Best Hotel in Ubon?

[KunMatt]

I know this is a subjective question but what are your recommendations for the best hotel in Ubon. Money no option, suite if possible, need a swimming pool, close to restaurants. We are travelling with 2 young children.

I know this isn't asking too much for Ubon, is it??

[jcb2001]

The Grand Sunee has got my vote for best hotel.

[kilopx]

Check out Sunee grand its the best hotel in Ubon, very new as well. Here's the website: http://suneegrandhotel.com

Have a good time!

[MeMock]

Not really the best hotel anymore but if you want a swimming pool and restaurants then that is your place.

Need any directions Matt? (That was a joke)

Make sure you pay ahead of time as they have a bad reputation for changing the price when you go to check in.

[KunMatt]

Not really the best hotel anymore but if you want a swimming pool and restaurants then that is your place.

Need any directions Matt? (That was a joke)

Make sure you pay ahead of time as they have a bad reputation for changing the price when you go to check in.

So is it best to use the website to pre-book rather than walking in? Sunee doesn't show up on Booking.com, Asiarooms etc, only it's own website.

Is it anywhere near Saphasit Road or Central Plaza? I hear there's a airport in Ubon now, is it close to that??

[transam]

Sunee..............

Ubon really isn't a kids place but Sunee has it all in one place.

Ubon airport is five minutes away, me too.

Try Asiaweb Direct.

Edited September 24, 2013 by transam

[KunMatt]

Sunee..............

Ubon really isn't a kids place but Sunee has it all in one place.

Yeah I've lived outside of Ubon for a couple of years now. Couldn't get a good judge of hotels by the net cuz everyone seemed to rate the best hotel on what was the cheapest or best value for money. I've been and eaten and shopped in Sunee plenty of times so I've seen the big swimming pool slides on top of the hotel, my missus is a bit reserved because it used to be a hospital before so she thinks it's haunted.

While we are on the subject of kids, are they any decent playschools in the city?

[transam]

Sunee..............

Ubon really isn't a kids place but Sunee has it all in one place.

Yeah I've lived outside of Ubon for a couple of years now. Couldn't get a good judge of hotels by the net cuz everyone seemed to rate the best hotel on what was the cheapest or best value for money. I've been and eaten and shopped in Sunee plenty of times so I've seen the big swimming pool slides on top of the hotel, my missus is a bit reserved because it used to be a hospital before so she thinks it's haunted.

While we are on the subject of kids, are they any decent playschools in the city?

Tell the Mrs that the land every hotel is built on for sure folk have crocked on it.

[Nip]

Sunee gets my vote too. Have stayed in almost all the hotels in Ubon over the years. If price is not a problem then the Sunee wont be either. However saying that the 'War Office' was reluctant to stay as apparently it was a hospital before and the corridors boast a variety of ghosts.

[transam]

Sunee gets my vote too. Have stayed in almost all the hotels in Ubon over the years. If price is not a problem then the Sunee wont be either. However saying that the 'War Office' was reluctant to stay as apparently it was a hospital before and the corridors boast a variety of ghosts.

Noooooooo, the land had a hospital before, demolished, and the hotel is a new build, from bottom to top. I watched it come to life.

[Nip]

Sunee gets my vote too. Have stayed in almost all the hotels in Ubon over the years. If price is not a problem then the Sunee wont be either. However saying that the 'War Office' was reluctant to stay as apparently it was a hospital before and the corridors boast a variety of ghosts.

Noooooooo, the land had a hospital before, demolished, and the hotel is a new build, from bottom to top. I watched it come to life.

I stand corrected .... Seems she was fed the wrong information.... Have you seen the ghosts? As an aside I found the Mansion there great value the Nasri if I recall correctly? They have a large suite room for I think 1100 Baht .... Standard room 400 Baht?

Edited September 24, 2013 by Nip

[transam]

Sunee gets my vote too. Have stayed in almost all the hotels in Ubon over the years. If price is not a problem then the Sunee wont be either. However saying that the 'War Office' was reluctant to stay as apparently it was a hospital before and the corridors boast a variety of ghosts.

Noooooooo, the land had a hospital before, demolished, and the hotel is a new build, from bottom to top. I watched it come to life.

I stand corrected .... Seems she was fed the wrong information.... Have you seen the ghosts?

Only from my past. BUT, not at the Sunee..............

