Runako lodge

It's a quiet, very nice place, a little outside the center but easy enough to reach by tuk tuk. The rooms are basic, but very clean. Staff were so helpful and friendly, treating us like family. When they weren't serving lunch, they even went out to a local place to get us drinks and food. Highly recommended!

A quiet place with a swimming pool and cars available to rent for tours at a reasonable price.

The experience was so bad I'm glad to have left. Runako lodge, which used to be called rena lodge, sits behind a gate in a back alley. From the surroundings, you could hardly tell there was a lodge there. I should have paid more attention to the dubious reviews, or the lack of them. I booked a single room directly on their website because the price looked reasonable. After I paid, no confirmation came, so I emailed them. The strange reply only said the room was booked. When I arrived, reception seemed confused even though I had a reservation. One man took our backpacks from the car, then dropped them on the dirt beside it without carrying them anywhere. I still don't know why he picked them up. The owner also seemed unaware of what was on the website. I showed them the odd email and explained I'd booked online, and only then did they take me to the room. Then they said the amount I'd paid was just a deposit, and I owed another 70% because the rate was per person, not per night. The site had said nothing about a deposit or a per-person price, and I assumed the listed price was the final one. I wouldn't have booked if the full cost had been clear. They apologized and said the website was being maintained, which felt ridiculous and deceptive. They could have taken the page down or emailed me the full price before I arrived. Instead, it felt like a bait and switch. Breakfast wasn't much to write home about: fruit, toast, eggs, and a few vegetables. The cooked ground meat looked gross. The pool looked sad and dirty. Wi-Fi barely worked, and there was barely any hot water in the shower. The location was awful, with lots of hawkers and beggars around and few appealing places to eat nearby. The walls were paper thin, so I could hear sounds from the lobby. For service, it was the worst lodge I've stayed in. There are better hotels and lodges around. If you still prefer this one, book through a third-party site. I wouldn't book directly with them.

Rooms were clean, Wi-Fi was ready, and the service was very good, all at an affordable price. Getting to the location was quite a hassle when we visited, so that cost it a star.