I cover a lot of road miles every year mostly in Thailand some in Laos. - Half a million KM in the last 12 years. Inevitably this involves stopping at a lot of hotels.
These stops are usually unplanned, dictated by time of day, onset fatigue or darkness....so the choice is never planned ahead but the result of a quick search on Google for whatever may be nearby.
This particular day being New Year’s day it was no surprise to find almost all the hotels and resorts fully occupied. I finally found a room at the grandiosely named Huay Kha Khaeng Jeshthasilpa. It wasn’t by any means the first hotel I checked, I had held back from this place as it looked from the photo to be firstly the sort of place not popular with holidaymakers and secondly likely to disappoint.
This monolithic building looms out of central Uthai Thani next to the main market - like a throwback to some USSR cold war era it is a memorial to authoritarian utilitarianism, foolishly trying to hide itself behind an overblown foyer that is just about as an effective cover-up as a plastic red-nose on a pig. With marble floors and Chinese reproduction antique chairs the overall dark brown theme is solemn rather than comforting or cheering. In no way does it conceal the fact that it is just another unimaginative rectangular block of concrete. Built in the 1980s by corrupt developers with a totally misguided concept of what the future needs of tourism in Thailand would be there are still a few of these in most towns - and here’s a tip - when everywhere else is full, they probably have a room.
I know from bitter experience what to expect from these sort of places - but it was getting late and I really had no choice.
Ample parking in the front forecourt (this was a good sign for me of low occupation)...the grand marbles foyer was as expected, not so much welcoming but more a warning that behind this facade you are about to enter a bygone era of indifference where facilities are disused or neglected, staff are bored, benighted or belligerent, normal hotel services are no longer available and even the wallpaper has had enough and is peeling away presumably in an effort to leave and find a better place.
My room - 700 baht - quite large too - echoey even - it is also clean. A tube TV from the last refit - presumably in the 1990s - it would have been better if opera glasses were provided in order to view the pitifully sized screen from the over-firm double bed - the remote WORKED!
I always try and get a double bed - I’m quite tall and thanks to a rib injury,, sleep more comfortably in a double bed so I specified that and got one.... I also ask for hot water and a bathtub - most of the older hotels have them -no problem! So far so good - or too good to be true??
I had hoped for a room overlooking the front car park - so I can keep an eye on my car which was loaded with stuff. They had already allotted me a room when I asked for this and after a quick muffled conversation with the duty manger I was told there wasn’t one available - I must admit I doubted the veracity of this as I got the impression the receptionist had said there were 2 vacant rooms...anyway not a big problem.
So my bags are in the room and I do what everyone does first when they check into a hotel room - check the bathroom...... there is the bath - and after 3 days on the road, I really fancy a long hot relaxing bath.
BUT - there is no hot water - quick check around the room shows that the water heater is actually in a state of partial dismantlement - obviously someone has tried to repair it or is in the process of doing so.
Half unpacked I now have to go down to reception and report the fault. The duty manger immediately comes to check - after a long, long look at the heater - which I have to say was more “performance” than actually doing anything - he declares the machine un-operational. Hardly rocket science IMO.
It’s late and I’m tired and now I’m going to have to change rooms - the DM goes to get a key.........
Now in my book if a hotel makes a mistake they usually by way of apology upgrade you or offer discount for the inconvenience - but this is Thailand and I’ve learned to expect less - and less is what I got. I’m moved down the corridor to a room - still at the back but with SINGLE beds and an altogether more dingy room that clearly had had smokers in it.. - nevertheless, I decide OK and check the hot water - after a while it starts working at a reasonable temperature - all I want now is a bath....so I accept.
However I strongly suspect that they could have done better and partly because they were trying to save face they didn’t. Firstly if they had moved me to another double bed at the front of the building, I would have realised that they had misled me earlier, and it is typical niggardly practice in almost all Thai businesses never to offer any kind of upgrade as an apology. I then found that the little TV didn’t work....I noticed that it was plugged into an adapter and that it had an old, old round pin plug....as I carry an extension lead, I was able to plug it into that an the TV worked.
Now that makes 2 items that weren’t functioning and it was fairly clear by the way they were set up that at least someone in the hotel knew very well that they weren’t working - so why try and rent the room at the full rate without letting the customer know?
Anyhow after solving that problem myself, it was time for a bath - of course the hotel doesn’t supply a plug......so I carry my own universal plug - but this is just another example of failing to offer implied services. I’m used to it come prepared for as many circumstances as possible. I does annoy though that so many hotels in Thailand present you with a perpetual procession of failures of fittings, scarcity of serviceable facilities and the inability of management to keep up with even the most mundane matters of maintenance.
When I check into a hotel regardless of price I expect certain facilities and a compliance with facilities they apparently offer
- did I mention the “free” Wi-Fi? Of course the signal didn’t reach either of the rooms I was in. -
Why pretend to have services you can’t provide? If there is a problem - tell the customer.... offer a discount..... And don’t try and respond with the absolute minimum of requirements. Most of this is still quite alien to Thai hospitality culture, and still prevalent in hotels like this one. It’s called “customer service” and I reckon a lot of hotels in Thailand would benefit from trying out , they might find it pays dividends in the long run.
Have got anything good to say about the hotel? Well, it wasn’t full and is seldom ever likely to be - so you can be pretty sure of getting a room there at the last minute.
Breakfast - the receptionist told me - “room 700 baht - plus 100 baht; key plus Khao Tom - i deduced she meant the Khao Tom (rice soup) was for breakfast.
In morning I had Khao Tom (choice of pork or fish) and a small coffee...... the soup was tepid but fine and the coffee good and strong filter coffee.
I have a problem with westerners who complain loudly when their food is not piping hot - that is not the custom in Thailand or many other countries; lukewarm food is how a lot of dishes are meant to be served.
OK - and other things that were OK or good.
The Lifts worked - at least one of them.
The hangers in the huge wardrobe (why so big??) were good quality big ones, not those ridiculous throw-away wire ones.
The place was quiet - deathly some might say.
The air con worked and was quiet - I
I‘ve stayed in rooms with air-con that would drown out a tractor or a pub-brawl.
The mini fridge worked - it didn’t rattle
The marble floors and bathroom tiles were NOT deathly slippery when wet - just about a first, that one!
The only way I can think of that this place could get fully booked would be for some large family wedding or a corporate function - they’d need to open the restaurant though.
...and those little annoying things....
The room electrics - I am continuously amazed and delighted by the quirky logic that seems to dominate the positioning of electrical power points and switches in Thailand as a whole.....the hotel was not exception - only one visible socket in the whole enormous room..... and that was a single socket.
The lights could be operated from by the door and the bedside lights switched off independently...except that one would need the wingspan of an albatross to reach them from the bed.
The entrance light made a loud buzzing if switched on.
Bed sheets were so tightly fitted to the bed they required wrestling from the bed before you could get under them.
The bathroom towels were no longer white but a dingy grey - I’m sure they were quite clean but they don’t inspire confidence.
A long review of a hotel with not much going for it - or for that, not much against it......OK, I’ll admit it, I had time to kill.......and the result is a review of a hotel that no-one would sty in o purpose, but it might prove useful if you find your self in dire straights near Uthai Thani and need a place to rest up. It was the only hotel of a about 5 hotels and resorts I tried in the area that actually had rooms. (and lots of them, I think) on a major public holiday - so that kind of sums up the appeal of the place really,
So if you need a room this place is clean, cheap and almost certainly available.
AI Summary
