The Rose

[Guest Jovianmoon]

Hi all, this is the first time I've created a new thread so I ask for your patience

 

I'm heading back to Thailand in late March/early April 2013 after a year away and I would like your thoughts on the Rose Hotel in Bangkok. I ran a search of the forum and didn't get any hits for past threads.

 

My last three trips I've been staying at Bally's Studio Suites Silom (where the word 'suite' is used in its broadest possible sense) and have tired of the place. Plus I want somewhere with a pool and the pics I've seen of the Rose's pool look impressive.

 

But what of the rooms and service? Other factors? Trip Advisor has mixed reviews, mostly good but being something of a pessimist I tend to give more weight to the negative ones. My bad probably.

 

Anybody ever stayed at the Rose?

 

Looking for any relevant viewpoints.

 

Cheers.

[Bob]

I stayed at the Rose when I first came to Thailand in the late 90's and, back then, it was basic (okay, okay, a lot of people would have called it a dump). But the staff was exceptionally friendly and I stayed there several times. About 8 or so years ago, they remodelled all of the rooms, the lobby, restaurant, and added a pool.....all very nicely done. I stayed there again (3-4 years ago) and one thing I noticed was there were several of the friendly staff still working there....a big plus. So, I can recommend it. Good location for a lot of bars (Soi Twilight) and a short walk down to Silom for the bars around there.

[Guest]

I stayed there 6 years ago amd liked it. Nice hotel, good location. Trip advisor should provide some up to date reviews.

[Guest Jovianmoon]

Thanks Bob. Friendly staff is a big draw card for me. More still, friendly staff who are retained - which tells me they have a decent management.

 

Cheers

[Guest Jovianmoon]

Thanks z909

 

Trip Advisor has the breakdown shown below. Pessimist or not, I should probably not give too much credence to the 'poor' and the 'terrible' - maybe they didn't like the way the bed sheets were folded down? Or no free wifi - I care not. Some people can't be pleased. The 'average' ratings don't bother me so much.

 

Cheers

 

Excellent

 

19

Very good

 

90

Average

 

36

Poor

 

11

Terrible

 

3

• 
   
  

[Guest fountainhall]

I happen to know someone in the family which runs the hotel. I stayed there on my second visit to Bangkok in 1980 when it certainly was a dump! But it has all changed since then, more than once. As Khun Bob mentioned, it was totally remodelled and redecorated a few years ago. I pass the lobby occasionally as the hotel has a wonderful Thai restaurant in a Thai-style house by the pool - Ruen Urai. The ambience and the cuisine are quite special and the prices reasonable. It's a great place for entertaining friends.

 

I would not worry about the tripadviser ratings. I find they tend to be useful as a general guide only. agoda.com gives it a decent 7.4 "good" rating based on 454 reviews of people who have actually stayed there. Booking.com gives it 7.2 from 67 reviews.

[Guest Jovianmoon]

Yes, I've heard that the restaurant has good food.

 

More great input - thanks Fountainhall.

 

At this point I think I'll be reserving a room.

 

Still interested in further input, however.

 

Cheers

[ceejay]

The rooms in the Rose are clean, well maintained and up to date, but the standard ones are, in my opinion, a bit on the small side.

I would suggest booking through Agoda or some similar booking agency. When I booked direct with them they asked me to email my credit card details to secure the room. That's not something I care to do.

Agoda have some cheap rooms described as "corner rooms". I'd avoid them - they are very small and an odd shape too.

Ruen Arai is a great restaurant. The breakfast (served in an area near reception) is also good and the staff, as other have said, excellent. The location can't be beat and the pool, if you want it, is unmatched for a hotel in this area and price range.

[Guest]

Some people can't be pleased. The 'average' ratings don't bother me so much.

The Rose still has a good rating though.

[Guest Jovianmoon]

Thanks Ceejay.

 

I have to say I normally avoid Agoda and other third party agencies and book direct, as with agencies I'm always concerned my booking will be lost in the process and I'll arrive with nowhere to sleep. I'll consider it though.

 

I'll also try to book a 'Superior' room rather than a standard.

 

Cheers.

[anddy]

what about their joiner policy? I have read somewhere (admittedly a couple of years ago) that there were issues with bringing a non-guest to the room.

 

The joiner policy is one reason I've been staying at the Tarntawan for ages now whenever I'm in Bangkok. No problems or charge for bringing someone to the room, they only have to  leave their ID at the front desk, a security measure. I have tried other hotels, too, but frequently had issues. Don't need that.

 

The location is the same as the Rose Hotel, but the pool of the Rose does look enticing!

