Quite a bit of sun, depending on where you sit. The problem we had was finding shade, rather than sun, (which you could probably sit in all day as it is not a shady pool area). The sun was very strong, even in February. Remember that Chiang Mai is quite a bit higher than sea level, so not much protection from UV in the atmosphere, so you will need a very high factor sun protection.

Yes, but pricey.

Glad you enjoyed it , if u want a good lounge in bangkok the holiday inn silom has a great club lounge, small but well set out with a toilet and nice food for breakfast and evening cocktails with snacks of high quality and the staff and service is good, they have an outside balcony too , as a smoker it was good to have the option and the views are great too. i have stayed in many hotels all over Thailand mostly chain hotels but if u need any advice in the future on hotels in Thailand , Indonesia Philippines Malaysia Hong Kong drop me a note