Thongchen Residence

The front desk experience was a little unusual. I arrived to check in at 13:40 and was told check-in was at 14:00. The young man chatted on his phone until then. I've flown 4.2 million miles, so I didn't need a lesson, but the 20 minutes went by quickly. The place looked clean and new, with white walls, lots of glass, strong Wi-Fi, a Japanese fridge, and a German water heater. It was quite livable for one or two nights, but maintenance may be lacking. The fancy-looking sink had awful gunk when I plugged it to wash underwear, for example. When I drained the water, it came through the plumbing and onto the floor. Soundproofing also seemed poor: I could hear the next-door conversation, though thankfully couldn't understand it since I don't know East European languages.

We booked two rooms for one night with my family before heading on to southern Thailand. The rooms were bright and clean, though not large. There was no breakfast, but we could get coffee or tea and biscuits at reception. I especially appreciated how kind and helpful the receptionist was in sorting out our small problem. Thank you.

Everything was fine apart from the water heater in my room, which didn't work.

The room quality was OK, but the bathroom was really bad. There was no breakfast, and they asked for a deposit for a simple key card. I also had to pay the full room charge upfront.