The Bamboo House

The location is very good, and the staff are wonderful, but the rooms feel pretty average for the price. Basic upkeep seems neglected, from electrical fixtures and plumbing to the doors. Also, check what they mean by “balcony,” since it may not match what you have in mind.

The rooms could be better, but the staff are friendly and helpful, and they speak English. You’re centrally located, with markets, restaurants, and bars nearby. The room rate is about $17 a night, average to a little high for a similar room; for $3 more, you can include daily breakfast. The restaurant food is good and inexpensive.

The owner and family are thoughtful and provide good service. My double room was okay, with a really comfortable bed. It’s a great base for reaching the capital’s sights. The area is a little quieter than around the pub street, though there are still plenty of bars nearby, and they close early.

Breakfast and the rooftop restaurant were the only things I liked, and neither made up for the stay. I wouldn’t recommend this place at all. The next day I tried to get a refund, but the language barrier made it too much hassle, so I bought antibacterial cleaner and cleaned the room myself. I was in room 301, a standard fan room above the guesthouse restaurant. It didn’t have a balcony. The bed area was okay, but the sheets and towels didn’t seem freshly washed. The bathroom was awful: dried urine on the toilet seat, no toilet lid or flush handle, a punch mark in the door, black mold around the tub, dirty rings in it, and stains splashed over the walls. It looked dingy and wasn’t somewhere I wanted to be on vacation. When we got back one day, the toilet was leaking all over the floor. My spouse and I looked around for someone to fix it and clean up the puddle, but no one was available. I eventually found a guy in the restaurant. He looked at the mess and left. I waited twenty minutes, assuming he’d tell someone, but no one came. My spouse looked up the problem and fixed the toilet himself, though the floor was still wet. When I asked a house cleaner to deal with the water, she handed me a mop and bucket. It was ridiculous and really annoying, since the mess came from a broken toilet, not from us. The stairs to the room were narrow, dirty, and dim. There’s no elevator, so I wouldn’t recommend it for someone with a leg or knee disability. The room also didn’t look like the online pictures. I arrived at 1 a.m. and had already paid, so I stayed even though I was tempted to go elsewhere. Bring toilet paper and a small Ziplock bag of Clorox cleaning wipes. They provide only a toothbrush and a bar of soap. Consider booking a room with air conditioning too. The fan made sleeping miserable in the hot, humid night, though that didn’t affect my rating. There was some noise at times, but it never fully disturbed my sleep.