Bangkok Hotel | Karaarom Hotel | Affordable Design-Led Boutique Stay | 7-Minute Walk from BTS Thong Lor Station

Bangkok Hotel | Karaarom Hotel | Affordable Design-Led Boutique Stay | 7-Minute Walk from BTS Thong Lor Station | With Glimmer Bar On-Site

Accommodation prices in central Bangkok are far more affordable than in many other major cities around the world. On this, my second trip to Bangkok, I browsed through the stays people had shared online and settled on a hotel with a hip, design-conscious style: Karaarom Hotel.

📜 Information

Price: NT$8,924 (three nights, Friday–Monday, Studio room with breakfast)
Address: 8 Napasup 2, Sukhumvit 36 Rd., Klongtan, Klongtoey, Bangkok, 10110
Phone: +66888674777
Official website: https://www.karaarom.com/
Booking site: https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/karaarom.zh-tw.html
Other: An additional deposit is required, refunded after the check-out inspection

📍 Location

Karaarom Hotel sits in a soi near BTS Thong Lor Station, about a 7-minute walk from the exit — genuinely close. That said, the surrounding lanes have no sidewalks and there's quite a lot of traffic, so the walk isn't the easiest; watch out for passing cars.

On the way from BTS Thong Lor Station to Karaarom Hotel

Our day-tour guide later told us this is one of Bangkok's wealthy neighbourhoods. Along with heavy traffic, the roads are narrow, so it's jammed pretty much all day, from morning until night. This time we took a Grab straight from the airport to the hotel (about NT$375) and experienced Bangkok's notorious traffic first-hand: what should have been a 30-minute ride took 70 minutes.

🏢 Hotel Environment and Facilities

Karaarom Hotel has a plain, understated exterior, with the whole building wrapped in lush greenery. Step inside and you immediately feel the laid-back, artsy atmosphere of a small boutique inn, almost like a hidden resort. Tucked deep in a quiet lane away from the city's noise, it feels all the more relaxed and private.

The reception lobby is on the second floor and there's an elevator, so you never have to worry about hauling luggage. The ground floor is an open indoor car park with a comfortable lounge area, and staff wait here to greet guests and kindly guide them up to the second-floor lobby.

The lounge area on the ground floor

The open indoor car park

Most facilities are on the second floor; floors 3–7 are guest rooms

The entrance to the second-floor reception lobby

The non-alcoholic welcome drink and snacks at check-in

The reception lobby and shared work counter

The hotel's main facilities are all concentrated on the second floor. Besides the wood-toned, artsy reception desk, there's a small retail display area stocked with all sorts of lovely things — handmade goods, clothing, accessories and hipster knick-knacks, and even the high-quality bath amenities and coffee beans the hotel uses are available to take home. Guests can carry away not just memories, but a little of the Karaarom vibe too.

Unlike many hotels where the lobby seating follows a single uniform look, Karaarom Hotel's second-floor communal space is full of clever touches, with leather sofas, bar stools and other design elements scattered around to create a variety of moods. Guests can pick a different spot depending on their preference or their mood that day — every corner has its own distinct comfort.

The beautifully arranged retail display area

The second-floor communal space

The space feels especially cosy at night

Gym

At the end of the second-floor corridor there's a small gym and recreation space with some basic exercise equipment, a treadmill, a pool table, and a little play area for kids.

Sky Garden and Outdoor Pool

On the 9th floor there's a small garden and outdoor pool. Honestly, though, the area is really tiny and the pool is about the size of a big bathtub — at best you can soak in it.

🛏 The Room

We stayed on the fifth floor

This time we stayed in Karaarom Hotel's standard double, which carries on the wood-toned, artsy design of the second floor. The room is dominated by warm wood tones, paired with soft orange-yellow lighting and a large ceiling fan overhead — the overall atmosphere is both comfortable and relaxing. The room isn't especially spacious, but it has everything you need, including a mini kitchen area with a pot, induction cooker, sink and microwave. Whether you fancy cooking instant noodles late at night or reheating a light meal, it's very convenient — perfect for travellers who like to eat light.

The queen-size bed is medium-firm, and if you have a particular pillow preference you can ask the front desk for the type you like. One corner of the room has a small two-seater sofa and a little table — great for a late-night snack, a drink, or reading a good book on the road. It adds a touch of warmth and practicality to the room.

The small two-seater sofa area

The double room's queen-size bed

The small kitchen area in the room

The bathroom follows the same design-led, artsy style

The fridge is stocked with all kinds of drinks, alcohol and water. Note that only the large bottles of water are free — one per day, and they give you enough for the length of your stay up front. I didn't notice this and assumed all the water was free, so at check-out I was charged for the small bottles. Prices aren't expensive though; as I recall a bottle was around 25–30 baht.

The room comes with a plug adapter you can use

🍽️ Breakfast

Breakfast at Karaarom Hotel is buffet-style plus one main dish, with a choice of American or Thai. The main dish isn't huge, but the buffet spread offers a decent range — you can definitely eat your fill, and most of it tastes pretty good.

As for drinks, besides what you can help yourself to at the buffet, your main dish comes with one à la carte drink, and there's a fairly wide selection.

Fresh fruit, juices and some Thai dishes

There's a basic bread station too

Soups, congee and boiled eggs

After three days of breakfast, I thought the Thai mains were tastier

The buffet area is small, but the selection isn't too limited

The dining area is bright and very comfortable

🍸 The On-Site Bar: Glimmer Bar

Karaarom Hotel has its own bar, Glimmer Bar. On our first day in Bangkok we hadn't planned any particular itinerary and got back to the hotel fairly early, so we decided to give the in-house bar a try.

Glimmer Bar's four signature cocktails

The classic cocktails section

CALM

Gin/ Lemon/ Jasmine/ Aloe vera

The lemon aroma is quite pronounced on the nose — it's a bit like a lemon-aloe special, with a few bits of aloe pulp inside. A refreshing sweet-and-sour cocktail, though personally I found it overly sweet, almost cloying; it only reached a balance I liked after the ice had melted a little.

VANISH

Gin/ St.Germain/ Green Tea/ Thai Jasmine Rice

Setting aside how well it was mixed, I really liked the direction of this combination. The Thai jasmine rice ingredient tastes a little like purple sweet potato, and paired with the sweet-and-sour notes the overall flavour and concept are both appealing and distinctive. That said, the green tea character didn't really come through, and there's a fairly strong hit of alcohol that surges up on the finish. The biggest takeaway was that I became very interested in this Thai jasmine rice flavour, and later found and bought a bottle of the Thai jasmine rice syrup at a supermarket.

Glimmer Bar's prices are much more approachable than Bangkok's top-tier bars, so if you happen to have some free time and fancy a drink, it's worth considering having one here.

Bangkok Bars

The little welcome gift at check-in

Choosing Karaarom Hotel this time turned out to be a very good experience overall, and the price is more affordable than many other hotels. The staff speak fluent English and are friendly, so communication was completely stress-free. The hotel's artsy design style adds plenty of character and taste to the stay, with every detail radiating warmth and comfort.

Of course, there are a few things that could be improved. First, the room layout is a bit awkward: to reach the sofa area in the corner you actually have to climb over the bed, otherwise you get stuck.

The bigger drawback is the poor soundproofing. For the first two nights the nearby rooms were empty, so it was quite quiet. But on the last night new guests moved in next door, and we could clearly hear their TV, the shower running, even sneezes. If you're particularly sensitive to noise, this is worth bearing in mind.

More Accommodation References

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Travel Sean

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