Hat Yai
Where to lay your head
Where to lay your head
Large and often rundown hotels catering mainly to business travellers and Malaysian tourists are found all over downtown Hat Yai. Rather than settling on those, seek out one of the far-better options listed below, which aren’t always the most obvious places in town.
Opened in 2016, The Aree Hostel combines helpful and personable service with a central location, good common facilities and bunks that are better than most. The cosy hostel occupies a converted shophouse within a 10-minute walk of the train station and nightlife. After being buzzed in, we met friendly owner Pun, a Hat Yai native, and another staffer who also spoke excellent English. They offer... Read our full review of The Aree Hostel.
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The small but slick Get Guesthouse opened in 2014 to offer six clean rooms on a quiet downtown lane. Rooms hit with a flash of white and come with air-con, quality linens on firm beds, small LCD TVs on the walls, fridges, desks, coffee/tea facilities and WiFi. The best of them also have balconies with a few potted plants and sliding glass doors, but the small single edition does not have a... Read our full review of Get Guesthouse.
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After checking out several downtown hotels we settled on the Wungnoy as the best-value option for flashpackers in Hat Yai. Rooms come in separate four-storey buildings on either side of narrow Saeng Chan Road, with the cheapest set in the main property fronted by a large lobby and a Chao Doi coffee shop. Accessed by stairs, all rooms have glass-topped tables on spacious balconies overlooking... Read our full review of Wungnoy Hotel.
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We bumped into the quirky Kai Guesthouse after searching for a hostel that had closed and found it to be a charming option for budget travellers who appreciate more of a homestay-type experience. Offering only a few private air-con rooms and a small mixed dorm, all rooms rely on a shared cold-water bathroom set downstairs behind the little convenience store that fronts the street. The room we... Read our full review of Kai Guesthouse.
The Red Planet will do the trick if you’re after a clean double or triple room slap bang in the centre of downtown Hat Yai. Formerly the Tune Hotel, this eight-floor property opened in 2011 as the first under the Red Planet brand, which runs 24 hotels in various Asian countries at time of writing. Expect a sterile, corporate design that goes so far as to place promotional material on walls of... Read our full review of Red Planet Hat Yai.
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Connected to Hat Yai Railway Station, The Train Hotel emerged after renovations in 2016 to offer clean and well-equipped rooms at rates that are similar to many grungy old hotels. Though lacking decoration, standard rooms have comfortable beds raised off shiny tile floors to go with LCD TVs, desks, fridges and even a hot-water kettle and free ice. Wet bathrooms are cramped but water pressure is... Read our full review of The Train Hotel.
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The centrally located Cathay Guesthouse has dished out dirt-cheap rooms to backpackers for decades -- and it could really use a refurbishment. The small guesthouse offers worn-down rooms off a dark hallway on the third floor of an old concrete building above a travel office that’s also called Cathay, but is confusingly owned separately. Inside you get high ceilings, dinged-up desks, ceiling... Read our full review of Cathay Guesthouse.
( Read more on Agoda.com or Booking.com )
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