Poonchock Mansion

First of all I have read many of these reviews and I find most to be over exaggerated and in accurate. I have stayed at Poom chock Mansion for over 2 years. I run an business of relocating teachers to Bangkok and some of our clients stay here. The biggest problem I see is that the customers don't read. When I checked in I was told everything and it was also written on the bottom of the rental agreement. The key card fee is 100THB not 1000THB. You don't get it back. 99% of the time it is damaged and can't be reused. I have replaced mine three times. A serviced apt is just that. It's cheaper than a hotel but more expensive than an apartment rental. You don't need to sign a long term lease but if you do then a further discount is offered. For example in a hotel everything is supplied for you but you pay for it dearly. A serviced apartment will have a lower price with the option to pay for extras or supply them for yourself. I was told this when I checked in. For example the bed sheets would be 1000THB which includes a comforter and pillows contrary to one reviewers comments. Cooking supplies are a one time fee of 500THB if you choose to cook in your apartment or you can go buy the hot plate, pots, pans, and fryer on your own. The room comes completely furnished with a tv, vanity, wardrobe, table, 2 chairs, queen size bed, and a coffee table. You get dishes, silver wear, glasses, a pair of canisters, fridge, and a TV stand with storage. My room has a balcony to hang clothes outside or just look at the view. I don't know what all the winning is about because all the complaints I see are in the contract. But some of the numbers here are lower or higher so in accurate. My contract states when you move out they can charge you a room cleaning fee of 1000THB if required. So if your room needs cleaning they will charge you to clean it. As for the electricity I requested them to write the meter numbers down on my bill so there is accountability. I have had good luck with the Internet, they have two options. Cyber point and smart zone. I recommended 500 THB for the unlimited monthly smart zone which does not cut out after 90 minutes and does not need another login. If it has a problem just call the number on the back or have the reception call. They will come right over in about 1 hour and fix your problem. This happened two times for me and it was fixed. There is a free gym downstairs off the lobby but does not have AC. In the end P Mansion is great for people who don't want to sign a long term lease. You can go month to month without paying a 3 month deposit like when renting a condo. Especially for new comers who don't know where their job will be located so they stay here until they have a permanent job. Then have the choice to move after closer to their work or stay. Contrary to other reviews you can take a short 10 minute taxi drive to the bts or mrt. Then go downtown if you want. But if you work on sukumvit everyday then you should stay near there. Two shopping malls are close by within a 10 - 15 minute walk or short taxi ride. Major Ratchayothin and Cemtral Lat Phrao. You can also walk to Teso Lotus for your groceries which is also very close by. The neighbourhood is safe and has many options for food, western and Thai. So again read your contract and ask questions when checking in.

When I arrived I was given a nice welcome by Pui, the lady in charge. I stayed for two months and paid one month in advance. I paid I think 500 Baht per month for internet use, it was always slowing down and cutting out. At one time when the internet cut out, I went to see the lady in charge to let her know, as I was speaking to her some people arrived with luggage, as they approached the desk where I was standing, Pui, the lady in charge completely ignored me and went to serve them, I stood there waiting for ages, I got so fed up I went back up to my room and had no internet for the rest of the night. The room was quite spacious with dining table chairs, the bed was quite average, I had to supply my own pillows, and pay 1000 Baht for a cover and was told I can't take it away with me, I bought my own cover and did take it away with me. I came by car so I bought my own microwave, cooking pots etc, there was good car parking. When it was time to leave I had no gripe with the heating, lighting and water charges, but I was about 2000 Baht short of my refundable deposit, when I queried this I was told there was a 500 Baht room cleaning charge which I was not told about before. then there was about 1050 Baht tax which was never mentioned to me before. I was really angry about this and felt cheated. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

