This hotel would be far from a 3 Star, more like 2 Star, the staff at the Royal Benja are poorly trained (except they are highly skilled at fleecing foreigners for additional costs), rude and not concerned in the slightest if you are kept waiting. Customer satisfaction is not on there “To do list”.

On two separate occasions I advised reception that my room bar fridge was not working, three days later someone looked at it and agreed it wasn’t working, that didn’t fix the problem. On one occasion the security guard out the front was sound asleep.

The hotel itself is clean enough, the rooms and corridors are run down giving you a dirty feeling and wanting to have a shower. The pool area is a disgrace, deck chairs are old and dirty and the pool itself was far from clean in a nutshell run down and not very inviting. I didn’t want to venture in the sauna and for an additional cost to use it I made the right decision. For the breakfast, buffet style, after a couple of days it gets boring, I would of liked to try the French Toast but the mold turned me off and so did the mosquitoes on the fresh fruit, for the “Hot” dishes the hotel should invest in a new bain-marie.

If you enjoy the touters, the Royal Benja has an extended family of high risk Taxi and tuk-tuk drivers waiting at the end of Soi 5 in front of the hotel, be aware and don’t part with your holiday money on them, use it to get a foot massage after you have walked up the Soi.

I was not thinking straight when I booked this hotel, the web sites depict a place worth staying (Far from the truth), if you want value for money and at least reasonable service, this is not the place look harder.

Great value hotel in a good location. The rooms and bathrooms are huge and clean, but the furnishings and carpet are outdated and worn-out - thus giving off a musty smell.

Contrary to other reviews here, I actually found the reception staff to be friendly and helpful with a decent command of English.

The hotel is at the end of the lane, and therefore walking back to the hotel at night is a little dark - but I found myself safe. The BTS station is only 5-10 minutes walk away and there is a well-stocked 24-hr supermarket near the hotel.

The swimming pool looks abit mouldy, and the gym is a joke. There is plenty of choice for breakfast, but most dishes lack flavor.

But overall, because the rooms are clean and staff helpful, I still find this hotel very good-value. I've paid more for hotel rooms that delivered less than this. I would definately come back.

Just so you know, i'm a budget traveller and usually stay at 3 star hotels so i'm not extrememly picky. But overall, i will share the good and bad with you so you are well equip for your trip here. But overall, a good hotel.

Good points:

Overall Appearance and Design: Very big hotel. Due to the reviews from this website, i asked for a high storey room and was very impressed by the view of Bangkok, especially at night. All rooms are on one side of the hotel so you have a good view from your room and a good view from the corridor.

Room: Nice, big spacious room and very impressed by the nice big bathroom with a separate bath and shower. Good frequency of changing towels and cleaned up room daily. Replaced toilettries which were shower gel, shampoo, moisteriser, toothbrush and toothpaste, cotton buds and a shaver. And always got our complimentry water every day. TV had english channels and a good movie channel.

Staff: Very friendly and allowed early check-in. We checked in at around 8am and we were very tired from the flight so this was very appreciated and trouble free. They also let us check out early and when we did cheak out, they looked after our suitcases whilst we arranged a cab to Pattaya.

Location: Was good. There is a street market on the main street everyday at night and Nana train station is 5-8 mins walk from the hotel (turn left when you get on the main road). Also, good for exploring this Bangkok area at night.

Bad Points:

Breakfast: Not the best buffet breakfast i've tasted. Rice and some of the other food is quite bland. I think this is a case of having a big hotel, lots of people to cater to so they cook everything quickly in bulk and lossing quality in taste in the process. But ok and will get the job done, if B&B is included in your hotel price anyway. Breakfast food, Fried food, Bread and pastries, fruit and salad available. Expensive if you dont have B&B included so recommended to go elsewhere for food.

Location: The hotel is located at the end of a one-way road and it can be abit out of the way, dark, pot holes etc. But it is safe, especially if there are 2 of you or more.

So there's the real deal so you can now make your mind up. But overall, a good hotel and i would stay there again.

We stayed in the Royal Benja for 3 nights at the end of January. It was the first stop in a round the world trip in which we stayed at around 8 hotels. This was the cheapest by far and the best. The staff were friendly, it is in a great location and the breakfast is fantastic! We would definitely stay here again and would thoroughly recommend it.