Manathai Village Hotel

20 July 2008

Manathai Village is a small hotel in the warren of narrow alleys between the night bazaar and the old city. The location is handy, and quiet at night, but the streets around it are quite a maze, so if you have a bad sense of direction, you might get lost trying to find your way back to the place on foot. Many taxis seem to know it, and the airport taxi guy seemed to know exactly where he was going.

Manathai is from the same mold as Tamarind Village and Tri Yaan Na Ros, both of which I've stayed at before. All these hotels shoot for designs with a bit of local flavor, through simple white-washed spaces and clean-lined dark wooden furniture. Each of them will appeal to some people, and totally turn off others. My room at the Manathai was comfortable enough, and in looking around at the other rooms in the morning, it seems I had one of the least desirable rooms in the property. If you decide to stay here, go for the deluxe or better rooms, and try to get one on the second floor for more privacy.

As with many "design" hotels, there are a few annoying details, or lack of them. The part that's lacking is any place to put my suitcase, other than on the floor. The other detail is the towel rack, which is on the farthest wall of the bathroom, behind the huge square bathtub. The trouble with this is that if you're taking a shower using the separate rain-shower head, you have to step into the tub to reach a towel. It's kind of silly when there's plenty of space on the wall next to the shower for a towel rod.

Aside from the above minor annoyances, there are some very nice things about Manathai. The room has free wi-fi Internet access, and if you don't carry your laptop with you, there are some computers in the library to use free of charge. The library also has several DVDs you can borrow to watch in your room, if there's nothing on the several cable channels that appeals. Breakfast was also a surprise. The buffet is rather small, as you might expect from a place with only 20 to 30 rooms, but most everything is well made, fresh. I haven't seen any frozen processed hash-browns or warmed up sliced ham. The first morning they had freshly shredded potatoes and big chunks of ham stir-fired with onions and sweet peppers. There's no "egg station" as they do at most hotels. Instead, you order your eggs from a list of half-dozen choices and the waiter will bring them to your table from the kitchen.

Hotel facilities include a restaurant, full service spa, swimming pool, library, tour desk and computer lounge.

Rooms feature air conditioning, refrigerator, color television with many English language channels, hair dryer, free wi-fi and in-room safe.

Pluses: heavy on 'local' style; easy access to shopping and sights on foot.

Minuses: Lower-level rooms may lack privacy. You have to close the black-out curtains to gain any privacy.

See Hotels Combined for more information and rates.