The Velvet Orchid

The central location was good, the bed was surprisingly comfortable, and the night guard made us feel secure. Reception staff were helpful with the problems they could solve. Still, after a string of issues, we were fed up and wouldn’t return. All three rooms had safes that didn’t work. We were given a large backup key, but that failed too, so the safe had to be physically replaced. The replacement still wouldn’t accept a password, meaning we had to carry the key. The rooms on the top floor near the elevator weren’t properly cleaned. There was hair on the floor, and the bathtub looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in ages, with dark, greasy stains from previous guests. A tap leaked, though we managed to fix it ourselves. Three of the four towels were dirty, and after asking for clean ones, one replacement was dirty too. We kept swapping them until we found clean towels. The air conditioning smelled and seemed not to have been cleaned in ages. The worst issue was the noise at night. There was likely a water pump near the elevator, possibly on the roof, that kept cycling on for 1-2 minutes and off for one minute. The building is poorly sound insulated. It wasn’t as noticeable during the day, but in the evening the constant noise made sleep impossible without earplugs. All three of our rooms were close to it, though apparently the whole upper floor could hear it. We told reception, and they turned it off for one night, which was a relief, and said they’d fix it. Nothing changed. We were told it was the water pump, so it was a feature rather than a fault. Other Booking reviews suggest this has been a problem for years, with nothing done about it.

The rooms are very nice, and a midday checkout is a real plus. There aren’t other facilities like a pool or breakfast, though. The fridge switches off when you take your room key out of the door, so it’s not much use unless you stay in the room. I also thought the long list of rules was a bit much. This was the only hotel I stayed at in Thailand that asked for a security deposit.

This is a reasonable budget hotel, and reception was helpful. Finding it can be tricky: it’s at the end of an alley, opposite the Nine Hotel. The entrance is crammed with things like clothing racks, which makes for a chaotic first impression. Our room had a nasty sewer smell coming up from the shower drain and another floor drain. I put a plastic bag under the drain covers between showers, and that worked. There was also lots of construction next door, with grinders running from 7am every day. For food nearby, Gord up the street was an awesome breakfast and lunch spot. 294 Bistro was good too, with awesome pasta.

The beds felt like clouds, and everything was pristine. Our room was quiet, with great AC, a balcony, a fridge, and a hot tub. It’s a quiet little boutique hotel, clean and close to the Saturday and Sunday night markets.