, or the rain. Also, at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai, you will occasionally see a furry friend who “meows”. Meet Hiro the cat. His favorite snacks are corn and mangoes. 🌽🥭
BREAKFAST
I’ve teased you long enough, time to dive into a breakfast review at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai! Like this menu, I don’t even know where to start with this review, so let’s start with the basics! The cafe also makes all of the ingredients in house, so your dining experience is truly unique. The menu states to choose one drink, one starter, and one main. However, that seems to be for the first lap. When I inquired about how much can be ordered, they said you can order as much as you want. Oh goodness… I never made it past the first lap though so I didn’t put that to the test, but it was enough food already.
Drinks included fresh juices, coffees with several milks to choose from, and a variety of teas. Starters included coconut yogurt, fruits, and muesli, and the mains included Thai breakfast dishes (soups, noodles, curries, and a Northern Thai delicacy), Western dishes (American style pancakes, scramble tofu, bagel sandwiches, baked potatoes), and lighter dishes including yogurt and muesli bowls. Uhhh… now I’m hungry and am ready to book a trip back there now just typing all of this out! I enjoyed most of the breakfast items I had and this (besides the mountain views) was the highlight of my stay at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai.
I’ll start in order by the dishes I had for breakfast.
On my 2nd morning of my stay, I first went with this coconut yogurt and mixed fruit which came with watermelon, pineapple, papaya, and banana. I personally thought the coconut flavor was overpowering with the yogurt, but found the fruit to be fresh and delicious. For my main, I chose the Traditional Northern Thai Breakfast Set which came with your choice of white or brown rice, this chili based sauce made with tofu and tomatoes called Nam Prik Ong, and boiled and raw veggies currently in season (included different types of raw lettuces and cucumbers, and steamed broccoli, carrots, long beans, and cabbage). All of the veggies were steamed to where the veggie ended up being somewhat soft and easy to digest, but still maintained a small amount of its crunch. And the Nam Prik Ong sauce was mouthwatering, wow! This is how you spice up vegetables (literally and metaphorically)!
The next morning (3rd) I opted for a fruit platter as my starter and then went with a red curry for my main dish. I found the red curry to be another flavorful dish from this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai.
The following morning (4th) I asked if I could have just mango instead of a fruit platter, and they served me an entire large mango cut up into small squares for me to enjoy. The previous mornings I only requested tea, but today I also asked for orange juice too and my request was granted (which I could tell was freshly squeezed and the fresh OJ was refreshing). For my main dish, I ordered the “black sesame pancakes”. I’m not sure why I thought sesame flour was going to be used (is that even a thing?) – maybe because of the word “black” in the title, but they’re whole wheat flour pancakes with sesame seeds in the mixture. They tasted like regular pancakes (no sesame taste however) with the crunchiness from the seeds. They did come with this homemade raspberry jam on top though which was the highlight of the dish. And it also did come with a delicious and fluffy side of coconut whipped cream.
On my 5th morning I decided to try the bagel sandwich I’d been eyeing others ordering for days at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai. I also skipped my starter and decided to go for a second entree – rice soup. The rice soup was just well… watery rice. There wasn’t any seasoning to it either. The bagel sandwich was delicious! I could taste the chives in the creamy tasty cream cheese. Although the sliced cheese wasn’t fully solid, it was also yummy and had a cheesy taste to it. And the veggies and avocado added a delicious flavor profile to the sandwich. Lastly, the bagel bread was soft. And the side of potatoes that came with the dish tasted just like a well seasoned potato salad.
On my last morning at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai, it was a bittersweet feeling as I was leaving, but was also leaving for my next plant-based hotel in Thailand in Koh Samui. I decided to go for the tofu scramble for my main dish. I also tried matcha tea, more orange juice, and got a fruit platter, and bread with vegan butter and mango jam for my starter.
The scrambled tofu was mixed with mushrooms and tomatoes and it added a delicious combination of flavors to the dish (along with the seasonings added). I personally didn’t find it to have an eggy flavor, but that’s fine because the scramble was delicious without it. Also I found the texture to be fluffy. The matcha tea was delicious (and so were the others I had throughout my stay, I had a “Thai herbal tea” which I enjoyed), and that mango jam was phenomenal. I would’ve brought a jar to take home if they sold it. 😩
OTHER MEALS
Refrom Cafe, the restaurant at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai serves other meals besides breakfast, and is open until late at night, so the lunch and dinner options are plentiful.
Delicious and refreshing drinks I had at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai included this mango passion fruit lassi which had a great balance between the yogurt and the fruity notes, another butterfly pea tea drink, and this red drink which included veggies and beets – and I paid for this and then enjoyed it from my stunning balcony view.
I also tried khao soi (a soup made with cut rice or egg noodles, mixed with coconut milk and curry, it is then topped with some of the noodles which will be fried – a must try when in Chiang Mai). Unfortunately the flavor on this particular khao soi fell short, and didn’t have much flavor. I’m not sure if it was an off day in the kitchen because this was unusual for the dishes I had from Reform Cafe. Perhaps I’ll have to try it another time.
The last dish that fell short for me at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai will have to be from their bakery; the tiramisu. The taste and texture reminded me of a raw, mushy, over sweetened cake. Next time I’ll go for the bomb looking mango cake instead.
For some redemption points (not that Reform Cafe needed it), I also tried the Burmese salad, and the veggies tasted fresh, there was a nutty taste to it, I could taste the yummy oil-based salad dressing infused with spices, and the peanuts gave the dish a lovely crunch.
And last, but far from least from this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai, I ordered the sour plum soup. I’m unsure if I could distinguish the plum flavor (to be fair, I seldom eat plums), but the sour notes in this soup… wow! I was hesitant when ordering, but this soup was bursting with flavor! It had a wonderful mixture of sour notes, while still being able to taste the other ingredients in the soup such as the tofu, mushrooms, and chives. It also came with this tasty side of garlic rice, mmm.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
The staff at this vegan hotel in Chiang Mai were quickly responsive to email before my visit, and were friendly during the stay and were always willing to help as needed. I enjoyed my stay at Green Tiger House, the vegan hotel in Chiang Mai, and can’t wait to visit the next time I’m in town!
