bargaining at guest houses in Bangkok

[elgenon]

Been staying at a Guesthouse in Chiang Mai for years. Was 500 Baht with breakfast. Now 750B with a basic breakfast. The difference is reviews on TripAdvisor. Be careful what you do. This trip I am staying at a hotel nearby for 700 Baht and clean sheets every day but no breakfast. Will get noodles for 30 baht.

[TheSpade]

If we're talking Bangkok and a few hundred baht a night, you're already into scary territory as far as how bad the room would be. Why not just pitch a home-made tent and pretend to be eccentric rather than desperate.

In the kowsarn area aka Soi Rambuttri you can get places that are decent for 500-700B.

Nice clean rooms, air con, daily maid service and fresh towels and toiletries, TV etc. Some have pools.

The 200B places tend to be small and very basic sometimes no window and just a fan. Shared bathroom mostly though there are places where you'll get an onsuite and aircon.

[JimsKnight]

I doubt you would find such bargains around Sukhumvit, but it surely is worth a try in Backpackers haven around Khao Sarn Rd. or Khaosan Rd., if the hippie style crowd and very simple standard rooms is what you are looking for.

But 200 Baht a night, incl. a/c... no way, not even if you have to share your room with cockroaches and other disgusting room mates...

800 Baht is very reasonable already for Sukhumvit, if you can get them down to 650 THB, you have bargained hard. ;-). But it always depends also on the length of your stay, if you stay for 3 weeks or a month, they may give you a very special deal...

Good luck and much fun while in LoS..

The first place I stayed at in Thailand was a place in KhaoSan road about 10 years ago. 200 baht a night. No roaches, but definitely bare. It did have airconditioning, though. I just needed a place to hole up and work on something online. I knew nothing of Thailand and I just said "KhaoSan" to the bus stand attendant and I was off.

Those places are still out there, but the prices have probably gone up. I don't do those anymore, but when you are first here and single, they can be nice little hovels to sleep in. When you are 20, you are hardly in the room anyway.

Online in 2002? You were the early bird-worker for internet on that one!

[stickylies]

I think for the most part Thai prices are fairly solid and fixed...

... and honest.

my budget for rooms is 300-450 baht outside Bkk. always had quality sofar. quite often I stay in these 24/24 places that don't really cater to foreigners. most of them have air, fridge, water boiler, hot water, free instant coffee and cost 350-450baht.

when i travel with thai friends they tend to sleep in 600-900baht rooms. they get the same quality as i do but they can say they were in 'that hotel'.

[elgenon]

Yes , bargain with extended time!

[harrry]

Most of the time when quoted a price my wife asks rot noi (discount a little) and without fail tthey drop 50 baht. It seems expected.

[NCFC]

Even five start hotels you can bargain. Recently stayed at a very nice resort hotel in Hua Hin where the 'garden view' rooms were 3k and they had some great 'pool-side' rooms at 7k. I noticed the hotel was fairly empty when we checked in as it was low-season, so I offered 1k for an upgrade. After a bit of haggling they accepted.

Also had the opposite happen in Kanchanaburi. Stayed at a cheap 450 bath guest house for one night and we wanted to stay a further extra night. The owner tried to upsell us to a 700baht room saying the hotel was full, It obviously wasn't and went went to another a hundred yards down the road for 500baht.

Obviously 200 baht in Sukhumwit is just a troll and it would be embarrassing to bargain where the price is already fair. But if the owners can adjust the prices upwards if they spot an opportunity then there's no reason not to bargain when you can, gust house or multi-star.

[soomak]

That was nonsense. Don't believe everything you read.

Thai hotels and guesthouses do offer a discount for long-term stays, but they don't bargain. Why should they? Business is good.

Not sure you are correct that business is good.

Look in Agoda for same day/next day hotel rates, you see some offering 50-60% and even higher discounts.

That's not exactly bargaining, but if I'm offered a 50% discount without having to bargain (and for 1 night stay only), I am happy enough.

About guesthouses, I have no clue, as haven't used those in a few years.

[JemJem]

I doubt you would find such bargains around Sukhumvit, but it surely is worth a try in Backpackers haven around Khao Sarn Rd. or Khaosan Rd., if the hippie style crowd and very simple standard rooms is what you are looking for.

But 200 Baht a night, incl. a/c... no way, not even if you have to share your room with cockroaches and other disgusting room mates...

800 Baht is very reasonable already for Sukhumvit, if you can get them down to 650 THB, you have bargained hard. ;-). But it always depends also on the length of your stay, if you stay for 3 weeks or a month, they may give you a very special deal...

Good luck and much fun while in LoS..

The first place I stayed at in Thailand was a place in KhaoSan road about 10 years ago. 200 baht a night. No roaches, but definitely bare. It did have airconditioning, though. I just needed a place to hole up and work on something online. I knew nothing of Thailand and I just said "KhaoSan" to the bus stand attendant and I was off.

Those places are still out there, but the prices have probably gone up. I don't do those anymore, but when you are first here and single, they can be nice little hovels to sleep in. When you are 20, you are hardly in the room anyway.

There are still places in the Kowsarn area for those prices. Less even. I stayed in a place last year that was 180B for a single aircon room with ensuite because everywhere else was full. Just for one night until managed to get into my usual spot round there at the time which is 650B.

Not so long ago a mate had a place for about 170B with air con, double bed, fridge etc. Just a short walk from Kowsan along Samsen Road. There's other places similar priced in various locations apparently.

Guesthouse prices can be haggled and every single Thai I have ever gone travelling with has haggled. Most times they have got a reduction in the initial price offered.

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You must know some cheap skate Thai's as all the Thai's I know and have travelled with always are happy to spend much more than I usually would and never, ever, haggle on price.

They spend over the odds and want places much nicer than I can see the point in having for a couple of nights stay and they will pay whatever is asked for it.

Gees ! Only 170 baht for such a room ??! Great value. There have been times I stayed in Khao San over the past few years; and for similar rooms, I have usually paid 600-700 baht. And, most people I have met in the area told me they paid around that too, for similar rooms. I have heard of people paying around 200-300 baht but that was for dorm-rooms !