[a447a]

I've stayed at the Rose 12 times over the past 4 years and agree with everything ceejay has written. The staff of women has always been the same. Someone told me they were all family members.

There is no joiner charge. In fact, if you come back alone they almost give you a strange look as if to say :Where's your guy? Lol

I'm very comfortable bringing a guy back - totally stress free.

I always book directly with the hotel and have never had a problem. The hotel told me it was better to book directly. Just make sure you ask for a room with a quiet zirconia. Wifi is 100 baht per hour but you can walk down to the coffee shops for free wifi if that's an issue.

[a447a]

Sorry. Predictive text. Quiet air conditioning, not zirconia. Although I do prefer my zirconias to remain quiet and only speak when they are spoken to. Lol

[NIrishGuy]

Again backing up what others have said its fine, no problem AT ALL with joiners and like A447 said I did get a look walking in alone a few times and from memory several times ( or maybe all the time I can't recall) there was no need to even sign your friend in and after a while I just walked straight on it ( and yes I know you're meant to etc but it was late / early and I might have been a little tipsy and had more than one boy with me:-)

 

Re the rooms do pay more to upgrade your room as the corner rooms as mentioned are ridiculously small in my opinion, ok if just needing a bed for the night I guess but not great for relaxing in, the suites look like a good idea and aren't that much more expensive.

 

Oh one slightly daft but annoying thing, from memory I was staying on lets say the 8th floor but the lift only went to the 7th floor, which doesn't sound like a big deal but I found it really annoying having to remember to get out and walk another flight ( again usually when tipsy I admit )

 

So to me as long as you get a big enough room it's spot on, nice pool, nice food and great location - bloody annoying that they charge for wifi though and I think you have to keep going down to get a new code if I remember correctly ??? But apart from all that lol - it's fine.

 

Be sure to come back and let us all know what YOU thought if you do give it a try.

[Guest abang1961]

....  Wifi is 100 baht per hour but you can walk down to the coffee shops for free wifi if that's an issue.

That is really expensive...

I bought a dtac sim card for THB 299 during my Christmas trip last year.

It gives me unlimited usage of internet for 7 days and I think another 100 THB talk-time/sms.

 

It was really useful as I held my tablet and looked at the google maps to know my locations - I got a poor sense of direction.

It also allows me to search for buses arrival time, what buses to take...

[NIrishGuy]

Great idea Abang1961 - just as long as you're able to lose your phone number and contacts etc for the week I guess, personally when i'm away I do need / like still being able to keep my UK number in case anyone needs to contact me either for work or personal reasons and to put a new sim in my phone wipes that advantage - and yes you're right those 100 baht an hour costs soon add up - making the Tarntawan across the street look not just that little bit more expensive than one first thinks perhaps - just a pity they've no pool or gym :-(  

 

Although everytime I do stay somewhere with both I hardly every get around to using either so it ends up hardly mattering to me  in the end. 

[Guest abang1961]

You know, there is a simple trick.

Get another phone... I usually carry a 2nd cheap non-smart phone and put my Singapore SIM card in it.

The cheaper phone is purely to see who call me and not to make those expensive IDD calls...

That way, I can receive messages and calls but I do not answer them directly with the Singapore SIM card

.... I used the Thai SIM card to return emails, whatsapp and Viber calls.

.... not too bad if you consider it is just THB 299 for 7 days...

 

With the Thai SIM card inside your smart phone, you can use it to navigate around .. find the latest foodie joints and of course, Grindr or Jack'd to find the cutest and newest Thai boy/man...

[a447a]

Nirishguy wrote

"Oh one slightly daft but annoying thing, from memory I was staying on
lets say the 8th floor but the lift only went to the 7th floor, which
doesn't sound like a big deal but I found it really annoying having to
remember to get out and walk another flight ( again usually when tipsy I
admit )"

 

Mmmm..very tipsy, There are only 4 floors - the 4th being smoke-free. And the lift goes there.

Maybe there were more floors before they renovated and brought the hotel into the 70's.  lol

Or maybe there are some more floors, but I don't think so.

 

The restaurant food is awesome - the best tom yum goong I've ever had.  Only problem, on the occasions I've had dinner there, I was the only guest!

 

I've been travelling to LOS since 2004. That year I stayed at the Plaza Hotel (down past the Tartawan on the other side of the street) but since I discovered the Rose, I've never looked for anywhere else.

[Guest fountainhall]

The restaurant food is awesome - the best tom yum goong I've ever had

 

I was there with friends two nights ago. It is one of the finest small Thai restaurants in town. There's been a small thread on it - 

 

http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/7632-random-observations-of-a-tourist/?hl=%2Bruen+%2Burai&do=findComment&comment=54636

 

I also can't remember the Rose ever having more than 4 or 5 floors. Maybe NIrish had spent too much time at the Irish pubs on Silom or Convent! 

