Tarntawan Place Hotel - BKK

I recently asked for recommendations of places to stay whilst I was in Bangkok for a few days. I received many suggestions and thanks to everyone who responded. In the end I opted for The Tarntawan Place Hotel (known mainly as The Tarntawan).

The Tarntawan is located on Surawong Road in the Silom area of Bangkok and is therefore very convenient for the gay nightlife and the nightmarket in Patpong, just a brief walk and you are in the midst of it all. The Tarntawan is not a large hotel, it has eight floors and does not offer some of the facilites of similar priced hotels (no swimming pool and no gym, but they do offer reduced rate access to nearby facilities if required).

The rooms available vary in price (internet price booked through the hotel website directly) from baht 2,500 to baht 7,000. On the Asia Rooms booking website you may be able to book some of the rooms slightly cheaper and some are slightly more expensive.

The hotel, as mentioned, is not one of the larger ones in Bangkok and is perhaps better for that. The staff are curteous and pleasant always and I found them to be extremely helpful when making enquiries about trips out and places to see. The Deluxe Room picture on the Tarntawan website has what looks like a king sized (or larger) bed whereas the deluxe room we paid for had only a queen sized bed, however, I found the room to be more than adequate, clean with plenty of those little essential extras such as tootpaste, toothbrush, general toiletries, condoms etc, however, some of these items will appear on your bill if used. The room, although not large, had enough space to fit a writing desk, and two seats with a coffee table, it felt comfortable but not cramped. The breakfast was served efficiently on request and was up to standard (breakfast was included in the room price).

I made enquiries with the reception about various trips and inparticular a day trip that included Ayutiyah and a return to Bangkok via a boat cruise. I checked with a couple of outside agencies for similar trips and found that the hotel's price was actually baht 100 cheaper per person than the agencies.

The hotel does not, I believe, operate as a 'gay hotel', but on the website it does show the rainbow flag. I would say that most of the patrons were gay with younger Thai guests but there also appeared to be a few straight couples and a few businessmen staying there. There is no problem with taking a boy (or boys) back to the hotel from the bars according to the info' available in the rooms.

There was one error on the part of the hotel in that when I checked my bill, there was a baht 700 charge for a limousine pick up from the airport. I explained that I had not ordered a limo' and on checking they found a guest with a surname the same as my christian name who had used this service. This was all ironed out quickly with no embarrrasment and many apologies but, as with any hotel, you may want to check each item on your bill before paying.

For three days my num friend and I experience excellent friendly service in a well run hotel. I was worried about booking a larger hotel as my friend is quite shy and this smaller less imposing hotel definitely fit the bill. On the first day my friend said he liked The Tarntawan and on departing he said the he felt that the staff 'Take good care of me'.

There are probably better places in Bangkok, there are definitely cheaper places, but for me I found The Tarntawan to be convenient, friendly and a very comfortable place to stay and I recommmend it wholeheartedly.

http://www.tarntawan.com/

http://www.asiarooms.com/thailand/bangk ... place.html

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[andrewcraig]

I have stayed briefly overnight and was not excited, but for one night what did it matter.

I am curious about that staircase in the photo on asiarooms.

Is that part of the Hotel or is it a Temple.

I found The Tarntawan to be convenient, friendly and a very comfortable place to stay and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I totally agree. I have stayed there several times and thoroughly recommend it. The hotel does tend to cater more for gay than straight clientele but is equally welcoming to both. Taking guests to the hotel is no problem (obviously as long as they are of legal age), there is no joining fee and there is a security guard at the lift/stairs to check and record the boy's ID and to confirm with the guest that all is well when the boy leaves before he gets his ID back.
The rates are very reasonable given their central location and proximity to the night life of Patpong and the gay areas of Soi Twilight and Silom 4. If you are moving on to Pattaya, or staying after a visit there, I know that the hotel has a reduced rate for Le Cafe Royale stayers (and vice-versa) and believe they also have this arrangement with other Pattaya gay hotels...may save you 200 or 300 Baht a night.
Lukas, one of the owners, also owns Dick's Cafe in Soi Twilight and the corresponding cafe in the Jomtien complex.
My B/S says it is the only hotel in BKK that he has stayed in with a Farang where he has felt comfortable and at ease.
If I have one criticism it is that there is only the one small lift which gets very busy at times and one sometimes has to wait to use it...the younger/fitter amongst you can of course use the stairs!!!

