Rose Hotel in Bangkok

[boy]

I am planning to stay in early October a few days in Rose Hotel at Bangkok before going further down to Jomtien/Pattaya.

Does anyone stayed recently in this Rose Hotel and could give me some info about this hotel, whether joiner's fee is asked and how about distance to main gay-vanue.

From the hotel website it seems a reasonable and nice hotel with swimming-pool - but I would like to get some personal oppinion of guests who stayed recently in the Rose hotel.

Many thanks to all comments !

[cameroncat]

My friend stayed their last year and got a bad case of Bed Bugs. Hopefully they have solved that problem...

I stayed there i Dec 2010, the room was "slighty" on the small side for my liking but it was ok as I wasn't in it much. There was no joiners fee at all and the ladies on reception when you walked past with ( different) guests at different times and depending on the guy and how you walked in with them etc i.e. short time / long time etc they picked up on that and so weren't that fussed on ID'ing them (unless you made it sort of obvious that you might actually like them to for some reason and then they instantly did so without missing a beat), it was also considerably lower in cost than the Tarntawan across the street and is also bang in the middle or very close to of all of gay bars / clubs etc (five/ten minute walk max to DJ station etc), overall it was ok and whilst not a "luxury" hotel I would stay there again if necessary, hope you enjoy your trip.

[allieb]

I have stayed there several times. It is a a nice place with a fantastic pool right where you want to be in Silom. Book with Agoda for the best rates and the corner studio was fine for me even if a little smaller than the regular rooms. The place is a knocking shop geared up for dragging back. Condoms are in a basket on the mini bar and replenished every day by the room maid. I have never suffered with bed bugs as Cameroncat's friend. Perhaps in that instance his friend may have brought a boy back who imported them.

"The place is a knocking shop geared up for dragging back"

Ha ha yeah, that's basically what I meant to say too in a round about sort of way lol ......but it is a very nice knocking shop :-)

[a447]

Boy, I've stayed at the Rose about 8 times over the past few years and won't stay anywhere else. (I did once stay at the Plaza but it was a bit too far). Just make sure you don't get the corner room as the aircon is a bit noisy. It is almost next to Soi Twilight and across the road a bit from Solid and good old Nature boys. It would have to be the most convenient hotel to the gay areas. The women at ther front desk always hold the guy's ID card and never bat an eyelid when you walk in with someone new every night. It is a pleasant, rather than a luxury hotel and at a very good price. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Oh, and never a bedbug in sight!
I'll be checking in at the Rose again this Wednesday.

[Marsilius]

I have never suffered with bed bugs as Cameroncat's friend. Perhaps in that instance his friend may have brought a boy back who imported them.

There is a worldwide epidemic of the little critters right now. The most common way they are moved from room to room right across continents is apparently not via people's bodies but by the fact that they crawl into the seams of suitcases left in a room and are thereby transported home or on to the next destination. See http://bedbugger.com/2006/10/19/faq-how ... traveling/ (http://bedbugger.com/2006/10/19/faq-how-can-i-avoid-bedbugs-while-traveling/)

[krobbie]

I have stayed at the Rose on 3 occasions. It hasn't been in the last 2 years though I doubt things have changed that much.

I am sure the women at reception are as friendly. As was once said here by one wag, you could drag an elephant back to your room at the Rose Hotel and all they would say as you got to the lift is, "mind your step".

I guess the lift still doesn't stop flush with the floor. What a strange bit of business that is.

Although some of the rooms are odd shapes, I have never stayed in a corner room. They tried once to put me in one but as soon as I saw it I dropped my bags and went dwnstairs to get my usual room at the back on the 3rd floor. No trouble.

The pool area is truly great. It's peaceful and clean and the bartender comes out to see if you would like something. Always a stack of large fresh towels for the comfortable recliners.

Breakfast can get a bit ho hum but they try.

