The latest addition to Dusit’s D2 collection, dusitD2 Khao Yai, recently opened its doors welcoming its first guests from Germany. To mark the occasion, the new chic mountain resort overlooking the scenic Khao Yai National Park, has launched an exclusive ‘D2 Debut’ opening.Launched on 2 August 2016, dusitD2 Khao Yai comprises 79 chic guestrooms and suites and is just a three-hour drive from central Bangkok. In-house dining highlights include ‘Musi Grill’, an all-day-dining and grill restaurant, and ‘Cocoon’, a unique treetop dining pod which provides a bird’s-eye view of the resort and surrounding mountain range.
Other hotel facilities include two meeting rooms, outdoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi and fitness centre. Guests can also enjoy recreational activities such as hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, biking, and feeding alpacas. Perfect for a family getaway, dusitD2 Khao Yai is also pet friendly.

Khao Yai (“large mountain” in Thai) is a lush, verdant area within the Sankamphaeng mountain range region, just a three-hour drive from central Bangkok. The higher altitudes here – from 350m to 1,350m in Khao Yai National Park, with the highest point at Khao Rom – mean that temperatures are generally lower than in other rural regions outside of the capital. The unique climate also means that Khao Yai is perfect for experiencing the Thai outdoors in a different way.

Hiking, rock climbing, canoeing and biking are all popular activities here (and can be easily arranged at the hotel). The area’s lesser-known food and wine trail is also ripe for exploring. Guests traveling by car can follow a route extending from the town of Pak Chong which will take them past stops including Farm Chokchai (farm tours, ice cream and steaks), Suwan Farm (corn juice, sunflower cookies and boiled sweet corn), Prapatsorn Grape Farm (tamarind juice), GranMonte (several varieties of red and white wines and Thai-international cuisine at Vincotto, its in-house restaurant) and PB Valley (a large winery that offers wine, homemade cookies and other products).

Scattered around the region are little man-made towns and villages that seem to have been plucked out of suburban Europe. At Primo Piazza in Pak Chong District, a Tuscan-style complex, visitors may enjoy relaxing meals at the cafés and restaurants, or seek out nearby grazing sheep, donkeys and alpacas (feeding is allowed). Just a 10-minute drive away, Palio Village, with its own cluster of Tuscan plazas, awaits with quirky shops. There’s also Thames Valley, a piece of Khao Yai that resembles the southern English countryside.