Royal Ivory Sukhumvit Nana

This has become my number one cheap hotel. I rarely review places, but after reading what was online before booking, I wanted to report how it went. Money was tight, so I took care with my belongings and left the do not disturb sign up when I went out. I kept things locked, but honestly, I felt safe. The place has charm, with a huge, fairly stylish frontage onto the street. The rooms are huge too. Staff were a little quiet at first, then a few days in they were all smiles and jokes. They're lovely. It's on the action street but tucked a short walk away from the hustle, without feeling tiny. On a budget, this is your place. If they put more effort into leasing the internal shops, played some music at night, and ran a hotel bar, I reckon they could charge at least double.

NOT RECOMMENDED. I stayed two nights to see whether the good reviews were onto a hidden gem. I don't think it is, and I won't return unless I'm after a budget “no good” adventure. I can't see it being more than that. The loudest problem was the hallway. Not the bars or shops outside, but banging, yelling, and crashing right outside my door woke me many times. What was going on? There's no note for telling the maid whether you want service, so they'll bang on your door to ask, then loudly knock on every other door down the hall too. The whole place reeked of cigarettes, even the bedsheets. There's no water in the room, just a note pointing to a dispenser down the hall. Water pressure was awful, so the bidet only dribbled, which annoyed me more than it probably should, I like to be clean. No switch by the bed, just a lamp, and the switches were broken or in disrepair, with electrocution risk, so be careful. The nuts are bags full of air with about eight nuts inside, and cost 50 baht each. I tried one, it's a scam, don't eat them. On the plus side, I saw or detected no cockroaches, which pleased me since I was wary. The hotel was fairly “clean” for what it is, and staff were quite friendly. It's close to Nana and Sukhumvit, handy if you want to see all kinds of girls hanging outside the hotel.

The door lock didn't work. They spent 30 minutes trying to fix it without success, then moved us to another room. The place is old, and they put beer and snacks in the rooms and charge extra if you open them. That felt like a scam, and they should explain the charges before check-in.

⚠️ WARNING, WORST HOTEL EXPERIENCE ⚠️ The window frame fell out from the third floor when I simply tried to open the window. I believe poor construction caused it. Instead of accepting responsibility, the Indian owner tried to make me pay 30,000 baht. I had to bring in the police and a friend who is my Thai ambassador to explain that it wasn't my fault. Even then, I was pressured into paying 3,000 baht for something I believe resulted from the hotel's bad construction and lack of maintenance. The owner only cares about money, not safety or guests. I found the place unsafe, unfair, and greedy. Avoid it at all costs.