[downtown]

reluctantly i'd say the sunee, the best of a bad lot. as others have said book early - there has been a lot of negative reviews on the well known reviews website regards booking being forgotten or rates being raised. my biggest complaint is the lousy service there.

that said, for gawds sake dont go to the nevada hotel. a shame because 10 years ago it was great - now in a very, very sorry state

[spacemand]

Sunee like everyone else said. Stayed there once coming back from an trip and decided me and the missus needed a night alone before going back home and I was impressed.I prebooked through Agoda and it were around 1500 for a nice big room, when we walked in it turned out they had a special for 1100-1200.

They have their own pool which looked nice and have a childrens pool as well. Its connected to a mall that have a small water park for the kids which have water slides and is worth the money my kids loves the place. The mall also have a cinema and a bowling alley with pool tables and the usual restaurants and food court.

its close to the airport coming out of the airport turn right at the first intersection with traffic lights, then follow the road with the airport on your right after you pass the military enterence to the airport turn right again at the next intersection you pass Tesco and the turn right at the next light and you are there.

We had no issues with service there from checking in to room service and I would stay there again and I am critical, give me a bad experience one and I don't return.

If the mods censor my link just search Sunee grand ubon but heres the link to the hotel: http://suneegrandhotel.com/ they are on Agoda I believe or just call the hotel and ask if they have any promotions going on.

[MeMock]

Khun Matt - you couldn't find a website to book Sunee online? google 'sunee grand hotel' and you will see at least 4 different companies that take bookings for that place on the first page.

I stand corrected .... Seems she was fed the wrong information.... Have you seen the ghosts? As an aside I found the Mansion there great value the Nasri if I recall correctly? They have a large suite room for I think 1100 Baht .... Standard room 400 Baht?

It's called Natsiri Mansion. I did a review on it here: http://www.memock.com/tag/personal-review-for-nartsiri-mansion/

Edited September 24, 2013 by MeMock

[wprime]

The Sunee is haunted - there's also the Nevada - it's a bit dated but the rooms are spacious (suites) and there's a nice pub below.

[MeMock]

According to the locals every square metre of Thailand is haunted.

Nevada is a complete and utter dump. Do not stay there.

[Martyjustice]

I 've always liked the Toshang. May not be the best but staff is nice. Away from the center of town but closer to the mall. They do have a couple of nice double suites. No pool. But hey the prison is next door.

[AliasJohn]

Navarda is a dump for sure. What ever you do, don't stay there. If your stay at Sunee is for the first 5 days of the month they have a promotion for 1200 per night. Its good value in my books if you want pool, restaurant etc. You can also book sunee on agoda.com. Then you go to Peppers bakery for breakfast !!

[transam]

According to the locals every square metre of Thailand is haunted.

Nevada is a complete and utter dump. Do not stay there.

Unless you play snooker ...........................

[SantiSuk]

I 've always liked the Toshang. May not be the best but staff is nice. Away from the center of town but closer to the mall. They do have a couple of nice double suites. No pool. But hey the prison is next door.

Agreed - Tohsang is good value upperish end, but deffo not 5* hotel on room standard - but good enough for me and my family (I've had my belly-full of the best hotels in the world at extraordinary prices, having travelled extensively on business - happy to return to the real world ). The excellent buffet breakfast with wide range of choices not normally seen outside the mega tourist spot hotels is pretty near 5* - haven't tried Sunny but would be surprised if this was not the best breakfast in Ubon.

Based on one stay 3 years ago though - would be interested in anyone else's more recent take on it. Perhaps i'll give it an inspection stay and report back next month!

Thais seem to regard the Laithong as a top end hotel of choice in Ubon. I stayed there once and will not stay again until reports convince me that their management has changed the staff culture. It was positively hostile and uncaring towards guests the one time I stayed 4 years ago. No internet provided in rooms (<deleted>?) and two bust free desktops in the foyer - staff were totally uninterested in helping me find a place outside that I could check my emails.

In international and even Thai national terms Ubon is just amazingly cheap to stay and blessed by loads of choice, except at the top end. There is so much capacity being added but it is all at the 500-750 baht a night formulaic Mansion and Mansion+ level. There is a real need for a 2,500 baht a night really tasteful room boutique hotel with a gorgeous non-boutique size pool for the higher end international tourist/businessperson. I won't be staying there though and I guess that's the problem - there are 100 people like me for every one person like I used to be!

Edited September 25, 2013 by SantiSuk

[bergen]

Another vote for Sunny!

