Dawin Bangkok Hotel - A Hotel Right in the Heart of Nana Red Light District

The Dawin Bangkok hotel is nestled in the prime location of Sukhumvit district. It's close proximity to Nana Entertainment Plaza's go go bars and beer bars and the dozens of freelance prostitutes of the night makes the area a sort of place that men are more inclined to go stay in for a holiday. Especially since the Dawin Bangkok is a hotel with a guest friendly policy. Which means any guests can invite a lady back to their rooms without having to pay a fee.

Ever since the Dawin Bangkok started construction back in early 2007 I already knew it was going to be a popular hotel. Not because I have the inside track on hotels in Bangkok, but because It is only a 5 minute stroll to Nana Entertainment Plaza. The Sky Train station is just 10 minutes away by foot on Sukhumvit road. And there are plenty of affordable local restaurants as well as American fast food joints such as McDonald's and Burger Kings nearby. Not to mention Starbucks coffee houses which seem to proliferate in Bangkok without end.

So when it opened its doors in early 2008 I started recommending people to go stay at the Dawin. Mainly because new hotels in Bangkok always start off with reduced rates to attract guests and build up a customer base. And staying in a brand new hotel sure beats staying in a old hotel.

In Dawin's case they had standard rooms with a 1400 baht per night price tag. Which was very reasonable at the time because a few of the well established and much older guest friendly hotels in the area were charging the same rates such as the Majestic Suites and Nana Hotel. However, the Dawin's rates does not include a free breakfast.

Though there are much cheaper guest friendly hotels near Nana's red light district.

Today a standard room at the Dawin will set you back 1990 baht per night. As of now that seems to be the base line price and hasn't really moved up or down ever since even during low season (late March to early November). Especially since the Ibis Nana Hotel is right next to them, which is another new competing hotel in the area.

The Dawin is a medium sized hotel with 53 rooms and there are 3 different rooms types:

• Standard (22 sqm.)
• Superior (27 sqm.)
• Deluxe (36 sqm.)

The hotel's rooms follow the same contemporary theme throughout the hotel with lots of brown relaxing earth tone colors. Most of the rooms are set with king sized beds and the mattress is quite thick and comfortable. And all the rooms have a really comfortable leather chair, good for surfing the web on a notebook computer.

As you can see the standard room is quite small. But the room design is very well thought out that it could have been much worse. The king sized bed takes up most of the space and the 32" flat screen television is the major space saver. And they've even found room for a small leather couch, coffee table and refrigerator.

Now if you are really the claustrophobic type than you should consider paying a bit extra for a superior or a deluxe room. Even though the a superior room is just 5 sqm. bigger it actually makes a tremendous difference. It goes without saying that the bathrooms in the superior and deluxe rooms are more spacious. But all have very good water pressure for a shower.

Most importantly, at least to me is free Wi-Fi Internet access is available throughout the hotel. And the rooms even have an electronic safe big enough to fit a notebook computer with a 15" screen

There is a swimming pool on the roof if you can call it that since it's very small, but it's good enough for a soaking during an often hot afternoon in Bangkok.

Overall the Dawin Bangkok Hotel is a pretty good hotel choice if you're mainly into the red light district scene. It's very close to Nana Entertainment Plaza yet far enough from the noise and crowds. And remember this is Nana.

Chances are you'll be walking on the street past Nana Entertainment Plaza at night. And as you can see from the video below it's quite crowded. There are prostitutes floating around and about especially after 1am - 2am across the street from the Dawin where there is less lighting. Usually the front security guard will shoe away any ladies of the night who stand too close to the hotel and hassling guests to take them back to their rooms.

The Dawin Bangkok is about 2 years old now. Ever since then I have been going to the hotel to meet friends who were staying there after my recommendation, to take them out to a tour of the city or a night out in town. And the hotel and rooms as far as I could see look just as new as the first day they opened their doors. So I am impressed, especially when most guests would probably come back to their rooms smashed out of their minds from a long night of binge drinking and partying. There are many bars around the area after all.

Non of my friends who've stayed at the Dawin ever had any complaints at all, except the hotel could include some type of breakfast along with the room rate. But regardless they found the hotel's service very professional and the quality well worth the price they paid for.