KT Knight Hotel (By Ladygaga) in Surin City

At first sight, one has to be impressed by thoughtful little things, such as his/her robes, cookies and coffee for the morning, plates bowls and utensils, and even a nice balcony to do laundry in. And, a night market right on the street steps away from the hotel. Surely a five star rating; right? Then little things began to pop up. Began with the generic AC remote which did not function well, resulting in a blank screen. Then, noticed the locking door knob to the balcony: what if a solo traveler clicked the locking button and closed the door on the way out? This could be awkward, depending on the time of the day it happened. While the hard wood furniture was nice to look at but tough on the buttocks, it’s nothing when compared to the tens of coil springs poking at the spine while sleeping on one of the thinnest mattresses anywhere on Earth because, with weight, the top would touch the bottom! And when one took a shower, the water heater would whistle a Waltz: G — high C — low C then repeat: a most unique sonar phenomenon. Another peculiar feature: the doors were constructed to swing outward. Seemed benign , yet closing the door with the “wrong” hand (such as with the right hand on a left-swinging door) would get one’s knuckles scraped by the sturdy hardwood frame, an experience not to be forgotten quickly). Finally, water stoppage for the toilet in the middle of the night (though sink and shower worked fine) was perhaps a one-time occurrence. In summary, a lot of likes and more than a few annoyances with potential harm of a much larger magnitude when compared to the conveniences.

Rooms do not come with hot shower. I had to take a cold shower 2 days in a row in January month. Freezing! Staff leave the reception counter unattended for a couple of hours. Very inconvenient. I had to wait, to knock on the windows, to make phone calls and they were absent. The hotel mobile phone kept ringing at the reception counter. No apologies whatsoever. One of the girls was extremely rude to me. When I checked in, they first gave me a dirty room, a room that was occupied the previous night without cleaning. Then they changed me to another room with the back door that cannot be locked or secured in anyway. The only good thing about this hotel is its location.