[spacemand]

I 've always liked the Toshang. May not be the best but staff is nice. Away from the center of town but closer to the mall. They do have a couple of nice double suites. No pool. But hey the prison is next door.

Agreed - Tohsang is good value upperish end, but deffo not 5* hotel on room standard - but good enough for me and my family (I've had my belly-full of the best hotels in the world at extraordinary prices, having travelled extensively on business - happy to return to the real world ). The excellent buffet breakfast with wide range of choices not normally seen outside the mega tourist spot hotels is pretty near 5* - haven't tried Sunny but would be surprised if this was not the best breakfast in Ubon.

Based on one stay 3 years ago though - would be interested in anyone else's more recent take on it. Perhaps i'll give it an inspection stay and report back next month!

Thais seem to regard the Laithong as a top end hotel of choice in Ubon. I stayed there once and will not stay again until reports convince me that their management has changed the staff culture. It was positively hostile and uncaring towards guests the one time I stayed 4 years ago. No internet provided in rooms (<deleted>?) and two bust free desktops in the foyer - staff were totally uninterested in helping me find a place outside that I could check my emails.

In international and even Thai national terms Ubon is just amazingly cheap to stay and blessed by loads of choice, except at the top end. There is so much capacity being added but it is all at the 500-750 baht a night formulaic Mansion and Mansion+ level. There is a real need for a 2,500 baht a night really tasteful room boutique hotel with a gorgeous non-boutique size pool for the higher end international tourist/businessperson. I won't be staying there though and I guess that's the problem - there are 100 people like me for every one person like I used to be!

Stayed at Tohsang hotel twice and would have no issues going back but at pretty much the same price you can stay at Sunee and with kids I would prefer Sunee due to the pool, water park and mall right next door. Didn't get to try the breakfast at Sunee since we woke up 5 minutes before check out time

[KunMatt]

Thanks to all for the advice, we just spent 4 great days at the Sunee Grand and saw a completely different side to Ubon city. And I mean that literally, I had no idea that huge road of bar and restaurants along the Moon River was there, it blew me away as I didn't think Ubon had anything like this.

The hotel was excellent. Again, much nicer than I expected from Ubon and if it wssn't for everyone's advice I wouldn't even have considered it and would probably have stayed at LaiThong again. Sunee is a hundred times better!

Something strange happened on checkin and I was thinking about what you guys said about them changing the rates; basically I found a Junior Suite on Agoda for 3k a night, the Sunee website had the same suite for 2800 baht a night all inclusive, so we called them to check and they confirmed, they have this room for 2800 baht all inclusive. So we I didn't pre-book, I thought I'd chance it worst case if they up the price to 3500 baht I'll book it on Agoda on my phone. We get to the hotel an hour later and they say they don't have any of those suites available, nor any deluxe rooms even though Agoda was showing many of each available, they said they only the more expensive suite which is 3k (has panoramic city view) and a special room. So I ask to see the suite and this "special" deluxe room they have. So the special room was just a deluxe with an extra bed for 2700 baht, which is right cuz a deluxe is 2k and an extra bed is 700 baht, the bell boy shows us the junior suite which I didn't like because the room is partitioned into several smaller rooms, so we ask the bellboy to see what else they have and he shows us a couple of empty deluxes and an empty normal junior suite, and he says that they have many of each available. So basically the front desk were lying when they said they only had the expensive junior suites left and we ended up staying in the deluxe room which was big enough for all 4 of us (2 babies!!).

Anyways, that's really my only grumble. The food was great, in fact we spent the first 2 days eating lunch and dinner in the hotel like terrible tourists!

I thought that Water Park was rubbish but the hotel's own pool was OK. Staff were incredible and made us and my son feel very welcome. The band rocked in their own way too!!

All in all, I cannot recommend the Sunee Grand enough to anyone. We'll definitely be going back there whenever we want a change from the countryside.

Cheers all for the advice.

Edited September 28, 2013 by KunMatt

[spacemand]

Thanks to all for the advice, we just spent 4 great days at the Sunee Grand and saw a completely different side to Ubon city. And I mean that literally, I had no idea that huge road of bar and restaurants along the Moon River was there, it blew me away as I didn't think Ubon had anything like this.

The hotel was excellent. Again, much nicer than I expected from Ubon and if it wssn't for everyone's advice I wouldn't even have considered it and would probably have stayed at LaiThong again. Sunee is a hundred times better!

