Bangkok Rajah Hotel Review

The Rajah hotel is just one of many budget hotels within a 5 minute walking distance to Nana Entertainment Plaza - a popular compact building crammed full go go bars. It is located between Sukhumvit Soi 2 and Soi 4 close to many beer bars and small clubs where men meet Thai ladies working in the red light industry. This is definitely an area where most tourists who stay here are men on the prowl for overnight female company.

So it's no coincidence at all that the Rajah Hotel has a guest friendly policy. And by guest friendly I mean that the Rajah allows their customers to bring ladies working in the go go bars and beer bars back to their rooms with no extra charge. And since the Nana red light district is popular for its ladyboy presence the hotel won't charge extra for them either.

The hotel was built in the late 1970's and went through quite a lot of tear and wear. Which is the consequences of being a popular hotel in the red light district.

But just recently in late 2008 the hotel was refurbished and today it has a complete new look. Almost that is.

It seems as if most of the renovation budget went into sprucing up the lobby and the coffee shop that doubles as the buffet breakfast section for hotel guests.

The Rajah Hotel's coffee shop is also an area where Russian freelance prostitutes hang out in search of customers. How did that happen? I really have no clue. But that's where most Asian sex tourist have been going to for quite sometime.

And yes some of the rooms at the Rajah Hotel are used by the prostitutes with their customers. This is a guest friendly hotel after all.

But that's not where it ends. On the second floor of the hotel is the Ball in Hand, where men can match their skills in the game of billiards with, you guessed it, women who are freelance prostitutes.

There are 347 rooms and the building as 13 floors so the property is quite big. Since the areas full of affordable hotels the Rajah has kept their room rates down just to be competitive. A single room here cost around 1,200 Baht per night during the low season, which is very reasonable.

There are 4 room types at the Rajah Hotel:

• Single Room
• Twin Room
• Double Room
• Suite Room (queen sized bedroom and living room)
  

The first 3 room types are roughly the same size, about 26 sqm. to 28 sqm. I'm not quite sure about the size of the suite room type because I do not know anyone who has stayed in one. Although on the hotel's website it states that there are 2 rooms; a living room and a bedroom with a queen sized bed.

I mentioned that the the hotel was recently renovated and that most of the money seemed to be spent on beautifying the lobby. From what I could see from the hotel rooms my friends have stayed in the workmanship wasn't quite professional. The bathrooms in their rooms definitely needed more work or even a major overhaul at most.

For guys who love to go on the prowl for some midnight company, the Rajah Hotel is perfectly located for such activities.

But there are a few other hotel properties nearby that they may also want to consider, that are in better shape and cost almost the same:

• Majestic Suites
• Ibis Nana
• Dawin Hotel

I'm not saying that the Rajah is a bad hotel. I just think there are better alternatives in the price range. That even though it just went through a recent renovation the hotel could've been much better. Despite what I think of course Rajah is going to continue being a popular hotel because the location is excellent and the room rate is right on par with most travelers on a budget.