SOL Glamping at Khao Yai

It was peaceful, cool, and very quiet here, though there’s no WiFi and the nearest 7-Eleven is quite a distance away. We checked out around 8 AM to drive back to Bangkok. Staff offered a golf cart ride when we left, but we were fine without it. We arrived by car around 7 PM after spending the afternoon at Donghouse Cafe. The staff welcomed us right away and drove us to our room by golf cart, which was fun. We found the stay interesting, but seemed to be the only foreign tourists there. The outdoor movie was in Thai without English subtitles. The location is a fair way from Khao Yai’s main area, and the road is very dark, so I wouldn’t suggest riding a motorbike there at night. Arriving by car after dark was fine for us. The staff know only basic English and their pronunciation was hard for us to understand, but they made a real effort to communicate by typing into Google Translate and showing us. They were good to us and tried hard to take care of us.

The Thai comment says the hotel looks well known and attractive, but the service is awful, and suggests they should screen their staff better. I booked through a third-party company because it was cheaper than booking directly with the hotel. A couple of hours later, I got an email saying the reservation had been cancelled. I called to ask what had happened and whether they were fully booked. The staff member said rooms were available and that the hotel had made a mistake by not opening the email to accept the reservation or checking the steps involved. It took over three to four hours on the phone with the hotel and booking company to sort things out. One staff member I spoke to was quite rude and had no customer service skills or mindset. It’s a shame for a well-known hotel to have staff who don’t know how to treat or speak to customers. I didn’t stay there, and after the price and the way I was treated on the phone, I probably wouldn’t go. It wasn’t worth paying that much.

The stay was terrible, and I wouldn’t recommend the place. It felt very overpriced for what we got. The hotel calls itself “pet friendly,” but only after we’d checked in and brought our luggage into the room did they tell us there was an extra ฿500 per night charge for our dog. Pet owners can’t use most facilities, including the restaurant. The kitchen there also closes at 7:30pm for dinner. On a rainy morning we had to eat breakfast at a wet table outside. Noise from the nearby road came through the tent material all day, like shumkhuvit, and the hotel supplied earplugs, which felt like a warning sign.

The outdoor area is pleasant for photos, but that’s about the only good point. The camp is dirty and full of bugs, with very little room for two people. Breakfast was terrible, service poor, and the price too high. I wouldn’t stay more than one night.