Thailand Tops List Of Dirtiest Hotels In Asia

[Soutpeel]

Having stayed in a good many hotels throughout the world mainly because of the job, have been in Zero star hotels which where ok and 5 star hotels which were absolute cr*p and not worth the money.

In my opinion the worst hotel I ever stayed in was on Koh Chang during a holiday, It had just opened (a few years ago now) and decided to give it a try over my usual hotel....On being shown to the room, myself and Mrs Soutpeel noted with great distress that the bed was soaking wet and not an open window in sight. On looking up the ceiling boards were falling apart due to water coming through the roof, bare in mind this was a THB 3000/night place...

The reason I nominated this hotel as the worst I have stayed in was not to do with the condition of the room per se, but the attitude of the front desk staff and the manager when I complained, they decided they would put dry sheets on the bed and everything would be ok..!!!!!......Wrong...want another room without the complementary shower over the bed and I stayed one night and moved to my regular hotel and they wanted me to pay for the whole 5 nights I had booked...!!!!.....yeah right..guess again.....years later anyone who asked me for a recommendation for a hotel on Koh Chang was told to avoid this place like the plague...

[lounger]

I guess the "love hotels" are amongst the cleanest because they change the bedsheets every four hours

mmm maybe the sheets are changed but the bathrooms can be a joke. Its as if they know you are not staying for the facilities......but I have had a really dirty time in a few!

[UdeBoCM]

Question 1: Are India or Pakistan not part of Asia?

Question 2: Did they forget that India or Pakistan also have hotels?

[jboras]

I guess the "love hotels" are amongst the cleanest because they change the bedsheets every four hours

mmm maybe the sheets are changed but the bathrooms can be a joke. Its as if they know you are not staying for the facilities......but I have had a really dirty time in a few!

Ahhhhh.... you guys didnt read the fine print on the sheets, pillow covers and towels...

USE BOTH SIDES

The cleaners do!

Edited January 28, 2010 by jboras

[Igor]

Does Asia include "central" Asia? If so, I'd like to propose they reexamine the Tashkent Hotel. A big, major hotel in that city. The first night I slept sitting up in a chair rather than trust the crunchy sheets. And, I'd swear the bottled water had been refilled. The second night, I found a guest house. And at the guest house, the "floor monitor" didn't knock on my door soliciting for a hooker.

[Reasonableman]

Well, while I adore Tibet, some of the hotels in which one is obliged to stay are the pits. No service mentalioty whatsoever, food and eating utelsils dumped heavily in a heap on thr table, appalling food, and even that runs out before breakfast is halof over. And that's the good ones!

My favorite has to be the one in Nyalam, just over the border from Nepal (that's a whole other story). Hmmm, well... the room we had was adjacent to the outside loo, and copious draughts of loo stench drigfted in all night. The walls, such as they were were cardboard thin and held togetehr mostly with cellotape. Where the wall met the floor, one could SEE INTO the room next door through the 1-inch gap between wall and floor. When it rained, one of us had to put a big plastic bag over his bed to divert the drips. It was so absurd it was almost funny. Oh yeah, and the floor was not level, but slanted towards the adjacent room, so that if you dropped something, it tended to roll into the next room, so you had to ask the friendly occupant to please return it...Monty Python had nothing on this place!

I can only say that I have had only good hotel experiences in Thailand. Clearly the reviewers forgot about China, where a 4 star hotel is the equivalent of a one star Thai hotel. The star rating in China is controlled by the Government and has no relationship with the one we all know and understand.

[AleG]

I wonder were would they have rated the creaking bamboo raft with a shack on top I stayed at in Khao Sok lake. Bed bugs on the single smelly dirty mattress and bedsheets, cockroach droppings everywhere (but only saw one roach though). At night a mouse kept running around the bed... well, mattress because there wasn't a bed per se. No AC or even light inside, a rusty fan that stopped working when they cut off the generator at 10. Of course being a floating shack the thing creaked all night long while I could hear the fish splashing 30 cm bellow my ear.

But...

I've never been anywhere else with such a beautiful view in the mornings. I'll take it over a 5 star aseptic room any day of the week.

