After our visit to Siem Reap (and its beautiful Angkor Archeological Park) we returned to Thailand, the country where we started our trip around the world. We planned to stay in Chiang Mai for about a month so Brecht could get some work done and I could put some more time into our blog. We couldn’t find a cheap flight from Siem Reap to Chiang Mai, so we booked one to Bangkok and decided to take the night train to Chiang Mai. We would have to transfer in Bangkok anyway, so why not enjoy an extra day there?
We arrived in Bangkok at about 23h, lined up for our visa, topped up our local sim card (from our first time in Thailand), got some cash from the ATM and made our way to the taxi counter. Wait, this can’t be. Is this the line for a taxi?! Oh God, it is… A lot of sighs and about 30 minutes (it looked worse than it was) later, we sat in the back of a taxi, on our way to T-Boutique Hostel (1 night, ฿900).
The hostel knew when our plane would land and they promised to wait for us. The taxi driver didn’t know the hostel and we read online that it was rather hard to find. It was located in a small street and the taxi had a hard time manoeuvring, while the meter kept running. We kindly thanked him, paid ฿250 and continued on foot. We arrived at about 00h30, after asking a friendly local guy for help. Right on time, as the receptionist was about to leave. We quickly arranged the paperwork, he showed us our room and we plumped down and fell asleep.
We had a small room with a double bed, airconditioning with remote and a scale. There was no fridge, but great WiFi connection. The bathroom was shared and extremely small. The shower and toilet where both in one small closet (I really can’t call it a room). I could barely move, had a hard time washing my hair and kept thinking fat people just can’t shower here. My pregnant best friend definitely wouldn’t be able to shower here! We could handle it for one night though, and I liked the smell of the soap that was provided.
There was a small kitchen downstairs, but breakfast was not included. We don’t know anything about tours or services offered by the hostel. We only stayed there for one night before we would continue to Chiang Mai, so we weren’t in need of that kind of information.
We checked out by noon after a good night’s sleep and an uncomfortable shower. One of the main reasons why we chose this hostel is because it is situated close to the railway station where we would take the night train to Chiang Mai. We put our bags in storage there and hung out at Chatuchak Weekend Market for the rest of the day. We’d been there already when we just started our trip around the world, but liked it so much that we went again!
T-Boutique Hostel in Bangkok was a really nice, but a really small hostel. The price for a night was the same as at Saphaipae Hostel, where we stayed during our first visit to Bangkok. Breakfast was included there and the shower was in a comfortable space. The location is also better for exploring Bangkok. However, we liked our short stay at T-Boutique Hostel, the room was big enough and had all we needed. The place was beautifully decorated and the receptionist friendly. Too bad the “bathcloset” was really really small. Although perfect for one night if you want to be close to the railway station.