Siam Sam or others, can you recommend a hotel near the international airport? I’ll be arriving after more than 24 hours of transit and will just want to crash. I’d like a place that’s easy to get to in the middle of the night, under $50 if possible, and secure for a woman and her belongings. It can be near the airport, but ease of getting into Bangkok in the morning would be nice since I’ll have 2 days there. The key components, though, are easy, secure, and not exorbitant.
For access to activities, I’m interested in temples and buildings, bookstores, food, and markets, not nightclubs, drinks, dancing, drugs, or sex.
I’ll check Expedia and Lonely Planet, but would prefer a personal recommendation from someone who’s actually been there.
Not Siam Sam, but I also live in Bangkok. I also don’t have much experience with hotels here (as I don’t tend to need them), so take this with a grain of salt!
That said, I frankly would not worry about spending your first night near the airport-- Suvarnabhumi is only about 30 minutes from downtown Bangkok, and if you are getting in late at night, the traffic will be fine. That way you won’t have to switch hotels after the first night.
As for hotel recommendations, like I said I don’t know many specifics…but TripAdvisor has a good listing of hotels for under $50 a night. Given your lists of interests, I would also suggest that you might want to avoid the Banglamphu area, as that’s the typical backpacker’s hangout; you can get something more central, and near the Skytrain, for your $50 or under.
One thing I would suggest, if you are willing to spend a little more on transportation, is to take an AOT “limousine” from the airport instead of a plain taxi: it is a more relaxing trip in a nice car (not a limo per se), and you don’t have to worry about waiting in the taxi queue, or paying for the tolls on the expressway back (that’s all included, unlike a regular taxi). The cost, however, is about 1000 baht – about $30 at today’s prices-- as opposed to about $10 for a regular taxi. My husband has always done this for his business travel because he gets reimbursed, but we’ve also started doing it for regular trips, because it’s just that much more relaxing. If you decide to do this, look for the AOT signs at the airport-- they are right there at baggage claim, and also out in the main arrivals lobby-- and also request a SUV, as it is a little cheaper (otherwise for a sedan you may pay 1100 baht).
When are you coming? If possible we might be able to meet you (if you’re interested)!
Just returned to Bangkok. It’s so middle-of-nowhere out there that even though we just flew into Suvarnabhumi Airport this morning (Sunday morning), I had to ask the wife if there was a hotel out there yet. She thinks Novotel has one, the Novotel Airport or something like that. That’s about it. I second Flying Rat that you’d do better just to come into the city, but if you really want to stay out there, I’d suggest looking up the Novotel. It may be above $50, though.
Adding some more. There are so many hotel options inside the city. We usually recommend the Royal Hotel in the old part of the city, because they’re one of the few places that charge farangs (Westerners) the same as Thais, about US$30 or $35 I think. But that may be too deep inside the city for such a short jaunt. A popular one, especially with older backpackers who are making a bit more money these days is the Asia Hotel. It’s probably above $50 but not much more. Has its own Skytrain access.
As for bookstores, the Japanese chain Kinokuniya is the best. Branches in Siam Paragon, Central World and The Emporium, plus one other in some obscure place I think. I like the one in The Emporium best, although the one in Siam Paragon is larger; I don’t care for the one in Central World at all, as it’s hard to find (inside Isetan Department Store) and really seems more geared to Japanese than Western stuff. Lots of branches of Asia Books around the city, but they are hit and miss. There may be a branch or two of DK Books left, although I’ve not noticed them for years.
I must disagree with the airport “limo” service, as I consider it a complete rip-off. We always use the taxi queue outside and never have a problem. But if you DO use the “limo,” be sure to go to a counter like Flying Rat says. One thing that really, really irks me is the large numbers of official-looking people who will try to steer you into a “limo” of their own. These people have no connection whatsoever to the airport or the governemt, although they try to give that impression. I’ll often start off telling the first one “No, thank you,” then the next one or two “No, no,” until I start losing all patience and give all the rest afterward a “No!” It is a total disgrace that these people are allowed to bother arriving visitors and gives a bad first impression of Thailand. Everyone knows who is behind them, but since it is a member of a Family That Cannot Be Named, no one dares do anything about it. :mad: But the airport itself does have a “limo” service that should be used if you want that sort of thing. Otherwise, the charge in the taxi queue is the meter plus 50 baht, and you pay Expressway fees yourself.
Thank you both. I wound up getting a room at the Silver Gold Garden Hotel, which probably lacks distinctive character but is near the airport and was bookable through Expedia, which gives me some recourse if it’s not as advertised. I have an early flight back out and decided it would be less stressful to know I was close to the airport that morning.
I’m not sure of my schedule, but how about I post in this thread if I have time to be social and we can see if it works to get together? I’ll be there 2/1 and 2/2.
Too late now, but maybe it will be helpful for anyone else who’s looking–I LOVED the Hotel Atlantain Bangkok when we stayed there. Convenient location, affordable price, and tons of atmosphere and character.
The Atlanta Hotel is a venerable old place, a perfectly preserved mid-20th-century hotel. I was going to mention that it was the first hotel in Thailand to feature a swimming pool, but I see that’s mentioned on the website; I can confirm that, though. It still has the old-fashioned letter-writing desks of yesteryear in the rooms. And if you’re not intent on finding some female companionship, it’s a good choice, as they make an active effort to keep the bargirls out, also as you can see from the website. I pity the fool who tries to sneak one in. The restaurant is good and has an extensive menu that is heavily annotated; it also has a good collection of Thailand-related movies that it often shows.
The only reason I would not recommend it these days is that it is at the very end of Sukhumvit Soi 2, and it’s a quite a slog to the main road, let alone a Skytrain station, especially if you’re an old bastard like me. For all its charm, I would not really call the location convenient, especially with so many similarly priced options much closer to the road. Not sure if there are motorcycle taxis on that stretch.
Have not heard of the Silver Gold Garden. Looking it up, I’m not sure, but from the address it may be in the Ramkhamhaeng area. That will probably suit your purposes, but I’d not want to stay way out there for longer trips to Bangkok.
One hotel I would never recommend at all to anyone is the Welcome Plaza in Pattaya, which carries this helpful guest review on the Internet: “Stayed in the room 417 with wholly covered carpet on the floor. The carpet is so dirty that it smells so bad as it has been in a dead-man’s grav for hundred years. The worst thing is that there are cockroaches at the room I was staying in. Saw some guys complained that the hotel has termintes but I didn’t see any. The breakfast is so simple that I have never ever seen and every dag the same. The hotel charges for 300 BHT if you bring a girl to the hotel for overnight regardless even if you made the reservation and payed for two already.
The only good thing is that the hotel is located at the center of pattaya.
Don’t go there!”
