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137 Pillars House Chiang Mai is a 30-suite hotel built around a restored 1880s teak trading-post residence in the Wat Gate district, with one private-pool suite, Nitra Spa, and a 25-metre pool.
137 Pillars House Chiang Mai is a 30-suite hotel built around a restored 1880s teak trading-post residence in the Wat Gate district, with one private-pool suite, Nitra Spa, and a 25-metre pool.
In short
137 Pillars House is a 30-suite hotel in Chiang Mai's Wat Gate district, built around a teak residence originally constructed in the late 1880s as part of the Borneo Company's local trading compound. Five suite categories range from 70 to 135 square metres, the largest of which, the Louis Leonowens Pool Suite, is the only one with a private pool. The hotel also runs Nitra Spa, a 25 x 5.5-metre shared pool, three dining and bar venues, and a 24-hour gym, all within a single low-rise compound rather than a multi-building resort.
The verdict
137 Pillars House Chiang Mai Review: A 30-Suite Teak Estate in Wat Gate
137 Pillars House earns its place through scale and history rather than amenity count — a 30-suite hotel built around a single restored 1880s teak residence in Chiang Mai's Wat Gate district, with one private-pool suite and everything else built around the same colonial-era house.
Who should book
In favour
- Travelers who want a real historical building rather than a themed reproduction
- Travelers who prefer a small, suite-only property over a large resort
- Couples booking the Louis Leonowens suite for a private pool without a villa
- Travelers who want a Wat Gate base within walking distance of galleries, temples, and casual dining
Worth knowing
- A beach or mountain resort setting — this is an urban riverside compound
- Multiple pools or a large wellness campus — there is one shared pool plus one private-suite pool
- Extensive meeting or event infrastructure — this is a 30-suite property built around one historic house
The property
The building at the center of 137 Pillars House was constructed in the late 1880s as a teak-trading residence for the Borneo Company, a British firm granted rights to harvest teak across Northern Thailand under the 1883 Treaty of Chiang Mai. Louis Leonowens, the company's Chiang Mai superintendent, was its first occupant after it was moved into the Borneo Company's compound from the west bank of the Ping River. Company managers lived in it until 1927, and it stayed in company use through the Second World War, until Japanese forces commandeered the firm's assets in December 1941. Afterward, the company sold the house to William Bain, a Scottish managing director; his son Jack Bain later gave the house its current name after counting its 137 structural pillars. In 2002, Panida Wongphanlert bought the property — known locally as Baan Dam, or "Black House" — and restored it into 137 Pillars House, which opened as a 30-suite hotel on December 23, 2011.
Dining and bars
- Palette — the hotel's main dining room, Western and Asian cuisine with wine pairings.
- The Dining Room — breakfast in the historic house or gardens, built around Thai and Lanna dishes with organic ingredients.
- Jack Bain's Bar — cocktails and bar bites inside the old house, named for its last private owner.
- Afternoon tea and private dining — a seasonal tea service plus a customizable private dining option from breakfast through late supper.
Wellness and pool
Nitra Spa offers Thai and Western treatments, including massage and hot-stone therapy, by appointment. The shared pool measures 25 by 5.5 metres with a poolside bar for drinks and light food, and a 24-hour gym on the lower level carries free weights and cardio equipment. Louis Leonowens guests have a second, private pool in addition to this shared one.
Location
137 Pillars House sits at 2 Soi 1, Nawatgate Road, in Chiang Mai's Wat Gate district along the Ping River — an area the hotel describes as blending old-city character with a gallery-and-café atmosphere. Sop Moei Arts, a textile and craft gallery, is 400 metres away; Wat Gate Karam, a riverside temple with Lanna, Burmese, and Chinese architectural influences, is a few minutes' walk, as is a well-known street food stall and KUSA, a Japanese restaurant in a heritage-style setting.