Bangkok Canale Home @Khao San

Rooms at Bangkok Canale Home @Khao San sleep between two and five guests, in layouts with double beds, bunk beds or a mix of both. Several rooms have a private bathroom with a shower, a hair dryer and towels, and the rooms with a view look out onto the city or the garden.

Flat-screen TVs and satellite or cable channels appear in several rooms, and some rooms also have a desk or a telephone. Guests can also use the shared lounge with its TV area, where sofas and chairs invite a longer stay.

Breakfast is free and is served as a buffet or a continental breakfast, and the guesthouse also has a happy hour. Free Wi-Fi covers all rooms, and there are internet services and Wi-Fi in the public areas as well.

For day-to-day needs there is daily housekeeping, a laundry service, luggage storage and a concierge, while a business centre offers Xerox and fax. Tours are offered, and so are an airport transfer and a taxi service.

English and Thai are spoken, and the concierge can help with inquiries about tours and the airport transfer. The guesthouse also has family rooms and a terrace, and air conditioning is provided in the public areas.

Soi Trok Kasemsri lies in the Khaosan area of Banglamphu, the historic quarter beside the Grand Palace and the temples of Rattanakosin. The area is lively, with guesthouses, street-food stalls and small shops along the streets around Khaosan Road, which stays busy well into the evening. Many travellers come here to explore the old city on foot and by boat.

Khaosan Road is 550 m from the guesthouse, and the Grand Palace sits within the same historic area, with the Temple of the Emerald Buddha inside its walls. Wat Arun stands across the Chao Phraya river, reached by ferry, and Wat Bowon Niwet is a royal temple a short walk from the guesthouse. The Democracy Monument marks the 1932 revolution along Ratchadamnoen Avenue, and Phra Sumen Fort faces the river on the edge of the old city. By metro, Sam Yot MRT station is 1.5 km away, while Don Mueang airport is 20.2 km to the north.

A good day here starts early at the temples of Rattanakosin, moving from the Grand Palace to Wat Phra Kaew and then across to Wat Arun by river boat. In the afternoon, the Chao Phraya riverside and the Democracy Monument make an easy walk, and by evening Khaosan Road fills with street food and the bustle of the backpacker crowd. Those who want more of Bangkok can take the metro from Sam Yot station toward the rest of the city.