So, I'll go with the crowd that says that lists like this are pretty much useless.

[gotlost]

Lets be fair about this if the authorities were to clean up all these disgusting hotels where would all the back packer stay and what about the short time industry?

[andyww]

On the other hand, sometimes the reviews on TA are just unfair. One example: Whenever I stay in Paris I stay in a very nice small hotel run by a pleasant couple. This hotel has a poor average on Tripadvisor owing to one American reviewer who gave it a rating of zero.

Reason: "We bought sodas on our way back to the hotel and we asked for ice. Unbelieveably they had no ice machine. They had to go to their kitchen and get some ice from there and could only manage a pathetic 4 cubes". Result zero rating.

What a dick.

[PhilHarries]

On the other hand, sometimes the reviews on TA are just unfair. One example: Whenever I stay in Paris I stay in a very nice small hotel run by a pleasant couple. This hotel has a poor average on Tripadvisor owing to one American reviewer who gave it a rating of zero.

Reason: "We bought sodas on our way back to the hotel and we asked for ice. Unbelieveably they had no ice machine. They had to go to their kitchen and get some ice from there and could only manage a pathetic 4 cubes". Result zero rating.

What a dick.

And that just about sums up the value of these kind of survey results. One nitpicking crackpot drops the rating through the floor. Without the raw data, i.e. the comments themselves and the ratings that ensue, even the best 5 star joints could find themselves downrated.

"Cr@p joint, the bed wasn't turned back and there was no bedtime candy on the pillow. Nul point"

[mca]

as a very frequent traveller in both China and Asia, I will not book a hotel until I have read the comments made on Tripadvisor. I find the comments made by other travellers to be very informative and generally speaking spot on.

I have to agree. I used to work in an internationally managed hotel in Bangkok and have stayed in all of their properties in Thailand. TA comments from guests were in my humble opinion near enough completely correct both good and bad.

Even with the criticisms of my own property on TAs site I had to think "Yep fair point"

[Kohn Ferang]

If those are the worst they can find, I can only suggest; those reporters have led a very sheltered life, there is much much worse then those hotels discussed in the provinces around Thailand, Traveling Thailand I saw regularly worse then that, just not normally for that price. I often paid 150 Baht, I got what I paid for and no complaints, those hotels on that list are not bad, except in relation to the prices, not really a very good deal.

[brahmburgers]

I wouldn't say they were the worst, but they're certainly the noisiest. If more attention was paid to sound-proofing they'd go up in my estimation. This also applies to condos.

I agree with the problem of noise. Often happens. If there's a loud party in a nearby room, what's a farang to do? If you go knock on the door (while half asleep and irritable) and say in the absolute nicest way possible "would you please be more quiet", you can expect one or more of the following responses:

>>> a closed door

>>> ridicule

>>> offense followed immediately by anger

>>> "Go back to your country!"

....if you go to make a mention to the management, your reception is perhaps a tad bit better, though nothing tangible can ever get done. You might get a 'sorry' or 'we'll look in to it tomorrow' or some soggy excuse - at best.

Drunks at parties are essentially non-touchables, and every Thai knows that instinctively.

BTW (more on-topic) I stay at a hotel at a border town in Burma for 400 baht. It's better, to me, than any of the 25 or so Thai hotels I've stayed at (and cheaper too) and here's the main reason:

Each room has a wall which is completely windows. It also has curtains, but I don't close them because I like to see the trees and sky. Not only is it a lovely 15 sq.meter window (facing north), but the whole center opens up with screens, so it's almost like sleeping in a screen porch. In contrast, the most expensive hotels in Thailand usually have windows which, if they open, don't even have screens because they think only a nut would want air coming in from outside, when any sane person would want full air conditioning (re-cycling oxygen-depleted air which may also be replete with fungi and bacteria, dander from previous tenants, and whatever mix of chemicals the hotel uses). More than a few Thai hotels (including deluxe) have windows which have florescent lights on all night - just outside, including flickering and buzzing.

