Cheap Hotels Bangkok Guide

Bangkok has a reputation for being one of the cheapest destinations in Southeast Asia for guesthouses, hostels and of course hotels. It is true that there are plenty of cheap budget hotels all over the city. However, before you make that reservation for a 500 baht a night hotel in Khao San road, wouldn't it be nice to know how cheap or how low the hotel rate can go before you start feeling like you've booked a room at a prison.

After all, one of the biggest concerns and factors about any budget priced accommodation for travelers is whether or not it is clean and how big. No one wants to share a bed with bedbugs. Most travelers on a budget don't even want to share a bathroom. Which is what most travelers staying in the cheapest accommodations in Bangkok have to do.

Well you will be relieved to know that it's not so bad with the cheapest hotels in Bangkok. The vast majority of low rate accommodations in Bangkok are clean with private bathrooms. Though you have to have certain realistic expectations. If you want to spend 300 baht a night then be prepared to share bathroom.

I've met many travelers looking for the cheapest hotel rates in Bangkok that are comfortable. It's possible. But you have to be reasonable. Because in the end you get what you pay for.

I know the word 'cheap' is a relative term. Well to me a cheap hotel in Bangkok is around 1000 baht. So around $33 US dollars you can get a clean room which includes taxes and maybe a simple breakfast. Free wireless Internet access is a plus and if there's a pool then it's a bargain. Depending on the location and which part of Bangkok you are in it's possible to have both and a clean room with friendly guest services.

Any hotel in Bangkok offering cheap hotel rates lower than 300 baht will only have a fan in the room and no air conditioning. Keep this in mind because Bangkok does get hot and humid.

In Thailand there are a popular chain of hotels well known for cheap hotel rates in Bangkok. It's called Sawasdee Group and they mainly attract backpackers, foreign drifters and the usual basic budget travelers exploring Thailand.

Notice my title says 'popular' not the 'best'. Sawasdee hotels are popular because they have cheap room rates. However, most of their properties are not in the best condition, except for their newer hotels of course. Most of the old hotels are in Khao San road.

They have around 10 very cheap and basic hotels mostly in the Khao San road area. Though they are starting to open affordable and newer hotels in the pricey Sukhumvit district in central Bangkok. Most of their hotel properties also have free Wi-Fi Internet available for guest use in the lobby.

Their cheapest hotel in Bangkok is found in Khao San road called Smile Inn with rates starting around 250 baht and you will have to share a bathroom. It does have a lot of mixed reviews and as I said before if you don't have a lot of expectations it will probably be fine.

You can read guest reviews on Smile Inn at agoda.com, a hotel reservation agency that I use for booking hotels and you will see what I mean.

Centric Ratchada Hotel Bangkok is located at a quiet residential area with a few markets and restaurants nearby. It is a 10 minute walk to Phra Ram 9 MRT subway station located near Fortune Town Mall, a popular place for picking up computer gadgets.

This hotel is a prime example of a cheap hotel in Bangkok around 1000 baht that has big clean rooms and friendly service. It is one of the best no frills budget hotels in Bangkok with the biggest rooms, about 32 sqm. Don't take my word for it you can read guest reviews of Centric Ratchada Hotel on Agoda.

If you want to know how much you should spend for a cheap hotel with rooms that have decent and reasonable comforts I would say somewhere in the 1000 baht range. And there are quite a lot of hotels with rates that low in central Bangkok. For example the Pratunam district is in an excellent location near expensive and budget shopping malls such as MBK Mall, Pantip Plaza and Pratunam Market. And there are many cheap accommodations to be found there.

But to me (and I would think most would probably agree), a hotel that cost around 1000 baht in central Bangkok close to a train station is the best of both worlds. You're saving money in a reasonable comforts and most importantly there is cheap and fast transportation nearby. There are 2 types of train systems in Bangkok, the BTS Sky Train and the MRT Subway. Staying at a hotel near any of Bangkok's train systems is an advantage because the city's traffic is a madhouse.

One cheap hotel with good clean quality rooms in Bangkok near an MRT subway station I recommend is Centric Ratchada Hotel. I made a video report on this hotel that is located in a quiet section of Bangkok that is near a big shopping center called Fortune Town. And the MRT subway station near the hotel can transport you to shopping, commercial and nightlife centers of Bangkok in 10 minutes.

So you've decided which hotel you want to stay in Bangkok with a cheap hotel rate. And you're overjoyed on the money you'll save. But wouldn't it be nice to know you can save even more of your hard earned cash on hotels?

There are many all in one travel websites touting great deals for plane tickets, car rentals and of course hotels. As good as those websites are you're better off finding hotel deals through companies that specialize in the hotel industry in Asia or even better within Thailand.

That's really the key for locating the best hotel rates possible. There are reliable hotel agencies with last minute hotel deals for Bangkok. And I've already mentioned Agoda.com in this article already. They are based in Singapore but have an office in Bangkok. So they are extremely knowledgeable and efficient in locating the best discounts for cheap hotels in Bangkok.

Finally, you can also compare hotel rates in Bangkok through Hotelscombined.com so you can see a wide variety of different hotel search engines and see who has the best prices for which ever hotel you choose in Bangkok.