Bangkok Hip Hotel Review

Bangkok is a city with no shortage of clean quality budget hotels. Hip Hotel in the Huai Khwang (or Huay Kwang) district of Bangkok is a perfect example. It is simply one of the top 5 budget hotels in Bangkok I have ever stayed in to make a review with room rates in the low 1000 Baht price range. The exterior of the Hip Hotel is unassuming but it has some of the most stylish spacious rooms and guest friendly hotel services near the hub of activity in Bangkok.

The Hip Hotel is located in the Huai Khwang District which is just 10 minutes away from Sukhumvit district via MRT underground Subway. Huai Khwang itself is an exciting area though much slower than the fast paced experience of Sukhumvit. It's not exactly a major tourist destination but there are many mid range to luxury hotels lining up Ratchapadisek road which connects Huai Khwang to Sukhumvit road.

Huai Khwang doesn't have any high office towers or Western fast food restaurants found on Sukhumvit road. That's because it's not a major tourist destination so it's not an area where tourists would ordinarily visit. Huai Khwang is mainly a Thai residential area with low to middle classed Thais and I find that it's a great area to wander around and see how the local city folks live in Bangkok. There are many restaurants in Huai Kwang. Some are very big though there are many more street side restaurants on the main road with cheap seafood dishes and traditional Thai fare. Just be prepared to point at what you want to eat because those restaurants mainly cater to locals, so no English menus will be available.

The real attraction in Huai Khwang for most male tourists are the notorious soapy massage parlors. Just outside from the main road leading to Hip Hotel are 6 massive buildings operating as brothels. These so called soapy massage parlors employ dozens of Thai ladies who are basically prostitutes offering erotic massages in large bathtubs followed by sexual services for a price.

I can't really label Huai Kwang as a red light district the same way as Sukhumvit's Nana and Soi Cowboy, mainly because none of the naughty nightlife found in there spill out onto the streets. At the onset while I was making this review about Hip Hotel Bangkok I automatically assumed that it's not so ideal for families. After all there are many other family friendly hotels in Bangkok to choose.

Hip Hotel was actually designed to be a soapy massage parlor too but somewhere along the way the plans fell through and the Hip Hotel was re-purposed into a fully functioning budget guest friendly hotel in Bangkok.

The Huai Kwang district is a very well known spot in Bangkok so any taxi driver will know how to get to the Hip Hotel from Suvarnabhumi airport. The taxi fare should cost roughly around 250 Baht, not including the 50 Baht airport surcharge.

You can save quite a bit of money though by taking the Airport Rail Express and transfer to the nearest connecting BTS Sky Train to Asoke station and ride the subway at Sukhumvit MRT station to Huai Khwang station. Riding Bangkok's trains to the Hip Hotel from the airport should cost around 100 Baht. If you are carrying a lot of luggage it's probably a better idea to take a taxi.

The hotel's internet connection is not free. The rates are pricey too by Thai standards.

• 30 minutes - 100 Baht
• 1 hour - 180 Baht
• 24 hours - 400 Baht
• 1 week - 1000 Baht

The Hip Hotel's front entrance is really plain and to be honest I didn't have much expectations when I first saw it. Across the hotel is a large parking space filled with several tour buses. No doubt this is a popular hotel for tour groups. The hotel lobby and reception is actually on the second floor which you can get to by using the escalator.

The lobby is not too fancy but functional with plenty of comfortable chairs. Reception was friendly and spoke decent English and I was handed my room key very fast after checking in. And right across from the reception is the hotel's restaurant

I booked a studio room at my favorite hotel reservation website called Agoda.com and got a room at the Hip Hotel for 1200 Baht per night which included a buffet breakfast. So at the time I paid $35 USD. If I had booked directly from Hip Hotel I would've paid around 1450 Baht per night instead.

I was given a corner room on the 10th floor. I was really amazed at how big my room was when I opened the door. My room was at least 32 square meters. The bed was big and comfortable with plenty of pillows. The room was very clean and any budget traveler staying at the Hip Hotel will be spoiled for life.

After staying in Hip Hotel for a few nights I realized that the seedy activities taking place inside the soapy massage parlors does not spill out onto the streets. The only evidence are the bright neon lights with names like Subways, Emmanuelle, Nataree and so on. There are no beer bars with ladies wearing short tight fitting clothes in plain sight so I think Huai Khwang and the Hip Hotel is a good guest friendly budget hotel for anyone.