The great city of Bangkok in the Kingdom of Thailand is one of the most popular exotic destinations in Southeast Asia. To accommodate the millions of tourist a year, Bangkok has hundreds of hotels of that cater to the most pampered tourist to frugal backpacker.
The room rates in all Bangkok's hotels are heavily influenced by the seasons. The high season is typically between November through March, where the weather in Thailand is cooler, much cooler in North Thailand, less humid with less rainfall. The low season is between April which is the hottest month, through October which has the most rainfall.
If you plan to book your stay in particular hotels in Bangkok during holidays such as Christmas and New Years you might have a compulsory dinner charge tacked on top of your room rate. So make sure you check your booking details.
Most people ask me which season I prefer to go visit Bangkok for vacation. My honest answer is any season is fine. If I had to choose I would say low season. During the low season Bangkok's hotel room rates can get reduced by 20%. In most extreme cases room rates in Bangkok can get slashed as much as 40%.
The next question I get asked is do I recommend staying in budget hotels in Bangkok. My answer is yes, I absolutely recommend it. There are many budget hotels in Bangkok that are close to main attractions such as cultural sights, city train stations, shopping malls and nightlife hot-spots. Most people think budget hotels equate to rooms with blood stained mattresses and bathroom sinks with missing faucets in the middle of nowhere.
So how would you react if I told you that most budget hotels in Bangkok have rooms with LCD TVs, CD/DVD player, free Wi-Fi, electronic room safe, a small swimming pool and gym. All of those amenities and facilities including a great location can be enjoyed in a budget hotel in Bangkok for $40 USD per night including taxes and free daily breakfast.
Now that you know all the good stuff there are trade offs to staying in budget hotels in Bangkok. One is hotel staff may not be highly trained and proficient in English or any other foreign language. From what I've noticed budget hotel owners put most of their money towards the design and functionality of their hotel property and less in qualified staff. This does not mean you'll get poor service. It means be patient with hotel staff. They have a job to do and they will perform it to the best of their ability.
Another trade off is is that not all rooms in budget hotels are the same in quality. Some are better then others in terms of room conditions. Hotel's reception staff know which room gets the most complaints, but there job is to keep the hotel full so management discourages room changes. So here's the biggest tip you should remember. And this tip applies to all hotels in Bangkok. If you ever check in to a room that you don't like for whatever reason, here's a great way to get your room change.
Before you go downstairs to speak to reception or the hotel manager, you should dress as sharp as you can. Put on a nice long sleeve button down shirt, suit pant and shoes. When you're speaking, speak with confidence. Thai society is class based and the better dressed you are the better treatment you'll get as they think you're successful when they see you. If a room is truly available you'll get it. If you're wearing swim short, tank top and flips flops then your request for a room change might be turned down with the answer that there aren't any rooms available, even if there is.