Navalai River Resort

Hotel near you need to be in Bangkok

by TripAdvisor Member wharton1Trencin

The navalai river resort (its really a hotel with a terrace) is excellent value for money. The rooms are clean, modern and well decorated the terrace is a great spot to have a beer and its walking distance to the Kao San road (if nightlife is what your after).
Although not at a skytrain station the river taxis are just as efficient and run very often. The higher end hotels we considered tended to be far away from the action (markets and temples etc) in Bangkok and focused in the business district.
From our experiance I would not put to much emphasis on the sky train, the metered taxis if you are in a group of 3-4 are better value and faster than either the skytrain or a Tuk Tuk.
If I visited Bangkok again on holiday the Navalai would be where I stay.

Lovely place in crazy city

by TripAdvisor Member katja1978

All hotels in Bangkok are named "boutique hotel" that usually has nothing in common with real boutique ... but navalai resort has more than average despite they are not claiming it :). It was really nice stay in lovely room and perfect location.

Greeat hotel

by TripAdvisor Member Jip1968

A beautiful, stylishly decorated hotel with a nice restaurant and terrace at the river. The hotel is easily reached by boat and there are plenty of taxi's and tuk-tuk's waiting in front of the hotel.
Staff is very friendly and helpful. The area is really nice, close to Koa San Road (although I preferred Rambuttri Road) and in Phra Athrit Road you'll also find plenty of restaurants and café's.
The Grand Palace is within walking distance.

We've stayed at Navalai at the beginning of our trip to Bangkok and returned for four nights at the end of our trip, about three weeks later. The staff (even the cleaninglady) recognized us and welcomed us back. I woudl definitely go here again!

The hotel seems to be rather popular, so book ahead, especially in high season.

Great find

by TripAdvisor Member SK8

This hotel in Banglamphu is very nice indeed. Everything was very clean and slick and the rooms were similar to somewhere smart in London (but nowhere near the price!)
Pool on top of the roof was great and didn't seem to get too busy. Would have been good to have drinks up there but the bar wasn't open when we stayed.

Aquatini restaurant was nice as well and very easy to catch riverboat from if you wanted to.

Location was fairly central and easy to get places. It was close to Ram Buttri which is a small road off Kho San and pretty cool. Also opposite the hotel are a couple of good restaurants and cafes (the Sit In rocked). There's a 7/11 by the hotel as well so you pretty much have everything you need in a 2 minute walk, max.

We really enjoyed our stay here and would definitely recommend it.

Great little hotel

by TripAdvisor Member LadyMuckLA

We stayed here during a promotion so the price was an excellent value. I really could not find fault with this stylish little hotel. The location is great--near Khao San Rd and right by the Arthit river taxi stop (a great way to get around the city and see the sights). Rooms are nicely decorated--not super luxurious but clean and modern. Free Internet access and breakfast are great perks. We also enjoyed the neighborhood, with lots of bars, shops and restaurants.

Most of the hotels on the river are very posh (i.e. expensive) and/or big and corporate. If you want a more personal experience with all the creature comforts, I definitely recommend this hotel.

Best stay in Bangkok

by TripAdvisor Member QueenJosefine

We got a tip for this hotel from a couple we met in Ko chang that had stayed here before. This was without a doubt the best hotel we stayed at in Thailand. Everything was well designed, frech and clean. The rooms where spacious and beautiful with comfortable beds! The breakfast was good and the location was perfect. It is located very close to kosam road and just on the pire so you can take the river boats to see the grand palace.
I would recomend this hotel to anyone. We paid 2100B, defenetly a bargain!

I have to recomend the Chatuchak weekend market, the best market in town, they have everything including lots of really nice secondhand clothes, purses and shoes!

A serios warning for the cheap massage places closeby. Do not get the thai massages here as they really don't seam to know what they are doing and you might have to see a physical therapist after a visit! I really belive that they might hate tourists, and I am convinst that they don't know of the human anathomy!

I would absolutly stay at this hotel again!!

Bangkok

by AncientAusie

"Bangkok – The Last Leg of Our S. E. Asia Journey."

(I have posted a “Trip Report on Hanoi” and “Trip Report on Three weeks in Laos” Part 1 in the Luang Prabang Forum and Part 2 in the Vientiane Forum, for those who may be interested)
After a few days in Hanoi and three weeks in Laos we took the VIP bus from Vientiane across the Friendship Bridge and through Immigration to Udon Thani in Thailand. We experienced no problems as the process was just as it has been described on this Forum before. At Udon Thani we took a Jumbo to the airport at a cost of 150TBt. and noted that it had taken 2 hours from the bus depot in Vientiane.

From the Bangkok airport we took a taxi from the official rank as recommended (360 B) We wanted to stay near the familiar territory of the Khao San but away from the tourist shop/food strip, so chose the New Siam 2 and found it quiet, very clean a convenient to the river transport. Double room with ensuite was good value at 790 B. but a 500B key deposit was unusual for S.E. Asia, and could be a problem to any one checking out to fly home, and then having to get rid of surplus Bart.

After two nights we moved to the New Siam Riverside, the newest and best of the three New Siam establishments, to enjoy a little bit of luxury before flying home. At 1,800 B. a bit above our budget but service was excellent, the river view great, breakfast included, and a late check out of 4 p.m. was included.

We found this location friendly and easy to get to the major shopping complexes via the regular river boat service linked to the very efficient Sky train.

Along Th. Phra Athit near the river boat stop of the same name we enjoyed a breakfast (coffee and croissants etc.) at Ricky’s Coffee Shop and an excellent Thai dinner at The Hemlock. Whole fried fish and a terrific lotus fried rice dish were memorable. Found the wine ordinary and expensive after the great choices in Laos.

Our last Thai dinner was wonderful! The Navalai Resort is a new boutique hotel (their description) on Th. Phra Athit very close to the Phra Athit boat stop, and the restaurant opens up to the river with uninterrupted views and tables inside or out. After a relevantly cool day the evening was perfect for a slow meal under the stars. Shrimp cake stuffed with salted eggs, fish with garlic, and prawns with green peppercorns, was followed by banana in hot coconut rice/milk. A night to remember even though we stayed with beer after sampling a less than memorable house wine!

Two days of shopping at MBK, Siam Square and similar centers, as well as a venture to the Weekend Market was hardly enough for my lady, and almost enjoyable for me!

I will spare every one the details but will mention one experience. I had taken with me a 2 year old mobile phone which had “expired” some two months ago, and about which I had twice sought technical advice in Sydney. At an authorized Nokai dealer I was told they would charge AU$ 75 to dismantle and assess the cost of repair, while another repair shop said they knew what the problem was but it would not be worth the cost of repairing.

A guy working out of a “shoe box” at MBK, where there are literally a hundred or more such Mobile phone shops (new, second hand and repairs) spent a couple of minutes examining it and said “I fix for 250 Bart. You come back one hour” It is now working like new and looks new, as he put a new case on it (back and front) because “glass was scratch”