Something strange happened on checkin and I was thinking about what you guys said about them changing the rates; basically I found a Junior Suite on Agoda for 3k a night, the Sunee website had the same suite for 2800 baht a night all inclusive, so we called them to check and they confirmed, they have this room for 2800 baht all inclusive. So we I didn't pre-book, I thought I'd chance it worst case if they up the price to 3500 baht I'll book it on Agoda on my phone. We get to the hotel an hour later and they say they don't have any of those suites available, nor any deluxe rooms even though Agoda was showing many of each available, they said they only the more expensive suite which is 3k (has panoramic city view) and a special room. So I ask to see the suite and this "special" deluxe room they have. So the special room was just a deluxe with an extra bed for 2700 baht, which is right cuz a deluxe is 2k and an extra bed is 700 baht, the bell boy shows us the junior suite which I didn't like because the room is partitioned into several smaller rooms, so we ask the bellboy to see what else they have and he shows us a couple of empty deluxes and an empty normal junior suite, and he says that they have many of each available. So basically the front desk were lying when they said they only had the expensive junior suites left and we ended up staying in the deluxe room which was big enough for all 4 of us (2 babies!!).

Anyways, that's really my only grumble. The food was great, in fact we spent the first 2 days eating lunch and dinner in the hotel like terrible tourists!

I thought that Water Park was rubbish but the hotel's own pool was OK. Staff were incredible and made us and my son feel very welcome. The band rocked in their own way too!!

All in all, I cannot recommend the Sunee Grand enough to anyone. We'll definitely be going back there whenever we want a change from the countryside.

Cheers all for the advice.

I believe that kids under 12 stay free no matter the amount if they don't need an extra bed so with 3 kids under 12 thats perfect for me I just sleep on the couch or on the floor (cheap charlie)

Yes the water park isn't the best but within 300km of that I doubt there is much similar so it rocks for us living here and I had to drag my kids out of there

I love the lobby of the hotel one of the nicest I have seen especially in that price range.

Good to hear you had a good time.

[SantiSuk]

Stayed at Tohsang last night.

The buffet breakfast must have gone downhill. Very average and not the wide range of choice I recall - eg only 3 fruits and one cereal. English/American breakfast had the usual slimy ham and remanufactured meat tasteless weenies you would get in a much less fancy hotel. Its only redeeming breakfast feature was that the egg chef made large omelettes as standard.

Notwithsatnding that, if you can cope with a 'nothing special' but AYCE breakfast Tohsang is very good value at the moment. They are renovating rooms and the unrenovated ones are not shabby. I was not aware of any renboivations form a disruption viewpoint but maybe it starts on a Monday morning!? Agoda had the room rate at 964 baht including all taxes if you committed to their non-refundable tarrif, which I did. These rooms are sizeable (but not much bigger than ones at the newer mansions like Chatsuree and Phadeang). But the rooms are better furnished and lit than the mansions and have quality Egyptian cottton bedding. The level of sound insulation is also far superior - I find the mansions very 'clattery' and I am normally a sound sleeper. Tohsang generally has a quiet charm about it once inside, considering its urban location. Internet and plumbing/air were all fine at the Tohsang - no bath at this rate, but better tiled bathrooms with proper marble topped basins/shelves and a curtained off shower area that prevented the dreaded wet room wet feet experience of the cheaper hotels.

The TV was the (now pretty much standard) 32 inch LCD and had good reception compared to many of the mansions I have stayed in, but a disappointing choice of English language channels and most Sport comes in Thai language only. I find it irritating at Thai hotels that the language choice that is broadcast when you are at home with your satellite box/disk is rarely selectable in the hotel package version. While on language, one disadvantage of the mansions for the tourist is that front-office staff English skills, particularly on the phone, tend to be patchy (or non-existent in the case of Chatsurree, where the receptionist, rather too proudly I thought, told me (in Thai) that "no we don't have anyone here who can speak English"!). I didn't need one - I was just checking! The (delightful) receptionists at Tohsang would have dealt easily with any complaints or info requests in English.

Back to comms - the free wifi works fine at Tohsang, as it does generally at the Mansions. Tohsang has a desktop in the foyer at 100 baht an hour - mansions dont tend to have that facility.