I spoke with a father/son team which stayed at the most expensive resort in Chiang Rai (Rim Kok), and they were furious that there was trash burning (including plastic) just outside their hotel room window - and when they went to complain to management, all they got was, "sorry, that's just what's happening with the ground-crew now. It will be better tomorrow."

My personal beef with them (and other Thai-managed hotels) is the insipidly lousy quality of music in their large restaurant. The pianist plays off key and off beat. But he's Thai, so they're probably not allowed to have a farang musician take his place.

At the poolside, there's often tinny low-fidelity Thai radio playing - because that's what the bored workers there want to hear.

[suanprig]

didnt 2010 just start? how can we rate a year when its only just got cracking??? morons on this site. but still extremely informative. good 1 lads! got any others?

[Sisaketmike]

Thailand has the best hotels of anywhere i have stayed in the world. The service and the cleanliness. I haven't found anywhere that is better value.

There is a lot to moan about in Thailand but the hotels are definitely a high point.

Lets also not forget that a lot of people come to Thailand compared to most other Asian countries. So this would increase the amount of feedback about Thai hotels. A lot of these are the sort of budget travelers that are partaking in these online feedback forums. There are always going to be some dodgy hotels but a large percentage are really nice.

During promotions you can stay in 4 and 5 star hotels for 50 - 100 quid and they are outstanding. Anything under 100 in London is scary.

I work and travel to HK and China every month and can tell you that Thailand hotels are much much better.

If you join starwood, accord the deals are great.

Shereton in Krabi

Sofitel Krabi

These are among my favorites. Normally 5,000 but during promotions around 2,000

If you get a Thai credit card you can accumulate points towards nice hotels easily.

I've lived in Thailand 8 years full time and they simply have the best hotels in the world.

Sheraton? Sofitel? You’re talking about expensive hotels; I guess you haven’t seen other hotels, right?

Who could pay even 2,000 a day? Must be joking.

[john b good]

I have to say that where there is smoke there is fire.

This may be TV Forum but the realm has really gotta get its shyt together.

Thailand is very well known for it's crap presenting of it's good things.

The name should be changed to LOI "land of lies" go figure.

[fiercesnake]

WOW! What a great marketing idea! Yes you too can stay in Asia's dirtiest hotel. Come see our Golden Cockroach Award. Tell your friends, yes you've been there and it's as filthy as they say. Wonderful marketing tool here, excellent advertising. Bunch of people run down to these places just to check them out. LOL!

[KamalaBrian]

usually thai hotels are the best in terms of pricing, services and cleanness compare to the hotels in the US and UK. with these price range, it is impossible to stay in any hotel in the western world.

this is a confusing article and it has nothing to do with other hotels in Thailand.

Good Comment, I don't get it, everywhere has a best and worst hotel, so why is Thailand singled out...again...anything positive here? Why does big chains like Marriott keep openning up new hotels in Thailand all the time, and so many other new boutique hotels openning by the day? Because Thailand is a dirty place to have hotels?

[NowImEasy]

Hey, I've stayed at First Hotel just last year and it was worth what I paid. About 1200 bht. It was OK, not luxuruy, but OK for the money. I've stayed in hotels in other countries and none compare in cleanliness of hotels here. (Except the hotel in Burirum. We found evidence of rats in the room, and the front desk felt very bad about the situation. Mai pen rai) By the way, the worst part of the First Hotel for me? The mafia guy who runs a transportation business right outside the door. I made the mistake of asking him about a ride to Suvarnabumi at 3 AM and he said 500 bht. When I checked out, there was a taxi waiting for me and 3 Thai guys who kind of surrounded us, so I took the 500 bht taxi. But no tip!!! hah! I showed him who'se the boss!

[notime]

Don't believe all bad reviews you read at TripAdvisor. They can be stacks of lies placed by competitors, people who for various reasons are unhappy with the hotel's existence or actual visitors not happy about having to pay for a broken item or something of that nature. Let's face it: not all guests are nice people in the same way as not all people are nice and hotels have little choice on who do they host.