Cheers
krobbie

[carruthers]

NIrish, krobbie and others who post positive remarks about The Rose are spot on. It's a family run place and has been run by the same people since I first stayed there in 1978/79. Then they really did show surprise if you booked for more than a couple of hours! If you were alone, the bell boys pimped according to your taste, any taste. Nobody batted an eyelid at what happened - one night I had five boys back from Tawan, ordered room service and there was absolutely no reaction to this disorderly rabble. Then the rooms were very basic but if you were in your early twenties, in paradise, then so long as the bed was flat (ish) and there was water in the shower, hey, life was good. Remember most upcountry hotels then still had "dipper baths". I think every boy who worked around Suriwong/Silom knew and was known at The Rose. I was able stay at The Rose so often (I worked in the region) that the ladies in reception knew me by name and I was always welcomed back. Coups and disruption have long been part of Thailand's history and reception always gave good advice on what areas to stay clear of when the seemingly annual change of government (bloody or bloodless) took place.
Over the years I wanted and could afford more comfort and, indeed, more "face" and so my loyalty to the fast fading Rose faded. Around 2005 the late Ian McKnight of Le Cafe Royale, not a chap to eschew a bargain, told me that The Rose was being refurbished. I had a booking problem at another hotel and so decided to try the "new" Rose. I took one of their Executive Suites (unheard of in younger and more carefree days). So, after a break of ten years I went back - same ladies at reception, same personal welcome, same cleaning ladies, it was like coming home! The rooms were indeed unrecognizable from the old "knocking shop". The pool......eventually, was great. For an early tip of a couple of hundred Baht there were endless clean towels and a great same day laundry service. Still no questions asked but, happily, I have never had any interest in very young looking guys. You can have IDs left at reception or not, up to you. It's alway best to book double. They looked after me brilliantly when gall stones necessitated a very painful drive, by one of the staff, to the Bangkok Christian Hospital and also when I got stuck over the airports closure. The staff are local, working for a local enterprise - no hotel school, corporate greetings or forced bonhomie here
There is merit, I think, in taking more expensive rooms in a cheaper, more personal hotel rather than the cheaper rooms in a more expensive hotel. The Rose reminds you that you are in Thailand. Enjoy!

[newalaan]

There is merit, I think, in taking more expensive rooms in a cheaper, more personal hotel rather than the cheaper rooms in a more expensive hotelI have to agree. Nice post carruthers, thanks for the info. That's probably why I have stayed with the Tarntawan for so many years. It has a comfortable, relaxing , non-judgemental ambiance, excellent service and no awkward glances, looks or subtle disrespect aimed at my bf when we visit. It is a hotel he feels comfortable in too which counts into the equation for me.

There have been many threads over the years regarding hotels in the Suriwong/Silom area, and I have tried others. But on average over a year, a room at Tarntawan can be had for around the bt2,000 mark give or take. The Rose website has no double rooms under bt2,000, so are about the same, and most other hotels in the area of the similar quality and services are around the same too, again with seasonal give and take,so I've never had any real incentive to move elsewhere.I do sometimes take the large room at OmYim on the top floor at the start of a visit for a change, because as well as the bedroom area there is also a dining area with large table for six as well as a kitchenette area with microwave etc.. usually for around the Bt1500 mark.

I looked at two rooms at The Rose during the first year of it's refurbishment and found them both to be rather pokey/small, whereas i find the rooms at Tarntawan spacious, which i prefer. Do you know if there are spacious rooms available at the Rose and maybe I was just unfortunate with the rooms shown to me, does anybody know if the Superior rooms are much larger than the standard one's or is the difference between the two more down to furnishing quality?

[carruthers]

Yes, Newalaan, altho' since going back to The Rose I have tended to stay in the suites (which I see are now 3,300TBh) I have seen other rooms when they are being serviced. Also if I have a very late checkout I take a standard room for the last half day which is pretty pokey. Friends who have stayed in superior (2,250TBh) have had a more roomy gaff. Good luck.

[danny99]

"The place is a knocking shop geared up for dragging back" :-)

An updated relic of the GI days [along with Suriwongse and Malaysia in the same area, even as late as 8 years ago there were all night housekeeping at a desk on each floor ready to change the linen between visitors], now renovated. Coffee shop very basic but sensational restaurant at rear of hotel [a restored Thai teak house, the original home of owning family]...you can also be lucky with the sauna in the mens change rooms at swimming pool, straight Japanese boys are very horny, all day!

No problem with guests the elderly Thai Chinese staff have seen it all before/