Violet Tower at Khaosan Palace

This hotel is right in the middle of Khao San Road, so expect a lot of noise at night from all the bars—it’s almost impossible to get any sleep. During the day, the night market is empty, and the streets are lined with people sleeping on the sidewalk, which can be quite unsettling. Some rooms are in poor condition, so make sure you get a good one. If you have a lot of carry-on luggage, aim for a room on the first floor since there’s no elevator. I had to switch rooms because the AC in my first one was leaking water onto the bed, which was incredibly frustrating.

The hotel is located at the heart of the Khao San night market, which means you have no chance to sleep until 3am when noises start to reduce (need to wait until 4am for complete silence). I used an app to measure the peak sound level inside my room at 2am. The result was 91db! You can even feel the vibration caused by the super loudspeakers of the bars around. Fairly speaking this problem is not unique to this hotel. If you are not a party animal and want to sleep near Khao San, choose a hotel at least 2 blocks away from Khao San Road.

This hotel is incredibly loud. I could feel my entire body vibrating from the music downstairs until 6AM. Great place if you like to be near a party place at night and then enjoy hanging out near the pool during the day. But, terrible place to be if you’re looking for a calm place to stay. There are earbuds provided in the room.