曼谷奈达客房邦甲比卡塔尔队酒店(Nida Rooms Bang Kapi 246 Rajamangala)

I booked the family room with a private pool at Yotaka Boutique Hotel in BKK for August 9-15 2023, and paid way too much for what turned out to be a miserable stay. I wish I'd read the reviews before booking. The room looked appealing in the photos, with its boutique design, but there was a strong smell as soon as I walked in. The coffee and dining tables were dirty, the bathroom glasses were dirty too, and there were marks all over the villa walls, mirror and bathroom walls, including mold. The odor seemed to come from the pool area and the drainage canal beside the hotel, and spread through the room. The pool setup seemed badly designed: the shower is right beside it, with no gap separating the pool from wastewater. Soap, shampoo, or even pee from the shower can flow back into the pool. Bad smells woke me during the night and gave me headaches, so I couldn't sleep well. There were lots of mosquitoes too, and I used repellent spray. There was no internet, and the TVs in both bedrooms had no signal. The living room TV worked, but had no CNN, BBC, or other international news channels. The family room with a private pool wasn't worth the money. It was dirty and smelly, felt overrated, and had no parking. I wouldn't recommend it.

My first hotel stay was also the worst. My family and I spent four nights there, and it felt unsafe, dirty, and noisy. There's no breakfast at the hotel. The staff were kind, but couldn't speak English and used Google Translate. Nearby, there were no restaurants, just a cafe and Thai street food. It's far from downtown, and the area is crowded with heavy traffic. The place wasn't clean and the service was poor. The towels were very old, and the air conditioning didn't work well. We saw mosquitoes, lizards, spider webs, cockroaches, and three rats near the swimming pool. There was a mask under the sofa, and a sewage water river beside the hotel. Some pictures.

The family room was spacious and comfortable enough for our stay, with a dining table, coffee table, TV, new full-size fridge with a freezer above, kettle, and towels folded into little elephants on the beds. We didn't have major problems, but there were so many small ones that we wouldn't return. Getting in was awkward, with no ramp or level entrance, just stairs of different heights. Staff spoke little or no English, so I downloaded Thai on Google Translate. It was cash only, with the whole fee plus a 500B deposit due upfront. We knew that already, but carrying so much cash as a tourist wasn't comfortable. We used an ATM on the next block. We got a key and card, but the card didn't work, so we left it in the room. The room was pretty dirty when we arrived: dead and dying cockroaches in the master bedroom and ensuite, used bandaids stuck to the shower wall, and marks and splashes all over the villa walls. The wooden folding doors with glass panels were rusted shut. A list on the coffee table showed charges for all sorts of things, including condoms, towels, moving furniture, spoons and bottled water. There was no internet, although the WiFi router by the TV could be used for casting. We put up the Do Not Disturb sign, but staff called two days in a row about housekeeping, then asked us in person again on the third day as we were leaving. There was no microwave, but the 7/11 down the street would heat food bought there. The pool tiles were broken or loose, or had been patched with cheap glue. Fixtures on the metal privacy wall were rusted and falling apart. A bit of plastic foliage was in the middle, but the apartment building opposite had balconies facing us, so it needed a lot more screening or shade sails. Behind that wall, a wastewater canal held garbage, algae and other rotten-looking stuff. We smelled it right away, though after a few hours we got used to it and didn't notice it for the rest of the week. Cars parked outside made the ground-floor rooms hard to reach. With a suitcase, you would have to lift it overhead and squeeze through the gap. We were lucky nobody parked there when we arrived or left. The old wicker-style beach furniture had loose threads and needed replacing. We could have used more towels, or at least pool towels. The outdoor rinse shower was broken, with water gushing from the top where the pipe was probably cracked. The master bedroom air conditioner was very loud and clicked randomly day and night. On our last night, it clicked constantly, just when we had to get up at 5am. Running both electric hot-water showers at once cut the power. The switchboard was in the master bedroom, so we could flip it back ourselves. It was kind of funny during the day, less so at 5am in the dark. We had asked ahead to check out at 6am and confirmed it in person the day before, but nobody was at reception then, so we had to call and wait. Check-out took a while because that same staff member had to check whether we'd used anything on the charge list.

We booked four months ahead because the hotel was within walking distance of a concert at Rajamangala stadium. At 11pm, while we were in a taxi from the airport, the hotel cancelled our room. They said they had overbooked and the other group checked in first. They then put us in another room that was clearly occupied by a rat. There were droppings all over the bathroom, and more the next morning. The ceilings had mold, there was dust everywhere, and the dirty floors turned our feet black.