My husband and I will be in Bangkok for approximately 5-6 days and are seeking a charming hotel with a great location for around $100 or under. Is this possible? Ideally, we'd like to be on the river near the Grand Palace area. Thanks for any hotel or other suggestions you might have!

This is a tall order for US$100. Hotel prices in Bangkok have gone up a lot in the past few years.

A couple of options: The Old Bangkok Inn, which has gotten some good reviews, is in the GP area. It used to be about US$100, depending on when you are going, you might be able to get it for that price.

Centerpoint Silom, serviced apartments, ideally located by the river and the Skytrain has had rooms in that range.

Check out www.aurum-bangkok.com the rate may be a little over but it looks like a nice place right on the river and reasonably close to the grand palace. I haven´t stayed there but have passed it many times on the river boat to Wat Po and it looks really nice.

Being close to the grand palace is not necessarily the best location. Yes, you'll be near some of the major sights, and the streets around there can be interesting at night, but they can also be noisy, and getting anywhere else, like shopping or other sights, will take quite some time.

That said, if you really want to stay in that area, you might have a look at the Best Western Swana. It's not on the river, but is walking distance to the palace and gets fairly good reviews. Another hotel in that area and price range is the Hotel De Moc.

There are lots of hotels under $100 - most of the hotels are under $60 anyway! Hotels in the 600 baht range can be found with air conditioning, private bathrooms and TV's. Even though some hotels in Bangkok have raised their prices you can still find good prices compared to other countries.

Here is a partial list of hotels and prices.
http://www.sawadee.com/hotels/bangkok.html
http://www.bangkok.com/pratunam/prat...e-to-stay.html

Having a hotel near the Grand Palace is nice for a day or two, after that you find yourself wasting time and taxi costs getting to other areas.

If you get a hotel near the Skytrain route you can use that overhead transportation service to get around town.

The Asia Hotel is right on a Skytrain stop. From that location you can easily walk to shopping on Phetchaburi Road or use the Skytrain to get to many other areas in the city.
http://www.asiahotel.co.th/asia_bangkok.htm

Good luck.

The Menam Riverside is too big to be charming, but it is definitely on the river with easy access to transport. You don't give your dates but agoda.com has rooms there in late October for $91. While rates have clearly gone up - I paid half that to stay at the Menam in Dec '04 - as SirHalberd says, BKK is still awash in hotels at lower prices.

Check the Tripadvisor reviews at http://tinyurl.com/5gvq8x
Of the ten most highly rated hotels in Bangkok, five come in under $110.
I'd be interested in comments on Phranakorn-Nornlen Hotel, Pullman Bangkok King Power, Lamphu Tree House, Imm Fusion Sukhumvit, or Adelphi Suites Bangkok--all from the TA top ten list.

My vote goes to Adelphi Suites. I'll soon be staying there for my third time. But, I think the price has seen an increase. You might check.
Carol

Thanks for that recommendation. Carol. I did check Adelphi Suites, and five nights in February averaged $98.50 US, taxes and breakfast included. Keep watching the dollar climb, and your stay might be less than you imagine. But have no FodorFolk stayed at any of the other four places?
Will

WillJame
Just curious... are you looking at an apartment (I always stay in one of the exec apts) or at a studio for that price?
The baht/dollar is at 33.910 and climbing!! Wohoooooo!!

We stayed at the Arun Residence this past February for about $100/night. We chose the top-level room which has its own large private deck - perfect for lounging and watching the river traffic go by. The Grand Palace is essentially down a short alley and across the street.

Carol, I was looking at a room (i.e., "studio&quot with king-size bed at Adelphi Suites for $98.50; a "suite" (apt?) would be $125. But for the sake of comparison under the c. $100 limit the dgunbug couple is seeking, probably a studio is the better choice.
Sir Halberd, the Asia Hotel is #194 on TA's list; Nognig, the Arun Residence is #80 on the TA list. I suspect that big a gap below their top ten rankings is meaningful.
Yours in the quest for a <$100 "find,"
Will

Will, remember that on TA if you look at the "top 10" list some of them are apples, some are oranges, some are something else. Someone stays at a basic guesthouse they love and rate it highly, someone else stays at a top 5* hotel and experiences a single lapse of service and rates it below average... you get the picture. So I wouldn't use TA rankings as a determinant of where to stay. Read the reviews carefully to see if the rater values the same things you do.

Sure, Kathie--good points--read between the lines, consider the nature of the place, look at the preponderance of opinions, and try to see where the disgruntled (or ecstatic) ones are coming from. And one has to consider the number of TA reviews a place has--hundreds or a dozen?
But right off the bat we've got a fruit salad in response to the original request. The dgunbugs asked about a hotel (apple?); you offered a B&B (orange?) and an apartment (pear?). But if you were wanting to spend under $100 for a Bangkok hotel room, would you choose the Asia Hotel (TA #194) or the Pullman Bangkok King Power (TA #6)? Or, if you were after a <$100 pear, which would it be the Arun or Adelphi Suites? In the orange category your Old Bangkok Inn ranks TA#3 while the 13 Coins Surawongse Antique Villa ranks #35, and the two most recent reviews begin "A nightmare of a place," and "Don't book it." So, I disagree: Where there's a wide spread in the rankings, I think TA reviews can be a big help in determining where to stay. That's why looking at the TA list's top ten for <$100 places is an excellent place to begin a search.