In answer to the second post the staircase in the picture on their website which looks like a temple entrance is just a back-way up into the hotel and is used by the housekeeping staff etc.

Although breakfast is served all day it is not very exciting I can live without. Deluxe room's bathroom is great.

[pronto]

I've stayed at the Tarntawan several times and agree with the points made by Fatman41 and Lady Davina. For me it centers on the location, the quality of the facilities, and the very helpful and friendly staff. I feel very welcomed and comfortable there.

[piston10]

This hotel has had quite a lot of coverage on the Forum over the years, and there are, (undestandably, given the different priorities that people have for a hotel) always those who want to make a few qualifications. However, I agree whole-heartedly with all the positive points made in this thread.

I think I can add a piece of information that might be useful to a few people, though obviously not many. As a returning, long-stay guest I find I can negotiate a very dramatic discount rate. I won't say what it is, because I feel it is something of a personal and private arrangement between me and the hotel, and I ought not to lay them open to pressured discussions that use my information as evidence. With the discount, however, I find I can afford to book a room for the whole of my time in Thailand, keeping it even when I pop off to visit other places and friends around the country. This avoids all the hassle of vacating the room and settling down in a new one a few days later. And I love it when I get back and one of the two delightful doormen says 'Welcome home!" OK, typical Thai move, if you like, but also typical of the lovely staff there. And it does begin to feel like home after a while.

... I think I can add a piece of information that might be useful to a few people... As a returning, long-stay guest I find I can negotiate a very dramatic discount rate...

Useful point Piston10. I know many places offer long stay discounts or discounts to regular guests. It is sometimes useful also to speak with your current hotel about where you will be moving onto and where you would like to stay (if you are doing a bit of a tour in Thailand). One Canadian guy I spoke with previously was staying at The Ambiance and was going off to Bangkok for several days, The Ambiance staff contacted The Tarntawan for him, booked him a room and also got him a significant discount.

Lady Davina's commment that "My B/S says it is the only hotel in BKK that he has stayed in with a Farang where he has felt comfortable and at ease" is probably one of the more important points for me. My num friend had visited Bangkok but never stayed in a hotel there. I wanted him to feel relaxed and the friendliness of the staff and the comfortable surroundings helped make the stay in Bangkok all the more special.

[sydneyboy]

A question for those who have stayed at the Tarntawan recently. Have all the rooms been renovated, including the bathrooms? I have stayed there at least 6 times but not for a couple of years. Reports of your recent experiences would be appreciated.

Yes they have; and very nice they are too.

Hmmm.. I just stayed at Tarnatwan for 2 weeks. All of your points are valid, BUT after staying at Pinnacle many times before, I think I will go back to Pinnacle. The only difference in room quality I could see was the Tarntawans HUGH bath towels, otherwise, the furnishing etc. are about equal for the two hotels and with the pinnacle being half the price, PLUS a much better breakfast, I think I can accept the short ride on subway to get to the bars (plus Pinnacle is within walking distance to Babylon and several cute gay thai restaurants). ALSO, not all deluxe rooms at Tarntawan are equal. I stayed there twice with a trip to Pattaya in between. The first room was on the second floor, smelled horribly of smoke (though mgmt insisted it was a non-smoking room), and has a smallish double bed plus pretty worn out stained carpeting. The second room on the 6th floor had a HUGH king size bed big enough for 4 people plus no smoking smell. Had sporadic problems with No HOT water in both rooms. Upon checking out, the clerk told me my VISA card was "Denied", only to find out later she had entered the Expiration number in reverse order (asian style).