Aurum The River Place — Hotel in Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang Subdistrict

‼️WARNING: front desk lady may try to mess with you.‼️ I should have spent a bit more $$ on me in this case. I booked last minute as I was coming from Phuket. Phuket was mostly great except for food illness and some other challenges & extended my stay a day. I called the hotel to let them know I was still checking in, just only on my 2nd night (of 2 night stay). No cancelations/re-bookings. I checked in. Front older lady was chatty. Seemed helpful in some ways, but in reality NO. I had already paid for meals with my stay & of course had missed the day before's welcome plus the breakfast that morning. She gave me a little paper survey - I selected my welcome drink & sandwich (they have no veg options - I am shocked how much pork is everywhere in a Buddhist/Muslim country). THEN She let me know not possible to get my welcome drink (what?) & no on the sandwich because the kitchen was closed. ?Why did you make me fill out a form stating you will offer this & ask what I preferred?!? High Heat & humidity in the lobby are heavier & come to stronger attention to me now. The lobby is dark & there's only a few lights on in hallway with elevator. Instead there's just sunlight from the front door - the darkness is not my preference.

She asks my plans: I will take early taxi to airport which she offers to arrange for a pre-paid fee - great. She tells me I should walk Grand Palace & absolutely no taxi or Tuktuk - ok thanks for information. We go to my room - I turn the AC on so that is better. Small older room but works, & seems clean. This "city view" room in my case was the not nice alley in the back of the hotel with another building windows I can see into & I could toss a can at so close. Curtains shall stay closed. She goes after sharing a lot more of her thoughts & settle myself. I head back down stairs, "the kitchen" was not able to provide a snack but the welcome drink of butterfly pea tea is available - I drink it up like I have a pipe for a throat because I am so thirsty: I don't drink alcohol, soda, & stuff out of plastic bottles either, so was very thirsty. She comments on how I drank. I proclaim the tea delicious! She says "I made the tea ... myself." Ok … so all that about “we can't give you food or drink you paid for because kitchen is closed”, "not sure if I can get you a drink because kitchen is closed" stuff - what!?! She gave me the receipt for the cab & let me know that I am going to have to start calling the “lazy Night lady” about 4:30am repeatedly so she can come unlock the front door. She will have a lunch box waiting for me on the front desk & describes what will be inside it - cool. But mixed in . . . was other stuff - I did not need to hear about her various problems with the owner, the "lazy night lady” who is paid more, her personal challenges, her mother's hospitalization, the loneliness of it all, etc. I checked into this hotel by myself so I am easier prey for this stuff, plus I am way too kind on too many levels. But hey this lady & many others are teaching me little by little to not care. I was an emotional wreck. Did not have energy to take more of others’ burdens. Anyway, I go to the palace. Almost miss it entirely because of a very thorough & elaborate "different strangers" 3-person coordinated attempted scam while walking there. Scam seems specifically dependent on tourists who walk that back wall along Tha Suphan Alley. SO: Walk on the tourist shop side = get bothered constantly OR walk Palace side = possibly get completely derailed from ever achieving the goal of your journey. Grand Palace & Jade Buddha amazing - I had tears during prayer. The love, care & attention to beauty in devotion is astounding. I get back & lady immediately asks how was my walk & I tell her that I was almost scammed into getting into a ride that would’ve been really bad for me. She is NOT surprised at all & asks for more details - repeatedly! Creepy grin on her face. I don’t deal with Night Lady. 4:45am rolling my luggage, drop my key, unlock door, check for sandwich box (don't see it)...

Aurum The River Place is a cozy place with an amazing neighborhood because it is located beside the Chao Phraya, close to the Grand Palace complex, other major tourist spots in the city and to the highly aesthetic Sanam Chai MRT station. There is also a 7eleven branch and there are cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops, and banks in its area.

Breakfast is by the river. Complementary water, coffee and tea are available at the room.

We booked a partial river view room for two but we were granted of our request for another bed for an additional companion. The bed was priced at 900THB per night, payable via cash.

Mini fridge, television, safe, and blowdry are available.

Towels, shampoos, bath gels, in-room slippers, bath robes are provided. But guests should bring own toothbrush and toothpaste.

The hotel's staff are very accommodating. We still toured til late night, and there was still staff to attend to us, we just had to ring the doorbell.

We are interested to choose this place when we return. 🥰🇵🇭🇹🇭

(Sorry for the...

From the moment we walked through the doors to such a warm and inviting welcome, we knew we had made a great choice in ‘Aurum The River Place’ hotel for our stay in Bangkok. Perfect location (close to the Grand Palace, Reclining Buddha and opposite Wat Arun), lovely spacious clean room with air-con and comfy bed, good breakfast in a location to die for (river front with fantastic views) and all topped off by a helpful team of super friendly and personable staff; with a special mention for Pan who was not only a great hostess, but helped us maximize our time with both great local advice and in arranging a personal “long tail” boat tour. Not only did the boat come right up to the hotel to pick us up, we were able to choose our preferred route (and thus sites of interest) all at a better price than the nearby standard group tour boats. All in all, this is a fantastic little boutique hotel with a home from home feel, delivering great service at a very reasonable price. We hope to...