Western Grand Hotel Ratchaburi (SHA Extra Plus)

A lovely breakfast and good parking made us very happy with our stay. The rooms were comfortable, the bath was nice, and everything worked. It’s an old hotel now, but I can imagine it was quite the place when it was new.

The room change was the only response we got, with no apology or compensation. In suite 4444, I first saw just two or three maggots in the washroom at check-in and didn’t worry much. When we returned that night, there were more than 15 on the floor, and some had even got into our luggage. The night receptionist was awful and spoke as if we had brought them in ourselves. We’d also brought our baby into this dirty room, where we found a cockroach on the bed. I couldn’t help thinking about the risk of bacteria getting to our baby.

I left and booked My Room nearby instead. It was much better and much cheaper, at 500 baht a night. Agoda didn’t refund me. I’d been told to book through agoda because it was cheaper, but then I couldn’t get my money back. At Western Grand Hôtel, there was no breakfast despite the Agoda listing, a horrible room smell, unbearable heat, and an abnormal number of mosquitoes. The air-conditioning seemed ancient and couldn’t cool the room properly. The bed wasn’t king size as advertised, it was very loud, and the lighting was extremely dim. Check the reviews first. It has a 3.9 rating, which says enough.

If you’re going to an event at the conference center, the hotel is less than a 30-second walk away. The center has table seating, projectors, screens, and sound systems. For other meals, nearby choices seem limited to a small Vietnamese restaurant, so pick something up at a convenience store before you arrive if you want more options. Breakfast starts at six in the main dining room. There’s a limited selection of Thai and international food, including bread, plus a little egg station where they cook eggs fresh, omelettes and such. The staff were generally friendly and helpful. The hotel is showing its age and feels a bit run-down, but the rooms are generally clean, including the bedding and bathrooms. Furnishings are basic but fine if you keep your expectations modest.