The Royal Express Inn is on a side street on the lower part of the Sukhumvit Road, which is where some of Bangkok’s most popular bars and restaurants are located as well as the Terminal 21 shopping centre. It is an easy walk to both the Sky Train and the metro.
Good points about the Royal Express Inn
The Royal Express Inn is one of the last of the last affordable places to stay on the lower section of Sukhumvit Road nearest to Siam Square. They regular offer deals for under 1,000 THB a night for pretty good rooms, making this small 19 room hotel an absolute bargain. For the price the other alternatives are to stay in a dormitory or to stay in another less popular part of Bangkok.
Entrance to the Royal Express InnThe Royal Express Inn is in a side street off Soi 8 on the Sukhumvit Road. The hotel is conveniently close to lots of the places where visitors to the city want to go to in the evenings and very close to major transport links allowing people who stay at this hotel to quickly and cheaply to the major attractions in Bangkok:
- 61 metres walk – Nana BTS Station (Sky Train)
- 500 metres walk – Nana Entertainment Plaza
- 650 metres walk – Terminal 21 shopping mall
- 950 metres walk – Sukhumvit MRT Station (metro with connections to the Airport Link)
Despite the low price and convenient location the Royal Express Inn is a fairly good standard mid range hotel. It is not luxurious but it provides visitors with everything they need for a 2 to 3 day stay in the city either at the start or end of their trip to Thailand.
Rooms at the Royal Express Inn
The rooms at Royal Express Inn are small, not as small as the rooms at budget hotels in the Khao San Road area but definitely smaller than 22 to 25 sqm room sizes that are misleadingly quoted on the various hotel booking sites. There is room to walk around the side of the bed and place luggage and a pushchair, but not a lot more.
Bed at the Royal Express InnI found the beds at the Royal Express Inn to be comfortable. The sheets were clean and it was not noisy at night. The air-conditioning worked well and I slept really well at night. No complaints whatsoever about this room.
Bathroom at the Royal Express InnThe bathrooms at the Royal Express Inn are OK, but not great. The tiled wall by the shower had a crack in it that didn’t look good, but in practical terms that didn’t affect me in any way at all. The water in the shower was hot and the toilet worked. Like all small bathrooms with no separate shower cubicle, the floor of the bathroom stays wet for several hours after you shower, which is an inconvenience that is pretty normal in budget hotels across South East Asia.
Facilities at the Royal Express Inn
The Royal Express Inn doesn’t have any shared facilities like a gym or restaurant, although it does have a small seating area in front of the reception where you can sit at night and have a drink whilst watching what goes on in the busy street in front.
TV at the Royal Express InnWhat did impress me about the Royal Express Inn was the facilities in the room, which were much better than I normally get in a room for this price. The room had a flat screen TV with a good range of English language channels, including several film channels.
Fridge and safe at the Royal Express InnThe rooms at the Royal Express Inn also come with a fridge and a safety box which worked on a code. The addition of a safety box in a hotel in Bangkok is something which now you don’t tend to get unless you pay 2,000 THB a night upwards for your room. This meant that I wasn’t burdened with carrying my passport and all my money around with me at night when I went for meal and a drink.