ZEN Rooms Roundabout Karon Beach

Really cool room design, and the cafe and breakfast downstairs were awesome. The area is great, and the staff were super kind. Great place to stay!

There’s pretty much everything on the street here, from shops and restaurants to bars and cafes, and the beach is nearby, almost right at the front. The rooms are great, with new fixtures and air conditioning that worked perfectly. Housekeeping came every other day, though things sometimes got a bit hectic. Once the water was off from around 03:00 to 07:00. The coffee here in Karon is the best, and the servings are huge. Jonathan, his son James, Em, and Au were lovely, knowledgeable, sociable, and hospitable, always ready to help with what guests needed. Many thanks to them! There is music every night until 01:00. That may be fine if you don’t mind being up late, but it could be noisy for people who prefer quiet or are travelling with children. Families might prefer a quieter, more expensive hotel. The price is very reasonable for what you get, and I’d give it a 7 out of 10 for price, quality, location, and service. Best regards, Serik from Kazakhstan.

The receptionist was kind and welcoming, and the hotel is in a nice spot close to the beach. We struggled to find it at first because we confused it with the tattoo shop next door, and our taxi dropped us at the other end of the road. The receptionist noticed us looking confused and came out to greet us. Once in the room, though, it was nowhere near what we expected from the Booking.com listing. There were five separate stains on the sheets, cobwebs by the showerhead, a broken chair, and a broken plug socket. We paid £53 for three nights and weren’t expecting a five-star resort, but this wasn’t up to any standard. We were two young backpackers from the other side of the world and decided we didn’t want to stay. We politely told the receptionist and thanked him. We requested a full refund through our booking provider, knowing it might not be possible since we’d checked in, but thought we’d ask given the condition. The owner refused, which we expected and weren’t planning to complain about. They said the linen was professionally cleaned and there wasn’t a cobweb in the shower. I offered to show a video of the cobweb and stains, but the owner didn’t want to see it and denied them. The owner also told me the receptionist said we’d stood outside chatting before coming in, and that he could tell from my girlfriend’s face she didn’t like the hotel before entering. We’d just been confused, trying to find a hotel in a foreign country. In hindsight, we’re glad we left if guests are judged that quickly. The owner also reminded me that after Booking.com fees, we’d paid only £14.60 per night. We weren’t expecting luxury, but thought a bed without stains was a basic given. We wouldn’t have stayed even if they’d paid us £14.60 a night. We know we could have taken a different room, and the owner said that was an option, but the condition of this one and the other Booking.com reviews we’d somehow missed had already left us uncomfortable. I’ve never felt the need to leave a bad review before, but this experience pushed me to. If the owner had apologised instead of denying what I said, I don’t think I’d have written this. We switched to another hotel in karon and had a much better stay.

The staff were nice, and the location made it easy to get everywhere. A nearby bar was loud, but it didn’t bother us. The room photos online looked better than the room itself. The smell was the main problem. It was really strong, and our clothes still smell of it. I think it may have come up through the shower drain from the canalisation.