Samran Place Hotel Bangkok

I first heard about Samran Place from a colleague who recommended it when I was looking for a cheap-ish hotel in Bangkok - I was a little apprehensive at first, since this colleague is able to totally slum it out at ratty old backpacker places and I treasure at least a modicum of comfort, but went ahead after looking at the pictures on the website.

I know, I know... Stupid. In the end, though, I was pleasantly surprised. The hotel is nothing to shout about; don't expect a boutique hotel or exceedingly great levels of service, but if you approach it with a hope-for-the-best attitude, it's fine.

The staff are fine, they helped me whenever I requested for anything and that's all anyone can ask of them. The beds were relatively comfortable and the bathroom is in decent condition, though I had some trouble with the tap. A call to the reception, 10 minutes and some elbow grease by a plumber later, all was well again.

The room I had faced the main road, which was a good thing because I don't really want to imagine what I would've been looking at had I been given a room facing any of the other 3 directions - the surrounding area isn't exactly Beverly Hills, to say the least.

One great thing about Samran Place is that there is a massage place right next door to the hotel. On almost every night of my stay, I'd make my way down to get a cheap massage - just 200THB for a Thai massage! The oil massage at 400THB wasn't quite worth the money in my opinion, but I guess your mileage may vary.

Transport-wise, it's easy to get to the major shopping areas from Samran Place. The BTS station is a 10-15 minute walk away, although I just crossed the road to take a cab most days. It's a 5 minute cab ride to The Platinum Fashion Mall, which is almost the only place you'll need to go for cheap and trendy clothes.

Overall I found Samran Place to be an excellent deal for the price they're charging. If you don't wanna slum it out at a backpacker's place but don't want to spend too much either, Samran Place is a pretty good middle ground.