Balios Resort Khaoyai

We stayed for 2 nights for our 3 day exploration of Khao Yai. The hotel is on the main road and adjacent to Palio. It's a great location for exploring the Khao Yai area. There's a large carpark which is convenient if you drive and in our case for our hired taxi that we booked for 3 days. Being here on the weekdays of the 2nd week of January, there were few guests. The room is large and comfortable. The only flaw is that water from the shower tends to pool at the floor even though the shower curtain was drawn. WiFi connection in the room and common areas was good. Breakfast was a good spread of local food, cereal and salad bar. There's an egg and wafer station. Local fruits of papaya, watermelon, honey dew melon, banana and pineapple were available daily. Staff while friendly weren't conversant with English and so were not helpful in directing us to places of interest.

Balios Resort is a short distance from the main happenings in Khao Yai. It offers a substantial amount of land in the Thai hinterland and facilities such as a restaurant, breakfast buffet, swimming pool and attached shopping village.  My stay at Balios resort was disappointing. Our initial impressions were that the property was a little naff, a little kitsch. It's themed decor of the ancient Greek equine persuasion leaves much to be desired. Our room had lichen green walls and a bed hard enough to reset your back. My partner's shower ran hot and cold, and our friends staying in the next room waded ankle-deep through the bathroom as the drain didn't work properly.  The wifi is weak. The bar closes before too late, but I did manage to get myself a cocktail. Cheap, but disproportionate. The bartender was trying his best. This resort. It serves a purpose. Basic bed and breakfast. I'd like to make clear- our experience was through no fault of the service staff. It's just that the facilities of this resort are run down, and it's charm has worn off. 

What we liked: 1) Spacious room: We, a party of 3, booked a Deluxe room (that came with 1 double King sized bed) to ensure there was space to fit in an extra bed. There was still adequate space after that. 2) adequate breakfast included in the room rate (booked via Expedia) - had a good spread of local food and freshly cooked eggs. There was also a cereal station, salad station, breads and toaster, 3 kinds of fruit (banana, papaya, water melon), yoghurt. 3) the block we stayed at had a door which opened up to the Palio shopping area 4) they give 500ml of bottled water per person per day 5) fact that there was a restaurant on site. We did not eat there in the end but good to have that as an option as some accommodations do not have that facility What we thought could be improved 1) only the ground floor rooms are wheelchair accessible. No lifts or ramps to floors above 2) the air con compressor was very loud (located near our door). It took some getting used to so it affected my sleep somewhat. 3) water tended to pool on the rim of bath tub during a shower. It then flowed onto the floor, drenching the floor mat. They should fit shower screens instead 4) there was no soap dish. We had to put the bar of hand soap on the vanity top. Soapy water pooled on the vanity top as a result after we washed our hands a few times. The soap bar also tended to stick onto the vanity top. 5) They charge for bedroom slippers. We only were told when checking out. They should have indicated the fact and the price on the slippers so that guests can decide if to use them or not. 6) staff spoke minimal English. This seems to be a common issue with most accommodations in Khao Yai. So download Google translate offline version before coming 7) wifi was weak in the common areas as well as in our room 8) on some days they forgot to give us a third set of towels. On all days they only gave 2 sets of toiletries. There were only 2 bathrobes. Despite us booking the room for 3 Overall it served our purpose of being a fairly central base for going to the places in Khao Yai we were interested in eg GranMonte, Chocolate Factory, Palio Village,