Horses for courses - I would stay in the Tohsang again if with my Thai family (though come to think of it, my wife was in fact quite happy with Phadaeng when we went en famille once). Otherwise I'm happy to slum it at roughly one third (rack) to one half (discounted/non-refundable) the price - but with only a cup of instant coffee and maybe a chinese donut and banana for brekkie - in one of the two mansions I mention, when on my own. I just hope to always remember to bring my earplugs and install them before sleeping when mansion-bound!

From all accounts of the Sunnee on here, Tohsang is very unlikely to challenge it for top end supremacy, even when fully renovated. Tohsang does not have a pool or adjacent shopping and restaurant facilities either. I would place it as a reliable good value lower top end regional hotel. I noticed that Tohsang attracts quite high customer ratings on Agoda and Asia rooms, both pushing towards 9 out of 10. I could imagine that most tourists (Thais as well) would be pleased with the comfort level and value for money compared to foreign and non-Isaan resort and city hotels.

I know that this is all pretty irrelevant to you OP but others do use these types of threads as references when googling. I'm pleased to see that Ubon came up with a hotel which matched your requirements. I'll give it an inspectors report myself sometime in the next few months!

Edited October 13, 2013 by SantiSuk

[transam]

Stayed at Tohsang last night. The buffet breakfast must have gone downhill. Very average and not the wide range of choice I recall. English/American breakfast had the usual slimy ham and remanufactured meat tasteless weenies you would get in a much less fancy hotel. Its only redeeming feature was that the egg chef made large omelletes as standard.

Notwithsatnding that, if you can withstand a 'nothing special' but AYCE breakfast Tohsang is very good value at the moment. They are renovating rooms and the unrenovated ones are not shabby. Agoda had the room rate at 964 baht including all taxes if you commited to their non-refundable tarrif, which I selected. These rooms are sizeable (but no bigger than the newer mansions like Chatsuree and Phadeang). But they are better furnished and lit than the mansions and have quality Egyptian cottton bedding. The level of sound insulation is also far superior - I find the mansions very 'clattery' and I am a sound sleeper. Tohsang generally has a quiet charm about it once inside, considering its urban location. Internet and plumbing/air were all fine at the Tohsang - no bath at this rate, but better tiled bathrooms with proper marble topped basins/shelves and a curtained off shower cubicle.

The TV was the (now pretty much standard) 32 inch LCD and had good reception compared to many of the mansions I have stayed in, but a disappointing choice of English language channels and most Sport comes Thai language only. While on language, the one disadvantage of the mansions is that English skills, particularly on the phone tend to be patchy (or non-existent in the case of Chatsurree!). The (delightful) receptionists at Tohsang would have dealt easily with any complaints in English. Back to comms - the free wifi works fine at Tohsang, as it does generally at the Mansions. Tohsang has a desktop in the foyer at 100 baht an hour - mansions dont tend to have that facility.

Horses for courses - I would stay in the Tohsang again if with my Thai family. Otherwise I'm happy to slum it at roughly half the price (but with only a cup of instant coffee and maybe a chinese donut and banana for brekkie) in one of the two mansions I mention, when on my own. I jsut hope to always remeber to bring my earplugs! Come to think of it, my wife was in fact quite happy with Phadaeng when she stayed there.

From all accounts of the Sunnee on here, Tohsang is very unlikely to challenge it for top end supremacy even when fully renovated. Tohsang does not have a pool or adjacent shopping and restaurant facilities either. I would place it as a reliable good value lower top end regional hotel.

You should have looked me up.

[SantiSuk]

You should have looked us up - the Ubon Hash, 'drinkers with a running problem' (albeit in our case the running problem tends to be that many members don't run!).

We were a stones throw away from Tohsang at the N-Joy bar for several hours!

[transam]

You should have looked us up - the Ubon Hash, 'drinkers with a running problem' (albeit in our case the running problem tends to be that many members don't run!).

We were a stones throw away from Tohsang at the N-Joy bar for several hours!

Yeh, I am not far away but the athletic stuff is a distant memory except doing a few weights.

I recall your lot were a stone throw from my place last year, l believe.

[bergen]

You should have looked us up - the Ubon Hash, 'drinkers with a running problem' (albeit in our case the running problem tends to be that many members don't run!).

We were a stones throw away from Tohsang at the N-Joy bar for several hours!

Yeh, I am not far away but the athletic stuff is a distant memory except doing a few weights.

I recall your lot were a stone throw from my place last year, l believe.

Thank you Sir! I really like the comment "athletic stuff"