Buddy Lodge Bangkok

Great Stay, Great Location

Great stay in the Buddy Lodge on Khao San Road. Excellent location and right in the middle of it all.

We had a deluxe room which was great for the price, spotlessly clean and everything was within walking distance.

Breakfast was of a good quality with lots of options for European and also American guests(Pancakes!)

Staff were extremely helpful and pleasant. Also made use of the Spa with a treatment which was wonderful.

Would highly recommend Buddy Lodge for your stay in Bangkok. You will be hard pushed to find the same quality for the price.

At the centre of the tourist universe....in Bangkok, anyway!

Location is all, and this is right in the main street for everything needed to support tourist life while in Bangkok. Also close to the river, so getting about on the excellent river taxis is an option, and within reasonable walking distance of the Grand Palace. Lots of taxis outside so you can get anywhere in the city for a couple of dollars. Drawbacks? A bit noisy until about 1 pm.....a club on the ground floor, and general street noises, but no real problem. Reception desk was excellent, rooms are fine. Recommended.

Great little boutique hotel - Won't break your budget!

This was a welcome surprise. I stayed here twice this summer on my way to and from Delhi. This was my first time in BKK since 2000 - my first trip back since I've outgrown my $2.50 hostel days.

This is a small boutique hotel that really lives up to expectations. I found the hotel reception helpful and friendly and the room to be very clean and comfortable. Each room has a courtesy fridge stocked w/beveriges (at an inflated price, but in BKK inflated price means that beer costs $1 instead of $.50) and there's plenty of room to fill w/leftovers or your own drinks from the 7/11 across the street.

There is a day spa at the hotel where I had a most enjoyable massage and the hotel serves a complimentary international (Western & Thai) breakfast every morning.

I got a deluxe room just because I had 17hr direct flights from Newark and felt that I deserved the splurge.

All in all, the net time I go to BKK I will definitely stay here without hesitation.

Luxury Khao San!

The buddy lodge is a welcome addition to the Khao San Road. Having been before and stayed in basic guest houses, this place feels like a bit of luxury. Ok, four star it isn't, but for that you have to stay in Sukhumvit and travel in cabs everywhere. For young people Khao San Road is where you want to be - and how many guest houses have roof top pools?? I definitely recommend this to anyone having a holiday on a budget (although not a backpackers budget perhaps) who wants to be surrounded by cheap restaurants and lively surroundings.

A Fire

I would not recommend this hotel. I think for the same $ you could stay at a better place in a more quiet part of town. We spent four nights there and during out stay a serious fire broke out in one of the rooms. The whole hotel filled with smoke and the room was burnt out. NO fire alarms went off and no fire trucks were called...it seemed very sketchy how casually the staff treated a serious fire. We are in Thailand but it would seem they'd take the safety of the guest more seriously. The rooms are pretty small and for the lowest rate you get two twin beds...there are NO double beds for the lower rate...

Perhaps we were unlucky

I had fairly high hopes for Buddy Lodge after reading the reviews on Trip Advisor, but was really disappointed. Perhaps we were unlucky as all those other people can't be wrong, but I won't be giving it a second chance.

Having emailed the hotel the day before our arrival to say that we would arrive at the hotel at about 5.30 pm, we were a little disappointed to arrive at 7.00pm (tired after a delayed flight) and be told that our room wasn't ready and we would need to come back in half an hour. No apology or explanation/ no offer of a drink and not even a smile! The reception staff were not particularly welcoming or friendly.

We booked a deluxe room at a cost of about £25. It was not worth it. £25 buys you a lot in Bangkok and we could have stayed at a 4* hotel in a nicer end of town for a few pounds more. It was the fact that we wanted to experience the Khaosan Road that brought us here but it was not value for money.

I stayed on the Khaosan Rd as a backpacker 5 years ago, and loved it. It's certainly not the posh end of town but it is bustling 24 hours a day with street vendors and backpackers and when you are only paying £3 per night for a backpacker's place, you don't expect luxury. HOWEVER, you must bear that in mind when booking this hotel. Most of the accommodation in the area is dirt cheap and no-frills and people are there to party. We emailed in advance and were assured that our room would not overlook the road and we wouldn't be disturbed by the nightlife but it was not true. With hindsight, it should have been obvious, the road is noisy and busy 24 hours, and so is the hotel. We had a terrible nights sleep.

In addition, the room was tired and grubby. The window shutters had a thick layer of dust on them and the bathroom looked like it needed a good bleach! Once again, you don't mind this when you are paying backpacker prices, but Buddy Lodge holds itself out as a luxury hotel - and it is not!

The only saving grace was the small pool on the roof - we didn't use it but it looked very nice. However, do yourself a favour and spend just a couple of pounds more and stay in a nicer hotel in a different area of town and visit the Khoasan Road for a night.

If you are adamant that you want to stay on this road, then this is probably the best hotel there - but that is purely because of the extremely basic accommodation in this area with which to compare it, and is not an endorsement of this hotel!

Was very pleased

Hi,

It was my first time in Thailand and I stay in 4 different hotels. Buddy Lodge offered the best value, convenience and facilities of the 4 hotels. Highly recommended!

Best value in Bangkok

Buddy Lodge gets my vote.

We were there in August 2002 and it is definitely the best place on Khaosan at any unbelievable price for what you are getting.

The staff was very accomodating and the rooms clean and (when we were there) brand new. The place had just opened a few months before. Glad to see from another review the Japanese restaurent is still there. The food there is good and reasonable and compliments nicely the Buddy's restaurent (on the second floor overlooking the street).

Do not get room facing the street if you want quiet at night however. The back rooms have no view but you will not be disturbed by noise.

The best location for the price in Bangkok.

You can take a bus from the airport for a very reasonable price but will be let off at the end of the street opposite to Buddy (so you have to walk the length of Khaosan to get the Buddy (less than 1 km I think), or take a tut-tut if you have luggage.

Rob

No 1 on Khao San

After rudely being told we couldnt stay longer at the D&D Inn we thougt we would splash out on this place which was about 20 pounds! They were very helpful and even sent a porter to walk down Khao San with his trolley to get our bags! This is a really great hotel in a superb location right on Khao San Road - backpacker heaven! Ive stayed on a lot of hotels on this street and this is the poshest there! I was there in 2003 and at the time they were building a pool, not sure if thats gone ahead but if it is it will be even better. The rooms are really nice, I would even go as far as saying luxurious and for Khao San thats very rare. Theres even is a great japenese restaurant by the lobby.

I would highly recommend this place to anyone wanting to stay right in the madness of it all but maybe if youve spent too long in that beach hut in Phangan and need to recharge yourself then this is the place!

LOVE IT!!

If you like action, Buddy's lodge is the place to go! It is on an amazing street with tons of night vendors, bars, restaurants, street food, etc. It is very clean, has a mini-fridge, and all the usual western amenities. It has little porches in the back that make it homey. For around $30 - it is great! There are places that cost around $5 - but this is worth it!