Hotel Name: Bangkok Residence
Address: 1561/6-8 Soi Petchaburi 41, New Petchaburi Rd, Makkasan, Bangkok, Thailand.
I stayed at the Bangkok Residence in Bangkok. I booked it for its location near the Makkasan Airport Railway Link. This is not usually an area I stay in, so I wanted to try out another area. Plus I was researching the Makkasan area for a future story.
The hotel is off Petchaburi Road on Soi 41. There are lots of new apartment towers lining Petchaburi Road, and Soi 41 is a holdout of what the area used to look like. These concrete buildings are very typical in Thailand. They are an interesting style, though they look tired and old when water-stained.
The hotel is brightly painted and shows how nice these old buildings can look if they are looked after.
I got a single room with a private bathroom. My room didn’t have a window, which is something I try and avoid booking.
Despite not having a window the room itself was good. The bed was comfortable, it was spacious, and no weird smells (a common feature in windowless rooms).
There is free wifi in the hotel, and I had no problem connecting in my room.
Everything was ok with the bathroom, but I didn’t notice there was no sink until I needed to use the sink. I didn’t notice it because why would a bathroom not have a sink. I’m not sure if this was a peculiarity of just my room, or a hotel-wide feature.
At the entrance to the soi is a great little wonton noodle soup stand. Next to the hotel (in fact part of the hotel) is an Indian restaurant, so the smell of curry permeates throughout the hotel. There is no breakfast at the hotel.
Part of why I stayed here was because it is close to Makassan Station. At least on the map it’s close, but what should have been a 5 minute walk was a 20 minute walk. In Bangkok the side streets are often dead ends with no access to big roads. The hotel is about 10-15 minute walk to the Phetchaburi MRT station, and from there you are one stop away from Asok/Sukhumvit.
Along Petchaburi Road you can see the last remnants of these old concrete blocks that are gradually being torn down. I suspect that the buildings on soi 41 will be gone within a decade as well, and replaced with modern apartment towers. It’s not really a nice road for tourists though, with long distances to walk and it is hard ot get to, even though it is in the middle of the city.
Overall this place would have been ok for a budget hotel if it had a sink in the room. For such a weird omission of a standard bathroom feature I would look for another place.
Book the Bangkok Residence online or search for more hotels in Bangkok. If you are new Bangkok I don’t recommend staying on Petchaburi Road. Here are my recommended areas to stay in Bangkok.