I'm stating this from my first-had experience running a hospitality business here, striving to provide the very best of value and service to our guests but being subjected on one occasion to a vicious slander attack on the TripAvisor. TripAdvisor is a site strongly biased towards people who place comments there. Their rules are very different to reviewers and to the managers who respond not to mention that they are not in a position to verify the truth of the comments they publish.

[Loz]

What do people expect for 100bht a night.

Pay peanuts.... you get...

[ding]

Baloney. Thai hotels are fine. There was a ONE hotel in Surin that had bedbugs in all the many years I've been travelling there.

When I started traveling to Thailand, I thought it was dirty that housekeepers were bare foot in my room. But it's MUCH dirtier to walk on my carpet with shoes that have been on the street - and then I go barefoot on that dirt. Thais are clean. It took a minute to shake my western concepts and see what is what.

My opinion only.

Edited January 28, 2010 by ding

[Soutpeel]

Baloney. Thai hotels are fine. There was a ONE hotel in Surin that had bedbugs in all the many years I've been travelling there.

When I started traveling to Thailand, I thought it was dirty that housekeepers were bare foot in my room. But it's MUCH dirtier to walk on my carpet with shoes that have been on the street - and then I go barefoot on that dirt. Thais are clean. It took a minute to shake my western concepts and see what is what.

My opinion only.

.....I get ya and understand thats why just about everywhere you go in Thailand there is sh*t thrown in street.....oh sorry that my western concept of dirty.....you maybe need to get out of your resort hotel once in while....

[ding]

Baloney. Thai hotels are fine. There was a ONE hotel in Surin that had bedbugs in all the many years I've been travelling there.

When I started traveling to Thailand, I thought it was dirty that housekeepers were bare foot in my room. But it's MUCH dirtier to walk on my carpet with shoes that have been on the street - and then I go barefoot on that dirt. Thais are clean. It took a minute to shake my western concepts and see what is what.

My opinion only.

.....I get ya and understand thats why just about everywhere you go in Thailand there is sh*t thrown in street.....oh sorry that my western concept of dirty.....you maybe need to get out of your resort hotel once in while....

You got me wrong my friend. I stay in the country at friends or inlaws,usually low end backpacker racks and cheap bungalows in early years, and sometimes high end resorts in recent years. But your wrong assumptions about my experience imply that whatever point you were trying to make is likely wrong too.

I love that older Thais have work sweeping the streets, and they do it proudly. They do a great job, and the Bangkok is as beautiful to me as it is gritty. I don't love Thailand for its white bread uniformity.

[LTGTR]

Wow,that's a surprise-LOL!

[anon467367354]

i'm wondering based on some of the comments here, what does price have to do with cleanliness? I've stayed in many hotels, Pai has some nasty ones, and some that are ok, Chieng Mai, quite nice and reasonable. I'm wondering as i write this is are the rooms and buildings old and run down, or is housekeeping not keeping house? A room for rent should be clean regardless of the condition of the building, it should be a do the best you can with what you have scenario. But often not the case. I could have written something better.

[andyww]

I have stayed in a few higher-end hotels in Thailand which have a common problem of mold in the building air conditioning so the whole building stinks of mold. This is really nasty. I would prefer a cheap tatty place which was reasonably clean to a room in a place with this problem.

I think this is quite a common problem in Thailand with the humid air which causes constant dampness in the ducting. Even some shopping malls have the problem. Central Lad Phrao used to suffer from this many years ago until they refurbished the place.

[thailandfaq]

well i once stayed in some village in rajasthan somewhere between Delhi and Pushkar and wow i cant believe it wasnt worse than this one in Phi Phi

The place had rats jumping on my bed all night and I even woke up with one on my head as well as cockroaches crawling on me all night and bitten by bed bugs.

I have no words for how dirty the place was i was out at dawn and sat on the roadside waiting for the bus.

I dont think the Chukit would be worse than that place

Edited January 28, 2010 by thailandfaq

[tamsom]

As usual, complete geographic ignorance. Asia consists of between 47 and 53 countries depending on what Pacific islands you include. When was the last time one of these reviewers stayed in Kabul? Thai hotels are mostly clean and well run.

[cobra]

Universal axiom applies,

You get what you pay for,