The royal bamboo lodge

The gardens were beautiful, and even though the hotel is central for restaurants and close to the National Park entrance, it sits back from the road and stays very quiet. The rooms were clean and comfortable, though the beds felt a bit hard. Restaurant food was OK. There weren’t vegan options, but with advance notice they made something simple. Staff were friendly.

After a 16-hour trip with no sleep, we arrived with our luggage and were met by a receptionist who was cold, dismissive, and unfriendly. She demanded a 1000 THB deposit before letting us see the room, in a way that felt like an order. We asked politely to look first, which seemed to annoy her. The room was already clean and ready, so we asked whether we could check in a little early because we were exhausted. She bluntly said, “100 baht to enter early.” We’ve travelled in Thailand for years and never had a fee put to us with that kind of hostility. We agreed to pay the deposit and wait until 2 PM for normal check-in. Then, for no valid reason, she decided she wanted to cancel our reservation, despite our wishes. She kept saying she would call the booking platform to cancel everything, ignoring what we told her. For over 30 minutes she left us in the lobby, wouldn’t answer questions or give us information, and acted in a way that felt deliberately provocative. It seemed as if she was trying to drive us away, even though we repeatedly confirmed we wanted to stay, pay the deposit, and check in at the proper time. We eventually had no choice but to leave, exhausted and humiliated, and find somewhere else at the last minute. It cost us four times more. The receptionist’s unprofessional and disrespectful behaviour caused a major financial and emotional inconvenience. She even says she is the manager, which makes this worse. In all our years travelling through Thailand, we’ve never experienced anything like this. The lack of empathy, professionalism, and basic respect was beyond what we could have imagined. I absolutely do NOT recommend this hotel. It doesn’t have to be luxurious, but management’s arrogance and rudeness ruined the whole travel experience. Avoid it at all costs.

The receptionist ruined what could have been a 5* stay. She was very rude when we asked to leave our bags there for the day while we went on a tour, and refused unless we had booked the tour through them. The place itself was nice and the room was good value. I’d been in Thailand for 3 weeks and everyone else had been so friendly, so this hospitality was a real shame. I wouldn’t recommend it if you want a welcoming, friendly service.

We had a relaxing stay in a beautiful natural setting, with friendly, helpful staff. There are lots of restaurants within walking distance, and both breakfast and dinner were good. The tours and tips from reception were excellent and very fairly priced compared with other offers.