Reasonable hotel in Bangkok - Kao San?

EagerLearner

Hi all,

Haven't been to Bangkok in 3 years - this Christmas we have decided to 'money save' by going to Thailand and not buying any Xmas presents! :j

What is a reasonable place to stay on Kao San road these days? As long as it's not a baking oven with fleas, we'll take any recommendations

Also a nice hotel in Koh Samui for 25th December and 31st December please - the rest of our stay we'll stay wherever takes the lead...

Thanks :beer:

mystic_trev

I stayed at the Krit Thai Mansion last year. I've got Thai friends and this is what they recomended. Good clean aircon rooms at around £13 a night for a twin, and right outside the Stadium skytrain station.

Donnie

National Stadium.
Do you mean, "25th December to 31st December or "25th December and 31st December
Not too many places will allow you to book just those two days.

What budget do you have in mind?

minifan

Hi

I wouldn't stay in Kao San Road, too noisy. Stayed above a shop there and didn't get a wink of sleep. Grotty too.

My sister and her boyfriend are in Koh Samui at the moment and have just stayed at a place called Al's Resort. I think they have a website. The pictures she has sent of the hotel look good.

pin

Have a look at suk11. Right by the BTS.

EagerLearner

Thanks all - we get into Bangkok 11am on 17th Dec so won't be able to travel south on the day, therefore need somewhere that's easy to get to from the airport. We stayed at The Atlanta Hotel last time which is a classic, but this time wanted somwehere more central.

In Koh Samui, we were thinking to stay wherever we fancy for most of the time but wanted a definate reservation just for Christmas day and New Years eve?

nevh2001

Try this great hostel:

http://www.gapyear.com/accommodation/thailand_bangkok_recommended_hostel.html

Donnie

Central to what? mystic_trev's suggestion is excellent for travel links. Rooms are a little basic. Cost is 900 baht.

The Khaosan area is central to the Old Town, for sightseeing.
New Siam 2; http://www.newsiam.net/ns/index.php is a recommendation in that area. Around the same price.

Forget about trying to book somewhere for those two days. You'll need to book for the whole period and to do it now.

What's your budget?

stratford_2

Another vote for the New Siam II guest house - it's about 5-10 mins walk to KSR and is around £12 / night for the air-con rooms with TV.

Check out the tripadvisor reviews on the following link - I've also pasted my review below.

New Siam Guest House II: "The best value place to stay in the Koh San Road Area"

"We have stayed in the New Siam II a number of times over a few years and, in our view, it is easily the best value hotel in the Koh San Road area.

Prices at the New Siam have gone down significantly over the last couple of years due to the increased competition from new, large hotels nearby. This makes it even better value than before! We stayed here again in December 2005 after spending a night from the Rambuttri Village Inn, around the corner. The Village Inn had gone downhill from when we stayed a couple of years ago (and had cheap opening offers). We should have just gone to the New Siam II directly again!

It is consistent in quality for a budget hotel. It’s clean, secure, the staff are polite and efficient, the tour desk is helpful/fairly priced and food is basic but cheap and good quality. All in all, there’s not much more it can do to be best value in the area (and we checked again all the other and cheaper accommodation nearby, in true backpacker style!)."

Donnie

Prices at the New Siam have gone down significantly over the last couple of years due to the increased competition from new, large hotels nearby

That's completely wrong. Their prices have been going up on a regular basis.
I know, because I stay there at least once annually.
Still, they represent good value for the mainstream tourist.

JonSalat

If you want somewhere else rather than Kao San to stay but much more central go to Ngam Duplee Road (though avoid the Malaysia Hotel). I lived in that area for almost 13 years and it's a lot cleaner than Kao San. It's easy to get to from the airport. Exit Rama 3 from the expressway, join Nanglinchee Road, down Yen Akart, and you're then on Ngam Duplee ( 5 minutes from the expressway exit, 15 even in rush hour).

I've just sent an email to a friend to get more details of the hotels for you, since my thai wife stayed at two of them, but cant remember the names. One was 300, (£4.30) and the other 400 Baht (£5.70) a night to stay. Both were clean and had aircon.

Ngam Duplee is 10 minutes from Silom Road and Patpong with all your shopping needs. It has cheap restaurants. It's about 15 minutes in a taxi to the train station (allow longer during rush hour), and if you want to go to the Kao San area I recommend you get a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel, on the river, and take a water bus from the pier to the Grand Palace pier. It's cheap 5-10 Baht, considerably faster, and less polluted air

Koh Samui is a different challenge though ( I also spent 5 years living there ) Christmas and New Year is their busiest time, and you'll find that a lot of the rooms are already booked. Many of the hotels charge you for a Xmas & New Year dinner whether you attend or not ( they can be quite pricey), so when you book do ask if you can opt out (you'll find plenty of restaurants doing Xmas dinners at lot cheaper rates). Have you a beach that you're thinking of staying on ? I lived in Lamai (cheaper to stay at), but Chaweng is where most things happen, nightlife wise. If you want some recommendations for places try https://www.sawadee.com . They have reviews and you can also book online with them

Hope this is of help. I'll get back with the hotel details in BKK when I get them.

Have a great time