Swan Hotel

I stayed at the Swan Hotel for five nights last month (April 2019). During my last visit to Bangkok I stayed at the Holiday Inn on Silom Road and this visit I wanted to be closer to the Chao Phraya River. The Swan Hotel's main strength is indeed its location, behind the French Consulate, a five-minute walk from the Si Phraya boat stop, and a 10 minute walk to the Saphan Taksin BTS (and also the Sathorn Pier). So very convenient to taking the BTS to the BKK Airport. The hotel itself is a bit faded. The room was adequate (included a small fridge), and it was clean. However, the restaurant was closed most of the time (I think open only for breakfast), and it is possible to sit a table outside next to the very nice-looking pool (which I did not use). The expresso machine broke down while I was there, but there is a nice coffee shop a block away. Also, many good restaurants along the busy street on the way to the BTS. In summary, the Swan Hotel offers decent value although it is lacking quite a bit in the charm department.

Terrible air conditioning and terrible wifi! I was so glad to get out of this hotel. OK, the hotel is a good deal for the price and location. It is rundown in a sort of atmospheric, gloomy way, complete with terse front desk reception staff and staring maintenance staff. With its strange hodgepodge of outdated design features and long, linoleum-tiled floors joined by short, uneven staircases, it would make a cool place to shoot a movie. My tiny, rather dilapidated room, 1990 television set , and balcony with an AC unit exhaling hot air onto it didn’t bother me as much as the lack of AC and lack of wifi. Technically, there was an AC unit in my tiny room; it just did very little (and of course with the rooms where the power turns off while you’re out, you need even stronger AC to combat the accrued heat). The wifi was so poor that of my three devices, I could only get wifi on my laptop and only in the room – not by the pool (even though the room was like 5 meters from the pool). The wifi worked on the laptop provided that I logged in with username and password on every new session. If they could fix these two problems, it would be a good deal, 3-star hotel. The pool is nice. Bring a towel, as your room gets you exactly one towel per day. Bathroom the worst I’ve seen on my trip, unclean and bad design. I bought the breakfast on my first morningthere – also a worst. Sad overcooked eggs, wonder bread, no potatoes, no love! Neighborhood interesting mix of jewelry shops, street carts, mosque and mosque-related activity, a college, swanky Oriental hotel, and river ferry. Hotel was pretty quiet until my second morning, hammering going on opposite my wall at 8 a.m.

This hotel is in a good location, situated in a side street next to the French consulate and close to the river. The Saphan Taksin pier is a 10-15 minute walk (for the half-hourly tourist boat), and there are a number of shops and restaurants nearby as well as food stalls. Chinatown and the main railway station are a short tuk-tuk ride away. The single rooms and bathrooms have a very dated feel, though the bed itself was very comfortable. Book a double room instead. No lift to upper floors. The pool area is pleasant. Staff were helpful. Overall, this hotel is good value given its location.