After a long sweaty train ride we were looking forward to a good hotel, as we had found a good deal on the internet and the website in question proclaimed it to be 4star..A nice break from some of the other dumps we had previously stayed in. Or so we wanted....

The directions from wotif.com stated only 2 kms from the train station. It isn't. Not even close. It took about 25 mins from the train station and is in the middle of nowhere, on a freeway.

Ok, we thought, at least with 4 stars it compensates for the location.
It felt like we were the only guests, and it felt like the 4 reception staff between them, none of them really new what they were doing.
Our room on the 5th floor was large, but with no atmosphere or character, spartan furniture and "echoey" At least the curtains were very dark so that we could get a good sleep in the afternoon.
The bathroom was weird, the shower temp was inconsistent and the shower head itself was about 7 feet above the ground, but the curtain rail only 5 foot, so the water sprayed over the top! Plus the cutain was too long so it was a bit of a hazard as it covered the bathfloor.

I'm sure it all sounds picky but we were expecting so much more, and were looking forward to this as our "treat" after a long time travelling, a long train ride and a series of mediocre hotels.

The location is its biggest problem. At least they have a free shuttle service running into town, which they need to have else people wouldn;t stay longer than 1 night! It would be difficult to flag down a taxi or tu tuk from the hotel as it stands on a freeway!

Most taxi and tuk tus didn't know where it was, so advice is to take a business card out with you from the hotel lobby, it has a map on the back, and you wil be looking at around 150baht for a taxi/tuktuk from the night bizarre area.

This hotel is newly opened (so we are led to believe), the building itself has obviously been there for a while but the interior has had a total refurb so it is top-notch.

We got a great deal for only 700Bht a night (around £12) between 2 people for a twin room. The room was lovely, decor great etc so no complaints on that part. So it was a shame that the hotel let itself down in other areas.

The restaurant service was AWFUL! On the first night there was only us and one other table in so really there were no excuses! The food itself was probably average (tasted OK but bore little resemblance to what was on the menu) but they did the typically Thai thing of bringing you your full order at one time (starters and mains), when we asked for our mains to be taken away as they would get cold, they did so... but clearly just left them sitting in the kitchen for those 10 mins as when we got them back, they were stone cold anyway! After our mains I wanted pudding, but we sat for around 20 mins without anyone clearing our plates until I eventually just did it myself and helped myself to a menu... they were apologetic when they realised. My pudding was disgusting to say the least...

For some reason we returned the next night, we just wanted burgers and thought they couldn't possibly get that wrong... this time we were the only people in the restaurant. I usually like my meat pink in the middle (although we weren't asked) but when I cut into my burger a big lump of raw mince fell from it, my friend's was even worse so we sent them back. Cleary they just had the toppings scraped off and were stuck back under the grill for 5 mins. When they came back, mine was better and I ate most of it, even thought that lump of raw mince was still sitting on my plate! My friend's was still oozing blood so she didn't eat it.... and by this time the chips were cold too. I also asked for cheese with my burger and didn't get it - when I requested it again, I got it but was subsequently charged twice for extra cheese! We kicked up a fuss and only paid for one burger but it still doesn't say much for the capabilities of the chef... Needless to say, we didn't eat there again for the last 2 nights of our holiday.

We also returned early from the city one day looking forward to a dip in the pool (as advertised) only to be told it was still under construction... as was the spa.

They had internet access in the lobby but out of 4 PCs only 1 worked and we had problems with it too. By this point we were a bit fed up with the hotel and tried to complain - this did not go down well and we had to get the manager before any action was taken to compensate us for our lost internet time.

Also, the hotel is in the middle of no-where and you need to have access to a car or take a taxi/tuk tuk if you want to go anywhere - although it is not too far from the city by car (10 -15mins). Another benefit is its closeness to the airport and main attractions (Temple, Elephant Village, Tiger Kingdom, Zoo etc).

So, if they improved the restaurant and the other facilities available, then this hotel would be cracking. It's just a shame it hasn't been done yet.