Erawan House, Bangkok

The Erawan House is one of the last remaining budget hotels in the Khao San Road area of Bangkok. The majority of the other hotels and guesthouses which used to be cheap places to stay have all changed their business models to charging higher prices for slightly better accommodation.

Good points about the Erawan House

The Erawan House is in a great location on a side street off the lower end of the popular Soi Rambutri which is known for its street stalls, low keys bars and range of cheap and mid priced restaurants. The Khao San Road is a 650 metres walk from the Erawan House and the Phra Athit Chao Phraya Express Boat Pier (a cheap and exciting option for travel around Bangkok) is only 120 metres walk away. For cheap travel to other parts of Bangkok you only need to walk 900 metres to the bus stop on the Ratchadamnoen Klang Road and from there its only 8 THB to Siam Square and 50 THB to Don Mueang Airport.

In terms of the location the room rate for the Erawan House, 500 to 600 THB booked online, is great value for money. This is somewhere that will really suit budget travellers particularly younger people travelling on their own who want to make their money last over several months but still get the same opportunities to enjoy Bangkok as people staying in hotels that cost two to three times as much.

The Erawan House may be a budget hotel but that doesn’t mean that it is dirty or uncomfortable. The Erawan House is a modern guesthouse that is comfortable to stay in even if the rooms are small and it doesn’t have facilities like a swimming pool or a gym.

Rooms at the Erawan House

The Erawan House has 53 rooms over 5 floors. The standard double room size is 9 sqm increasing to 18 sqm metres for the largest room. In the standard double rooms, which are the cheapest option, you have a metre wide walkway around the bed, a TV cabinet in front of the bed and a toilet behind. For two people it would be a little bit small, but for one person staying two to three nights its big enough.

The beds at the Erawan House are comfortable and the bedding was in good condition when we stayed in August 2019. Because the Erawan House is right in the centre of a very busy part of Bangkok we recommend staying on the upper floors if you have the option because it’s quieter. We stayed on the top floor and with the air-conditioner switched on we could not hear any noise from the street below.

The bathrooms are small but fairly good in comparison to what you will find in a lot of the other budget hotels in Bangkok. The tiling and the fittings in the bathroom are not old and there was hot water in the shower. It’s basic but all that you really need.

Facilities at the Erawan House

The room facilities at the Erawan House can best be described as ‘sparse’. The rooms all have flat screen TV but they have no English language channels which means that in reality they are completely pointless for anyone who doesn’t want to watch Thai TV. The WiFi, however, is good so if you want to watch a film then you can watch online if you have a smart phone, tablet or laptop. The rooms have small wardrobes as well. There are no fridges and no safety boxes in the basic rooms. If you don’t want to carry your passport, cards and money with you everywhere then make use of safety boxes on the ground floor by the reception for which you need your own padlock.

All levels of the Erawan House, except for the top floor, have a seating area with fans and sofas. You can smoke there and there are tables where you can eat take away food.

The lobby area at the Erawan House is shared with a currency exchange counter, a tailor and a travel agent. These useful outlets are at the front of the lobby, with the reception desk at the rear. Two things we liked about the lobby at the Erawan House. One was the friendly lady on the reception desk who spoke good English and had a sense of humour. The other thing we liked was the free tea and coffee served from 06:00 until 10:00 every day which is another money saver for the budget conscious traveller.

Location of the Erawan House