Sala Bang Pa-In

“Traditional and Luxurious”

WE love this hotel, beautiful quiet and relaxing spot on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. So accessible from Bangkok too. We received the best surprise when we were upgraded to a room with private swimming pool - what a sensational sunset we had! Room is just beautiful!

“Great cooking lesson !”

We came for a cooking lesson and had a wonderful time learning how to prepare a delicious 4-course meal. On arrival we were welcomed by a beautifully prepared table on the lawn with our private table next to it to enjoy the different dishes. The chef, assistant and staff were extremely friendly… more

We came for a cooking lesson and had a wonderful time learning how to prepare a delicious 4-course meal. On arrival we were welcomed by a beautifully prepared table on the lawn with our private table next to it to enjoy the different dishes. The chef, assistant and staff were extremely friendly and gave us a great cooking lesson, making sure we had a good time and even installing a fan for us not to be too hot. The kids had a blast. The dishes were all excellent and we were offered a leaflet with the recipes to be able to recreate them at home. Thank you to the whole team for your amazing hospitality. We had a great time 😀.

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“Birthday trip to Bang Pa-in”

We really enjoyed our villa with a small private pool overlooking the river – perfect for a little swim with the kids. The property feels more like a boutique hotel, intimate yet with full service. The staff are fantastic, always smiling and helpful, which made our stay so pleasant. One thing I di… more

We really enjoyed our villa with a small private pool overlooking the river – perfect for a little swim with the kids. The property feels more like a boutique hotel, intimate yet with full service. The staff are fantastic, always smiling and helpful, which made our stay so pleasant. One thing I did feel a bit bad about was seeing the bell boy carry our luggage across the red bridge on such a hot day – it seemed like too much for one person, especially with all the steps. Perhaps the hotel could consider a new solution, maybe even a small boat service, to make it easier. The food was excellent, and the complimentary birthday cake was such a thoughtful touch – thank you for making my day special!

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“For the Price, I did Expect Perfection, But it is OK”

Sala Bang Pa-In is not exactly in any touristy belt of sorts. It is like a halfway point between Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Most people will just choose to stay in the ancient city just a short distance north. Nevertheless, this resort serves well as a getaway for many local folks just wanting a differ… more