LOL, you do have quite a fruit salad there!

I wouldn't consider the Old Bangkok Inn a B&B, more a boutique hotel. And the Arun Residence isn't really a serviced apartment like the Adelphi Suites or Centerpoint Silom are. I guess the Old Bangkok Inn and the Arun Residence are more like mangoes!

The Asia hotel is a huge hotel, right on the Skytrain, so it's very convenient. The reviews we've heard here say it's a bit (or even more than a bit) worn. The Pullman, has been termed luxe by some, but less conveniently located. So, if you are looking for luxe, you might opt for the Pullman, if you are looking for convenient, you might opt for Asia Hotel.

I'd say that the OBI, the Arun and the Pullman have charm, but I wouldn't call the Asia Hotel charming (nor either of the serviced apartment options mentioned). There really is no "one best" answer to this question. Given all available, different people will make different choices.

By the way, one of the things that bothers me about TA is that there are often obviously planted reviews (either good by the hotel itself or bad by a competitor or many clones of a review by a disgruntled guest).

Boy, I've really gotten more than I've bargained for here - apples, oranges and pears! What an education. I'm enjoying reading all your comments. In actuality, I would like to stay at the Mariott or the Peninsula or one of those other great recommendations you've all made about hotels on the river, however, my DH's tastes are not as rich as mine! Not sure if it matters if it is a serviced apartment (not really sure the difference between this and a hotel though), a boutique hotel or a large hotel. We basically want something in a convenient location, with a comfortable bed and a bit of character. We've stayed in small rooms and that never bothers us. Breakfast would be a nice addition if it were included and I'd love more than a Western style breakfast - can have that anywhere! My DH says "We don't want to buy the room, we only want to spend the night", thus we usually opt for the more moderately priced accommodations. We will spend very little time in the room, although with the oppressive heat, we will likely want a pool on the premises and a convenient location to come back to easily. As for Trip Advisor, we always look at their comments and I agree, you must look at a trend rather than one or two comments. Gotta take the advise with a grain of salt. Thanks for all your comments and keep them coming.

By the way, have any of you heard of the Park Plaza? It seems to have consistently excellent reviews on Trip Advisor.

Sorry, I don't know the Park Plaza, so I can't help with that.

Do you know about www.sawadee.com? It's a Thai hotel booking site, and it has excellent prices for hotels in your price range. Also, the rates quoted typically include both tax and service (which adds 17%) and often, breakfast. Breakfast at hotels in Thailand is often expensive, so getting it in the room rate is the way to go. Browse the options in your price range and ask about specific places.

It is interesting to note that per Trip Advisor Phramakorn Nornien (no 2) and Lamphu Tree House (no 8) are in the old city area and north of the famous Khao San Rd. Both are 2 to 2+ star and the Tree house is along a smelly canal. Transportation from here is limited to taxis. You could walk to the Grand Palace but it is quite far.
The Imm Fusion Sukhumvit (no 9) is way up at soi 50 by the On Nut skytrain station. Not much in that area of interest but at least it is close to a station. These three are 2 to 2+ star catogory.

The Pullman (no 6) and the Adelphi Suites (no 10) are in another class and both very nice. Adeiphi is in a much better location in my opinion and a little cheaper but it is an apartment type hotel but still has all the facilities you would require.

How Trip Advisor rates the hotels is beyond me and should not be taken seriously. I mean Phramakorn Nornien as no 2 you must be joking.

I usually recommend the Bossotel Inn for a mid range hotel (under a $100). It is near the river and within easy walking distance of the skytrain and river ferry stop. Gets decent reviews and the deluxe rooms are very good.

$100 is a lot of money in Bangkok. Loads and loads of places to stay at that price range, though probably not right on the river! And charm is so subjective.

For years I've stayed at the New Siam Guesthouse (now New Siam I) in the Banglamphu area - friendly, clean, nice bathrooms, a/c and/or fan, great breakfast choices served in an open-sided area on the ground floor - good snacks for lunch too. For dinner you eat out. A five minute walk to a ferry stop, and handy for the Palace, Wat Po, National Musuem. But not good for access to the shopping areas downtown.

But this is way below your budget and might not be smart enough. You could look at their other more up-market offerings in the same area.
Here's the website:

http://www.newsiam.net/ns/newsiam4.php

I'd be tempted to stay around Banglamphu for at least 2-3 nights. Then if you want to shop - move somewhere else. Someone has already mentioned the Bosshotel which is handy for the Skytrain, and a 5-10 min walk from a river ferry stop too. I stayed there the last time I passed through BKK in June 2008 as an experiment, and because I had to spend some money on accommo as part of my air fare deal. Huge room (very nice) though bathroom needed a lick of paint. Breakfast is included (I had a flight at midnight so can't report on that). There is also a tiny plunge pool.

Not bad at all.

Cheers.