Hotel Review: Boonsiri Boutique Hotel, Si Saket, Thailand

Si Saket is a sleepy little province way out east in the Isan region of Thailand.  I came out to teach a class for our "English for Lawyers" course, a required course for our LL.M.  Over a hundred students, it went well.  I love it when they're surprised that they could understand my English.  I speak more slowly every year, so by now I'm saying one . . . word . . . at . . . a . . . time.  It might sound funny to native speakers, but foreigners appreciate it. 

I was here two years ago and I stayed at this same hotel.  At the time, it was merely the "Boonsiri Hotel."  The place has been totally remodeled in the meantime and "Boutique" was added to the name.  The price was about the same.

This is a pretty nice hotel, and the remodel was done very well.  For example, the electrical equipment in my (rented) condo was very unusual when I moved in, real high-line stuff that most people just don't spring for.  The air-conditioner was a Carrier, and the water heater was a Stiebel Eltron.  The same brands and models were in my room at the re-done Boonsiri. 

The price can't be beat.  450 Baht a day, about thirteen dollars (that's with my professor discount).  The place is clean and comfortable.  The TV has two English channels: BBC News and Vietnamese HBO.  The BBC had no sound, don't ask me why; the HBO was all in English but almost everything had Vietnamese sub-titles. 

So I missed the content of the news, but at least I didn't miss "True Blood."  Interestingly, Vietnamese HBO was heavier on stuff like "Hop," "The Smurfs," "Honey I Blew Up The Kid," and "Dogs v. Cats."  All very cute.  Thai HBO is more into adventure and action. 

So I'd recommend this hotel except for one thing: the restaurant.  The free buffet breakfast was okay, very basic and no great shakes but it was okay.  I had dinner there the first night though and it was the worst plate of food that has been served to me in eight years in Thailand.  Pad Thai with Shrimp, but it was horrible.  It tasted like dishwater, and everything was way off.  Bean sprouts should be white, not brown, and they shouldn't all have little leaves sprouting from the bulb.  There's a nice little place across the street though, so don't let the lack of a decent restaurant deter you if you ever get out to Si Saket. 

Ha!  Fat chance of that!  I'm the lucky one, I am, I'm like Johnny Cash in that song, "I've Been Everywhere."