Beautiful natural surroundings and lots of great activities make extending a stay in Kanchanaburi a fantastic idea. Guest houses, hotels and resorts in the area offer accommodations from between 200 Baht a night on the low end, up to 3,500 Baht a night on the high end. If you’re not looking for the honeymoon suite and want good atmosphere and good price, then The VN Guesthouse is a solid budget option for your stay in town.
They provide a relaxing location directly on the bank of the River Kwai, and in addition to their regular rooms they offer 8 floating raft rooms. Their river location is ideal and it’s just a short 1.5 km walk, or cheap song-taew ride (pick-up truck taxi), to the guest house from the main train station at the Bridge.
The great views and family run feel are immediate after walking down the steps to the reception desk. Greeted with smiles and Sa-Wat-Dee’s the staff makes you feel like you’ve just returned home from a long journey; and they’re more than excited to show you to your room.
The price for a standard room with a fan starts at 250 Baht ($8.00) and if you want to add A/C the price jumps to 400 Baht ($12.85) per night. A raft room with a river view and fan starts at 275 Baht ($8.85) per night and upgrading to A/C will kick the price up to 400 Baht.
Raft rooms come with a queen sized bed (two twin beds pushed together) and a private bathroom which includes a cold water shower and a manually flushing toilet. The rooms also include TV, WiFi and a small river front patio. The option to get a hot water shower in the raft room is available for an additional 30 baht ($1.00), however, the cold water shower is pretty refreshing. The patio alone is worth the price as its a quiet place to relax in the evening with a cold beer and soak in the view of the river while watching the occasional water taxi zip by.
From 7:00 am to 10:00 pm you can take advantage of the small, full service restaurant located in the reception area which also has a spectacular view of the river. The menu has traditional Thai, Chinese and Western dishes that are fairly priced and have the tasty flavor you’d expect from a family run establishment.
The location of the guest house is nice because it’s off the main road, yet still within walking distance to the other restaurants and bars in town. As the sun goes down the main road comes to life and you can quickly belly up at a bar with other travelers or sit at one of the colorful make-shift roadside bars and enjoy a drink and a chat with a few locals.
The staff at the VN Guesthouse is extremely kind and helpful. If you’re unsure of what to do in town or need assistance planning the next leg of your trip; they’re happy to help arrange tours, book train or bus tickets and help you look for flights. With the help of online travel agencies like flight network, VN Guesthouse can help arrange to get you to your next destination quickly. Their combination of great price, great location and amazing views of the River Kwai make the VN Guest House a solid option for hanging your hat while in Kanchanaburi.