Sala Bang Pa-In is not exactly in any touristy belt of sorts. It is like a halfway point between Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Most people will just choose to stay in the ancient city just a short distance north. Nevertheless, this resort serves well as a getaway for many local folks just wanting a different weekend and not too far away. A recent addition to the Sala chain in 2021, it is located on a headland fringed by the Chao Phaya River. Spotting a small number of pool villas and units in apartment like blocks, it is a lavish oasis amongst the rural rawness of its immediate surroundings. There are no direct roads here. The reception that welcomes you is located on the mainland. That is where you park. Driving to the parking lot requires skill as you will need to navigate tight alleys. It is easy to make one of the locals homeless if you knock down pillars that support their house. An iconic red bridge that spans the waterway links the reception area to the resort. The bridge is high. Crossing it gave the sensation of going over the apex of a roller coaster where you can’t see what’s on the other side. A walkway forms the perimeter of the resort. It was pleasant to have that early morning walk along the riverbank watching big barges pass by. It was also nice to stumble onto those pool villas featuring young ladies posing in their bikinis under the morning sun. Yups, not much privacy. And one of those villas we stayed. Our villa can sleep 3. It has an upstairs where the sleeping quarter is. A small study table faces the windows that looks out onto the river. It was magazine picture perfect the layout. I enjoyed doing a bit of work from time to time with the great view shining in bright. The sofa downstairs had been turned into a bed for me. The living space below is quite large, but it was a tad tight due to the generous amount of instilled furniture. The main bathroom is downstairs. In welcoming white and mosaic tiled flooring, it features double vanity sinks and a standing bathtub. There is another toilet upstairs which saves you from blundering down the stairs in the middle of the night for a leak. There is a skylight where the entrance is. It lets in copious amounts of natural light giving the interior a very uplifting vibe. In the front facing the river, the pool. Tall decorative bushes separate one unit from the other, and the naked view of the waterway is just beyond the ledge of the pool. As we soaked in the pool, we watched the river traffic as well as the occasional foreheads bobbling by (there is that walkway along the riverbank). And our neighbors watched us through the openings in the bush. Yups, not much privacy. The pool. Something wrong. It was the beginning of May, the weather was scorching. The first thing we did was jumped straight into the pool. My eyes hurt, the water was unusually sour and salty. My kid felt the same and decided not to swim any more, for the rest of the stay. That was unusual for her behavior as normally she enjoys pool very much. I brushed her odd manners aside and continued to enjoy beating the heat in the water. Soon my fingers started to wrinkle, and I have never seen such severe pruney fingers swimming before. Then the skin on bits of my face started to feel like it was scratched and had the feeling of pouring salt on open wounds. Kids are like canaries used in mines to detect methane. I should have followed suit and gotten out of the water, but I did not. Next day when we had the chance to ask the manager about the pool, she sent a technician to sample the water. The result was an unusually high level of chlorine making the water PH very high. “Chlorine??” I asked the manager. “I thought it was a saltwater pool… no????”. OMG,… I don’t want to know why the pool is salty!!!!!!! This was the most unpleasant bit of the stay. The whole point of booking a pool villa was to enjoy the pool, and this was the pool we gotten. There was also a layer of scum on the pool walls we can write on, just go see the pictures. Well, the other “accident” we had with the pool was the rusty grille covering the water drainage. Wife got a cut from the sharp edges. We had to go to the doctor for one of those “anti-rust” whatever jab. The manager offered to cover the medical expenses, but in my opinion, they should have compensated us with something much more than just that and an apology. Our stay was 50% ruined, the highlight of the stay was supposed to be the pool. Okay… it will not always be Sunday every day. Sometimes, sooner or later, there are bound to be some stays which will just not be as good as every other. Let’s talk about the dining experience next. It was generally good. We had room service to our room for dinner. The large dining table made our mealtime very homey and comfortable. We had Khao Pad Nam Phik Long Ruea (fired rice with chili paste) and the sweet caramelized pork with crispy catfish and salted egg thingy amongst others. They were very tasty and now highly recommended by me. Breakfast was had in their open-air restaurant. Each can order two dishes from their ala-carte menu. Their croissant was as good as those I had in France. Chicken rice was too dry and bland, and the meat was too tough. English breakfast included small weenies instead of the expected quality bratwurst. Waffles, they did a good job, it was crispy good and savory. Moo-ping (BBQ pork skewers) with sticky rice, ahhhhhhhh the pork was sooooo good. But…. the sticky rice on the hard side. When you throw it at the boats passing by you can break their hull and sink them. This made me draw a conclusion, their chef is probably not from around here because all Asians can cook good rice. One more thing. On the day of check in, we sat in the restaurant waiting for our room to be ready. It was 39C on the mercury and everyone including the serving staff were perspiring profusely. They did not offer any cold ice water to us guests to beat the heat. It was torture. I had to retreat to their very nice Zen like common toilet which was pleasantly chilled to an arctic cold. I did not want to come out of it. The entire stay was of mixed mangled sentiment. There are goods here and bads there. They all evened out to an average stay all in all. The main pool was nice and clean I had a dip, our in-room pool was an ordeal. The compound was surprisingly mosquitoes free, maybe because it was so scorching hot that as soon as the mozzie spread its wings they incinerate. Staff here were friendly, but situation handing was not up to expectations for an upscale resort. The food was nice, and if you choose to eat out there is one good restaurant nearby. 7-Eleven is just a stone’s throw away, but still, it requires a drive. The resort was well kept and clean, mostly. There was an aftermath of battlefield cat and bird at a corner of our villa. Pieces of a bird and lots of feathers strewn around. Villa is very nice, but for one that looks for privacy from the public and next door, there will not be much. We had the package where a 30-minutes river cruise was included. It was a very nice sunset ride. If you do take on this package, do note that you must try to make the reservation as soon as you check in. The good time slots between 5.30 and 6.30 will be easily taken up if you are not fast enough to do so. And this wraps up this long-winded review.

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