Accommodation in Isaan

[jai-dee]

Last month I did a bit of travelling around Isaan (and elsewhere) and I thought I'd share

my experiences with accommodation there. Let me say up front that this is not any comprehensive

list and I'm not comparing any of the establishments mentioned with any others, because all

but one was discovered by chance, without any prior knowledge of their existence.

 

The point I want to make is that there is accommodation available just about everywhere,

and you don't need to book it 2 months in advance. Even for those few hotels that can

be booked over the internet you won't get anything like "70% discounts" that online agents

offer for Bangkok hotels. Most hotels have room prices clearly displayed at the reception.

 

On this trip I discovered this new accommodation category (new for me) - thai resorts.

They look like a cluster of small bungalows, usually outside the cities, and can be found

in many places. At first I thought there were a rather limited phenomenon, until (after the

trip) I came across a brochure that lists hundreds of resorts just in the Kanchanaburi province.

But they are a bit difficult to find unless you can read thai - almost all had signs in thai only.

 

All the places we stayed in had bathroom with hot water, air-cond, TV, complimentary drinking

water and parking. None of them was bothered with how many people we crammed in the room,

prices were strictly per bed. We were 5 and if we were willing to sleep the children on the

floor we could easily have stayed in double rooms. Most of the hotels (but not resorts) also had

breakfast included, some really good.

 

Mukdahan: right next to the (mostly useless) tourist office in the city centre there is a

nice new Sapmukda hotel, with double rooms at 400B. We didn't stay there because they couldn't

provide an extra bed and went to River City hotel instead where we paid 750B for a twin plus

250B for the extra bed. In retrospect taking 2 rooms at Sapmukda would have been better.

 

Kalasin: Supak hotel has a range of rooms from 220B. We took the VIP room for 700B. The

room was huge, the size of about 3 standard hotel rooms. (But still dwarfed by an enormous

room at Prasopsuk hotel in Kanchanaburi.)

 

Loei: just south of the city is the 99 Resort. Nice and new, with large rooms at 450B.

 

Nong Reua (this is a small place west of Khon Kaen): a rather basic resort, name forgotten,

at 3ooB, but they did throw in a mattress for free.

 

Buriram: Wongthong hotel, rooms at 600B. This was the only hotel that I knew of in advance,

as I found some really nice photos on its website. It was also the only one that disappointed.

The room was nowhere like the one in the photo. I showed the photo at the reception and told

them I would like a room like that, and got the answer: "Sorry, photo taken many years ago."

 

Nong Rong (near Phanom Rung in Buriram): Nong Rong hotel with rooms at 350-400B.

 

Wang Nam Khiao: this is not strictly Isaan anymore, it's in the hills south of Korat.

Bahn Thale Mok resort at 1,200B was the nicest of all places we stayed. It has heaps of

recreational facilities (rock climbing, children's playground, dancing floors, swimming

pool, conference hall, parks) and although quite large, we were one of only 2 guests that night.

 

In fact, all resorts (including those we just passed) were practically empty and all hotels

had plenty of vacancies.

 

 

[CTO]

I use "Thai Resorts" often - however in reality they are just short time hotels in the bush

[shygye]

squat or western?

[Faustian]

jai-dee, nice info...thanks!