What? Housekeeping entered my room with all my belonging still in the room. The bedsheet is pulled out, and it was a mess. It is only 11 oclock and checkout time is 12 oclock. Luckily all my valuables is not left in the room.

For the past two years, we've stayed at Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel. Two years ago we booked through an online travel agent, while last year we booked directly with the hotel.

Last year Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel charged us 1149Bt per night and 490Bt for an extra bed, but this year we were informed that there will be a 600Bt surcharge for Xmas eve and Xmas day! We were quite miffed and made a bold decision to try our luck with a different hotel when we arrived in Hat Yai.

Turns out, we could actually purchase hotel vouchers from the local Konsortium Bas Express Semenanjung (KBES) office in Hat Yai. These vouchers meant we could get cheaper room rates (minus the usual breakfast provided by most hotels). Please refer photo attached.

Just in case, we made the usual reservations with Lee Garden Plaza Hotel but we thought that we would try a different hotel this year (if there were any vacancies).

So as soon as we arrived, we walked into the local KBES office. Lo and behold, we got ourselves checked into the Grand Plaza Hotel! The room at Grand Plaza was a ridiculous 680Bt and the extra bed a mere 200Bt. Better still, there was no surcharge nonsense during the Xmas period. And to top it off, it was right beside Lee Garden!

The room we had was adequate for our needs, as we usually spend most of our waking hours out and about. Whoever comes to Hat Yai and spends their time in their hotel rooms must be out of their minds.

Location wise, it is right beside Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel but without the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel pricing fiasco.

What we liked best & least? Hmm, there’s nothing to like or dislike about the hotel. We absolutely love the price and location, and with the price in mind we’ve managed our expectations accordingly. The Ritz it’s definitely not, but an adequate place to sleep after a hard day of gallivanting it definitely is.

We had the family room for 4days, with a small fridge, power unplug, because of frosted freezer.
The toilet flush did not work well, either it cannot flush clear or the water continue flowing non stop, and have to call the house keeping in the middle of the night to fix it.
The swimming pool is NO NO NO greenish in color filled full with algae.
Front desk there is only one man who speak little english, not helpful at all, and I ask to see the manage, he said that manager go diving, and no hand phone. and I request the manage to contact me from the vary first day and nothing happen till we check out from the hotel, still did not see the manager??
The location is good, convenient for shopping and food. highly recommended for the location, but do not expect anything.

Hat Yai is a great place and considering the troubles it underwent (the bombings) its tough to write a negative review about a hotel here. However, it has many hotels (many Malaysian and Singaporeans vacation here) so choose wisely. Here is my take:

Plus:
1. You can't beat the location of this hotel. It is in the middle of everything (right next to the much higher priced Novotel and Lee Garden Plaza hotel). Next to it are 2 major shopping centers (Central Festival, Odean), a lively street market). This is the happening street in Hat Yai.
2. Price: At 690 Baht, it beat paying 1500baht at nearby hotels.

Negative:
1. No hot water: Stayed 2 days, showered cold.
2. Could be cleaner

My suggestion is to stay at the Pink Lady Hotel just 1 minute away. Its 600 baht flat everyday. The thing about the Pink Lady (if you see from their website) is that it also caters to other types of travels. You do not have to partake the activities these travelers choose. I simply refused when offered and enjoyed paying 600 Baht for a clean room with actual hot water. It has 2 entrances (near main road and in the back) so if you are easily embarrassed you can use the back entrance. Since I was not partaking in any othe offered activities, I saw no reason to hold my head in shame when entering this hotel