Phrae hotels & places to stay

We had a vehicle so found this small but charming hotel very convenient and delightful. The free breakfast was fine, but we never put high priority on that at any hotel. We had three rooms and all members of our group enjoyed the stay. The rooms are clean and comfortable. It was great to arrive in Phrae in the early afternoon and just relax for the rest of the day before leaving in the morning.

Everything is so perfect, except the unfriendly front office girls. They seems they do not want me to book the hotel from Agoda, they said the prices are not that big different, which is around 6 USD. At last, I booked the hotel from agoda, even I wait for the book confirmation to save money and to comment for their service! Later on, I came back to them and ask for the internet password, and they told me with the unfriendly face. But the other departments gave a warm welcome, like security guards, house keepers, and the waiters. No smell on the bed, perfectly clean. I recommend this hotel if you have a chance to visit Phrae, just ignore the service from front office.

Phrae is a bit off the beaten track, so one shouldn't expect to see the same high levels of sophistication as in BKK or Chiang Mai. The pace is slower here, but the people are nicer and the prices are cheaper. We found this hotel to be clean and comfortable, staffed by people who are kind and good hearted (ใจดีมาก). We stayed in two different rooms for our 2-night stay, and in both cases, the rooms were clean, in good condition (most hotel beds in Thailand are very firm), and had good amenities. The breakfast buffet, contrary to what some other reviews have said, was excellent, but may intimidate some people who aren't familiar with Thai breakfasts. All of the staff were friendly and kind, and exemplified the very best in Thai customer service. We wanted to tour around the city and surrounding villages -- one of the best parts of Thai domestic tourism -- and the manager gave us a detailed overview of places to go, but never steered us toward any tourist traps. When I was having trouble with my in-room wifi, one extremely kind gentleman (Khun Roon) stopped what he was doing to reboot the wifi servers. Voila! Problem solved. To be honest, we were so charmed by the staff that we brought them back some food treats when we went to the night market/food stalls, The garden area is nice for breakfast, and you could linger as long as you wanted without feeling hurried or crowded. But you need to beware of mosquitos if you hang out there in the evening.

Secure parking, large bed, building a little tired but clean. Our breakfast was included first morning was a set because not to many guests. Second morning was buffet. Only con is the night club music went a bit late and loud. Before choosing this hotel we looked at "The Best Hotel" after 1/2 hour in the heat of the day to find it, absolutely no signage, and the rooms dingy and bed rock hard. So this hotel was like a palace for only a couple of $ more. And included breakfast.

The hotel is new and the rooms and bathroom are exceptionally clean. Mr Q is a great host, he picked and dropped us off from the bus station, organised a motorbike rental to be collected from the hotel and told us the best places to visit in Phrae. We felt Phrae was the friendliest Thai city, local people go out of their way to help you, taxis drivers are honest and although there an no tourist attractions, Phrae depicts real Thai life. A great stopover place, untouched by tourists and you get to see and meet local Thai people with very good English.

I had visited Phrae twice before and stayed at two other hotels. The Gingerbread appealed to me because it was close to the old city just a short walk to the night market and the cluster of shops and restaurants that I had visited before. The Gingerbread has recently been repurposed and imaginatively remodeled. Unknown to me at the time of my booking, it also has an association with a man who has inventoried and gives tours to the amazing array of teak structures in Phrae, once a center of foreign logging concessions in the late 19th and early 20th Century. There is even a gallery on the 2nd floor of the Gingerbread that inventories and describes (in Thai) hundreds of wooden structures in the city. He was very helpful in planning my motorbike visits to many of these. The hotel itself is very pleasant. Breakfasts are outstanding, and the coffee is GREAT! I enjoyed my stay in Phrae and appreciated the helpfulness and hospitality provided by the manager and staff. I'll be back.

The hotel is situated right on the old 101 road in the middle of Phrae (pronounce Phrair), ie not the new by-pass road, also called 101. It is a fair sized budget hotel with both fan and air-con rooms, we had two air-con rooms. The rooms were a decent size and had high ceilings so gave a good impression of spaciousness. The twin beds were good size singles but unfortunately were extremely hard so not at all conducive to a good nights sleep. Lighting was reasonable. The room had 2 spare electrical sockets for guest use as well as a shaver point in the bathroom – great. TV was a decent size and there was Cable TV though I couldn't find any English language channels on it. We were on the 2nd floor in 308 & 310 and the view was of the main road below and a building opposite so not great. Also it was fairly noisy at times when some of the bigger lorries passed. Free internet access was available, get the 10 number password from Reception. Connection speeds in our room were slow and sometimes failed but it was OK for checking e-mail etc. The bathroom was a adequate size with a shower, toilet and washbasin. Water pressure was OK, no hot water tap in the washbasin so you had to use water from the shower if you wanted warm/hot water. No toiletries apart from soap. We ate in the hotel restaurant in the evening and although we were the only customers there, service was friendly and the food quality perfectly fine. Breakfast however was very poor, with the only food being provided buffet style was Kow Thom (Thai rice soup) and 2 fried rice, and fruit Service was generally fine with the staff being polite and helpful. English understanding though was very limited. Parking was plentiful and accessed from either the main road or the side road which goes past the side of the hotel at the traffic lights. Although there were some drawbacks, the hotel was good value for the price that we paid and if we came back to Phrae for a short visit we would probably use it again.