I stayed at Poonchock Mansion in Bangkok for one month in April-May 2012. I was moving to Bangkok, and I needed a cheap place to stay while I got situated and found work. I had read about Poonchock Mansion online, and I was very attracted to the cheap price of 8,000 baht per month for their studio room. For your reference, I was staying in room 9008, which is on the 9th floor. My room was quite spacious, and the bathroom was more Western-style than Asian-style. For example, there was actually a bathtub with the shower, which is rare in an Asian apartment. The room itself isn't a very modern style or pleasing to the eyes - it's very basic, but that's not that big of a deal. There is also a kitchen and a fridge, a big air conditioner, a dining table, a coffee table, a few chairs, a wardrobe, a computer desk, and of course a bed (typical hard-as-a-rock Asian style). The room also has cable TV, but it's a very weak selection. There is 5 or so English channels, a couple of channels in Mandarin, and maybe 15 channels in Thai. BBC News, Channel NewsAsia, and the Australian Network are among the English channels. I should also mention that there is a small fitness center on the ground floor of the apartment building, but I never used it. The staff at Poonchock Mansion were fine. Most of them spoke pretty decent English, except for the security guards that spoke zero English, but that's to be expected. They were always helpful the few times I had a request, so I can't complain. The location of Poonchock Mansion is in Bangkok's Ladprao area, and the apartment itself is about a 35-minute walk from the Chatujak Weekend Market. The Mo Chit BTS station is at the same location as Chatujak, so that means the BTS station is also a 35-minute walk away. The Phahon Yothin MRT station is about a 20-minute walk from the apartment. The apartment is located down a quiet soi off of a major road, so noise is not something you will have to worry about. I practically never heard any outside noise during my entire stay at the apartment. To walk from the apartment to the main road takes about 5 minutes. There are two 7-Eleven's within a 10-minute walk from the apartment. The Central Ladprao shopping center is about a 15-minute walk from the apartment, and it is enormous. You could be in there an entire day and not see everything. I should also note that there is a Tops Supermarket at the bottom floor. Also about a 15-minute walk is a Tesco Lotus supermarket and also another large shopping center. There are plenty of nearby places to keep you entertained while staying at this apartment. The bad thing about the location is it is not near the business area at all. If you are wanting to go anywhere in business-area Bangkok, it will take a minimum of one hour by BTS/MRT. But remember, it will take you at least 20 minutes to walk to the MRT and 35 minutes to the BTS. If you don't want to walk to the MRT or BTS stations, you can just walk to the main road from the apartment, and there is a bus station just right past the end of the soi. You can take quite a few of the buses at that station to both the MRT and BTS stations. I will warn you though, taking all these forms of public transportation around Bangkok will start wear down on your wallet and time if you do it on a daily basis. So if you have to commute to Bangkok's business district every day, then you definitely should not stay at Poonchock Mansion. And trust me, you will get sick of wasting so much of your day's time going to and from Poonchock Mansion. Even taking a taxi to the business district will cost you a minimum of 45 minutes during rush hour. Now let's talk about the fees. When I moved into my apartment on the first day, I had to pay 16,000 baht (one month's rent plus one month's rent as a security deposit). I also had to pay 100 baht for God knows what, and 1,000 baht for the covers. Yes, you read that correctly, I had to pay 1,000 baht for my covers, which I didn't get to keep when I moved out. And because I wanted wi-fi, I had to pay 600 baht (good for one month's usage). So the very first day I moved in to my room, I paid 17,700 baht. I was also informed that it now costs 100 baht to have the maid clean your room, which was previously advertised as free for once a week. It also costs 30 baht per load to do your laundry in the washing machine, and a sky-high 60 baht to use the dryer. Let me briefly talk about the wi-fi at the apartment. It is usually fast, but it is inconsistent, and it disconnects frequently. One minute it is blazing fast, yet the next minute it slows down to a crawl, and one minute later it disconnects. For reference, I was using an HP laptop manufactured in 2011, which has a wireless-N network card. And during my month-long stay at the apartment, there were three internet black-outs that affected the entire apartment building. One lasted overnight, and the other two lasted about an hour each. Back to the fees. Upon moving out of the apartment, I was only returned a small fraction of my 8,000-baht security deposit. The electricity cost me a whopping 4,300 baht. I only ran the air conditioner overnight when I was sleeping, so it seems surprising to me that it got to be that high. Water cost me 200 baht, which is actually somewhat high for Bangkok. I also had to pay some kind of 500-baht cleaning fee and about 550 baht for VAT. I did the math, and I figured out that I had paid about 15,000 baht for one month's stay at Poonchock Mansion. It may be cheap if you are thinking in terms of dollars, but that's not cheap at all for a basic studio room in Bangkok. For that price, I could've stayed in central Bangkok at a much nicer place. If anyone reading this is considering staying at Poonchock Mansion for a month or more, I cannot recommend it. As an alternative, I recommend Narachan Home or A.E.C. Apartment 2. They are both in the Silom-Sathorn area of Bangkok, and they are cheaper and nicer than Poonchock Mansion. So, would I stay at Poonchock Mansion again? Certainly not. There are far too many places around Bangkok for a much better value.