Ad Lib Hotel Khon Kaen

The room felt cramped and a little jail-like, and some broken things hadn’t been repaired, as shown in the images. There’s no ventilation in the room, so a hot shower leaves everything humid, and after using the toilet the whole room smells. At night the CO2 level rises and it affects sleep. I paid about 3100b for the smallest room type with breakfast, which felt overpriced without much of a 5-star feel. The hotel is new, fairly clean, and the service was good, though the main lobby wasn’t as nice as I expected.

The staff were all friendly, helpful, and seemed to speak good English. The pool on the 28th floor is exceptionally nice, and the big balcony gives great views over town. The shower is fantastic. The rooms are well designed, though they’re not especially large if you have two suitcases, and there’s hanging space instead of a wardrobe. The lift arrangement is odd: check in downstairs, ride up to the 27th floor, then change lifts to go back down to your room. Mine was on the 20th floor. The restaurant on 27 is lovely and the food is great, but it’s pretty expensive. Breakfast is there too, with a really fantastic spread, though the coffee was just average. It’s a great hotel and hard to fault.

The view is still unbeatable. Swimming above the Khon Kaen skyline on the 28th floor was breathtaking, and the room was decent, the staff friendly, and the breakfast spread tidy and well prepared, even if it wasn’t huge. I’d loved the view on a five-night stay last year, so this time I booked a Corner Suite for ten nights. The housekeeping was deeply disappointing. Dust bunnies were rolling around, with thick dust on the TV stand and under the furniture. I left the “change sheets” card on the pillow, but they just tidied the used sheets and put the card back on top. I couldn’t tell if they meant to imply the sheets had been changed or were ignoring the request. I told reception twice and nothing changed. I even had to soak the floor towel with water each day to get it replaced. At breakfast, the latte art on my caffè latte was completely messed up, but they served it anyway rather than remake it. That felt dismissive and disrespectful to me as a guest. I hope they sort these things out before my next stay.

We really liked the rooftop infinity pool and its views over the city. Our room was comfortable, thoughtfully designed, and also had a city view. The staff were great, and Food by Fire served very good food and service, with a well-cooked steak. A nice modern, contemporary surprise in Khon Kaen.