Finding Accommodations Around Khao San Road, Bangkok

Bangkok's Khao San Road is a popular destination for tourists seeking accommodation during their stay in Thailand. Khao San Road and the surrounding area offers a great opportunity to experience nightlife in the Thai capital while providing a convenient location near popular tourist destinations. There are numerous hotels, hostels and guesthouses along the streets and alleys, each varying in quality and price.

Most visitors use recommendations from friends or online communities to book rooms in the Khao San Road area. However, even recommended accommodations might not be what travelers are seeking. The number one concern for most visitors to the area is noise-the streets turn into markets at night, with large crowds throughout the evening. And, many guesthouses have bars and restaurants attached, which can add to the noise disturbance if you're not fortunate enough to have a room on an upper floor.

It was late when we arrived in Bangkok, and it wasn't until after midnight that we arrived at Khao San Road. The large crowd prevented us from looking at the hotels on the main street as we didn't want to take the chance at losing our luggage. We opted for side streets in the area. As it was around the lunar New Year for most of Asia, the area had more visitors than usual and many hostels and guesthouses were booked. The few that weren't booked were more expensive than we had planned or far dirtier than we expected.

Around 2 in the morning, we gave up and took a room at a guesthouse near Phra Arthit Road and Soi Ram Buttri. Unfortunately, as it was the last remaining room, the door opened just around the corner from the bar that stayed up open until almost dawn. We were able to sleep a few hours before it opened up for a noisy breakfast.

The next day we discovered that if we had walked to the end of the alley and turned down Phra Arthit Road, we would have found a few more guesthouses. We tried the Happy House Guesthouse, a short walk from Sumen Fort, and were pleasantly surprised. It was much quieter at night than anything closer to Khao San Road-it also did not have a bar downstairs. The room was small, but clean for less than 700 Baht, and was air conditioned with a private bathroom. Instead of a bar, Happy House had a small restaurant with reasonably priced meals. There were also a few computers that guests could rent for Internet access.

For the rest of our stay in Bangkok, we found quiet restaurants and bars along the river. It was more difficult to find a taxi in the area, but we weren't hassled into making deals with the tuk-tuk drivers to see the sights and stop in shops in which we had no interest. It was still easy to get to the night life that is Khao San Road without having to take a taxi. It wasn't the most luxurious of accommodations, but it was comfortable for the price.