[NIrishGuy]

Right you buggers :-) I did say "let's say" the 7th if 8th floor as I just simply couldn't remember how many there were as it was about 4/5 years ago now and yes I might have been tipsy the odd time but I wasn't totally hammered lol so trust me whatever strange situation there was the lift only went to a certain floor ( the 3rd according to your good selves and I'll take your word for that) but if you were staying in the floor / area above then you DID have to come out of the lift and then go up a small flight of stairs to the top row of rooms I'm sure if it !:-) as there were several nights when I got out of the lift and walked straight along the corridor of the (lets say) the 3rd floor only to have to come back again and walk up those damned steps which caught me out so many times !

 

So, anyone else know what I'm talking about here or am I totally losing my mind just perhaps ? And you do know I'm just going to have to stay there again some night just to prove to myself that I'm NOT crazy now don't you !! Lol

[KhorTose]

I also can't remember the Rose ever having more than 4 or 5 floors. Maybe NIrish had spent too much time at the Irish pubs on Silom or Convent! 

Yes, I ate at a buffet once at Molly Malones. Good food and great price. They do serve Guinness---hmmmm Now that can definitely add floors.

[NIrishGuy]

@abang - yes the second phone thing would of course work and I did do that once myself but found that carrying the second small cheap phone AND my smart phone and a good quality digital camera in my pockets all whilst going in and out of go go bars wasn't the best / most practical idea for me as I ended up with my trousers bulging for all the wrong reasons !

 

Also as an aside to that the the only phone I've ever had stolen whilst in Thailand was in fact that very same cheap 2nd phone and that was 100% my own fault as when carrying my smart phone I'm reasonably careful with it and look after it whereas with that cheap phone I didn't place any value on it and again when slightly tipsy one night ( are you starting to see a pattern here of how my trips go lol) I left it sitting on top of the bar counter in one of the outdoor bars in Soi Twilight and when I turned to look for it later unsurprisingly it was gone.

 

Also thankfully with the advent of better quality cameras in the new iPhones etc I was also able to ditch the other camera so now the one phone does everything including backing up my pics to my home computer as i take them via "the cloud" which is handy if i do ever lose my phone again and I can still use the free wifi available almost everywhere in Bkk and I do just put up with the ( ridiculously expensive) international call rates as and when needed - now if only I could get the benefit of one phone doing everything AND your 299 baht a month then we'd really have it cracked !! :-(

[NIrishGuy]

Yes, I ate at a buffet once at Molly Malones. Good food and great price. They do serve Guinness---hmmmm Now that can definitely add floors.

I'm offended !! This is racial stereotyping !! Just because I'm Irish doesn't mean I only drink bloody Guinness you know !! How offensive ! No, I"ll have you know that I also drink Irish whisky as well so there !! :-p lol

 

( and yes I can report that Molly's do serve a reasonably respectable pint of Guinness "apparently" ! :-)

 

Ha no just to clarify I don't do that stereotype thing and I'm pleased to report that I'll drink just about anything that's put down in front of me ( that'll be the Irish man in me) and especially if someone else has just bought it ! ( That'll be the Ulster Scots part of me them i guess :-) See, that's the thing about racial stereotypes in Ireland as if you look hard enough you'll find there is usually SOME truth in them ! Lol

[Guest abang1961]

Calm down...

I almost fell off my chair when you talked about the bulges in your pants.. no offence, intended.

 

I have too many things to carry with me...so nowadays, if you happen to see an Asian/Singaporean with a big bag,

chances are they are like me. 

 

Perhaps you could invest a sling/messenger/postman bag, the good quality leather ones and just be fashionable, sling it across diagonally.  This way, no one can snatch it and you leave everything in their proper/allotted compartments. BE as stylish as the guy in this picture.  Your hands are free to ...... The size of this bag should be smaller than an A4 size paper.

[NIrishGuy]

Ah the difference between living in swinging hip Singapore and Downtown Belfast - as if I were to invest in such a ( ridiculously gay looking) bag I would instantly have my house petrol bombed and my family given 24 hours to leave the city for having such a gay son ( and one with such terrible taste in man bags lol) So, no you work away there with your man bag, when i see someone slipping into a seat in a go go bar somewhere in Soi Twilight who is carrying same then I'll know it's you - and you'll know me too as I'll be the guy with just a simple iphone in one pocket and his hand around his obvious big bulge in the other it seems ! :-)