Monrak Lamtakong Resort

Lovely people and good views.

Love it.

The name sounds a little odd, but with the discount it's great value. The entrance isn't well maintained and has three large gas stations. There's plenty of food and drink around, so you won't go hungry. The house itself is set back from the road, behind a high wall, and is completely quiet. The owner lives in one of the houses, raises sheep, and grows pineapples, which made it feel safer to us. From the entrance it looks like a one- or two-star motel, but it really isn't. The house has a spacious room and a pleasant setting, and the owners are friendly. We've seen families with young children staying there. The bedroom is roomy and fairly clean, with a large bed and work desk. The bathroom is also large, with steady hot water pressure and no musty smell or mold. There's ample restaurant and food choice nearby, and you can ask for a weekday discount. Credit cards aren't accepted, but eBank payment is possible. The Wi-Fi is quite slow. One very serious drawback: if you follow the route Google Maps gives you, your car will break down. Enter between the Bangchak and Shell gas stations instead. It's only 30 meters away.

Someone stayed up to welcome us late at night, and I'm very grateful. We got the pink house. At first things seemed okay, but the water heater barely worked and the shower had no heat. When we returned to bed, we noticed a medium-sized hole in the ceiling. We thought maybe it had been left unrepaired. Around 2 a.m., something large started running inside the ceiling. We guessed it might be a gecko or a mouse, and from the sound it seemed there could be more than one. We were afraid it would come through the hole, too scared to shine a flashlight up there, and so suspicious that we barely slept until morning. We know we arrived late and this was the only room left. We'd also been caught in a flash flood and couldn't go somewhere else, so we had to find a place suddenly. But shouldn't the room still have been checked more carefully? The noise alone would've been one thing, but there was a hole in the ceiling. We didn't like the experience at all.