Once we found the hotel, it is in a different area of Phrae than the one we normally stay in, it was easy to park and the staff on duty made us feel very welcome. Once the booking in process was completed we made our way to our room and it was just what we wanted and I must say the size of the TV screen was a nice surprise. We had a nice quiet stay before moving on to our final destination and will defiantly use this hotel again, its nice and clean & very modern.

Happened to be the first vnmese guest at Ms Pratu's, i had the perfect stay though for only a night. room is clean and has certain privacy for the shared bedroom. bathroom and toilet are clean, with shampoo and conditioner and shower gel. breakfast was simple but tasty and healthy, good wifi and free bicycle. the neighborhood was silent and perfect for an escape. and Ms Pratu has been the best host I ever met, kind and caring with suggestions and take care of your little needs. also I had a chance to practice my basic Thai.

Location: Excellent location, approx. 2k from the bus station (I went there from the bus station on foot). Many attractions are within 500 m radius of the home stay (Khum Chao Luang museum, approx.300 m, Wongburi House, approx.500 m, Wichairaja House approx.300 m, etc.) including the night food zone (Pratu Chai, approx.350 m). However, if you wanna save some time, they have bicycles to lend you, not sure how many bicycles are available so it is best to inform them upon check-in that you would like to borrow one. Accommodation: Very nice wood house, I had an air-con twin room. The room was spacious and well-arranged. You might find the room a little dark because of the colour of the wood but the lightings were adequate (bed lamps, working desk lamp, mirror lamp, etc.). Many plug sockets to use, at each bed, the working desk, the mirror, enough to allow me to charge a few devices at the same time. There is one regular size fridge to keep the drinks cool. The water temperature of the shower is easy to adjust :). Overall atmosphere: very quiet at night, very peaceful. People: the owners and their staff are very kind and could give you useful suggestions about the attractions. It was also very nice of them to give me a ride to the bus station on the day I went home.

Despite not speaking much English, Ali and her husband went out of their way to make sure I had a comfortable stay. They brought me to the Den Chai train station twice (first to reserve the sleeper car to Bangkok and then late the next night to catch the train). They held my bag after I checked out while I explored nearby Phrae and allowed me to take a hot shower that evening before catching the train. They made sure I was fed throughout my stay. Super kind owners. The property itself is beautiful and well maintained and I slept well. The downside of this place is that it's 20 kilometers outside of Phrae so unless you rent a motorcycle, as I did, it's not convenient for seeing the town. The plus side is that if you're taking the train toward Bangkok or Chiangmai, the property is just a couple kilometers away from Den Chai train station.

Although the hotel is just a standard modern three storey building on the outside, inside it is pleasant and comfortable. The double rooms, with AC, flatscreen tv and a nice shower room, are attractive and good value for money. Breakfast is included in the price and there is free coffee or chocolate available at any time so the hotel offers a good deal to travellers. The little roofed outdoor restaurant area at the back of the hotel - behind the small car park - is pleasant and the food is fine, especially the rice soup. Other guests there seemed happy with the place, not least because the staff are very pleasant indeed: friendly and helpful. If you want a basic, but comfortable place to staff in Phrae, this is it.

I stayed 1 night at Homestay Ban Suan Khuean while travelling through north Thailand by motorcycle. I have to say I had some difficulty finding the house, but the effort well worth it. I was made to feel at home and enjoyed joining them for a real home cooked dinner. My room on the first floor of the house was perfect in every way. Exceptionally clean and beautifully furnished. Again, breakfast was steaming hot and home cooked. In summary, I could not fault this home stay.

Check in was smooth and the receptionist was kind enough to change our room to a better location away from reception for a small price change. The staff were very friendly. Rooms were clean and beds not too hard. the TV selection was very poor for foreigners but I doubt they get many foreigners in this hotel. It is next to the highway so noisy , be prpared for that. Breakfast was Thai but they seemed to do a nice job of it with a lot of choices on the menu. For a stop over on your way through to the North it is easy to find from the highway as you do not have to enter the city.

You get more than you pay for here. The rooms are a good size. Both the aircon and refrigerator work well and the wifi was good. Really the only issue here is the bed. It is without a doubt the hardest mattress in Thailand. My wife and I like our bed to be firm/hard but I think the tiled floor was softer. It’s a pity really as everything else in the hotel was good, terrific really for the price.