Ban Pai Riverside

Rude owner, not a good treat at all to me or their staff.

Perfect stay, simple, chill and close to nature and walking distance from the center. The staff is wonderful. I felt at home🤍

The owner is so rude. We spent 4 nights in a little bungalow that was pretty much ok except from the bathroom (the smell + no hot water). The first night, after a ride in the city, we got back to our bungalow, turned the key to open the door, and the key instantly broke (see the picture attached). It was 1am in the morning and we had no way to open the door of our room. We then called the owner. He arrived 15 min later, and the first question he asked us was « Are you drunk ? ». We were not, and I first thought it was pretty rude to ask that to his customers. We are not his friends, we were blocked at night because his key was bad quality, and the first thing he tried to do is to blame us. Wtf.We thanked him for his help, then he told us « you have to go to the reception tomorrow and pay 200 bahts for a new key » and he left. The thing is that the key broke in the lock itself the first time we tried to open it, so we thought that was unfair to fine us for that. Especially because we didn’t sign anything mentioning this « rule » during the check in.We decided to wait for the check out so we can discuss it later. Therefore we spent 3 days with the door of our bungalow opened, having no way to lock it from the outside.Today was our check out, so we packed our stuff and went to the reception, where the owner was waiting for us. He asked the 200 bahts for the key. We genuinely tried to explain to him that paying for a key that was bad quality wasn’t fair. He started yelling at us « THIS IS MY PROPERTY, IT’S THE RULE », and threatened us to call the police. I remember telling him that I didn’t sign a paper with this rule written on it, so even if he calls the police, it’s our right to not pay anything. He was very angry, and intimidating with his ton of voice, so we decided to pay but we had to withdraw some money because the only cash we had was 20 bahts at that moment. He got even more angry telling us to give him our passeports to make sure we would come back. We refused because as a traveler, passeport is the most precious thing we have. He was very aggressive and didn’t want us to leave the hotel until we give him our passeports. I told him to keep my credit card instead so my friend would withdraw some money with hers, but he was very stubborn and he was still barking like we were thieves.Finally he agreed on us leaving our backpack at the reception so we could find some money and come back. When we came back with the money he told us « you didn’t even thank me when I opened your door last time » (yes we did), and « I never want to see you again, leave my property and never come back, goodbye forever ».I do respect Thai people, Thai culture, Thailand itself. It’s not the first time I come here and I’ve never been into this kind of trouble before. The minimum you can do as an hotel owner, is to respect your customers. We respected him from the beginning, we never yelled at him, we tried to have a mature,calm and respectful conversation with him, but he just lost his mind. I will never ever put a feet in this hotel again, and I hope it won’t happen to other people in the future. 200 bahts might seem like nothing (6€), but as a backpacker with a budget, that is still 2/3 meals I will not be able to buy.So to the owner of Baan Pai Riverside : show some respect brother, you got your money this time, but you lost 2 customers and surely more as I’ll talk to all the travelers I’ll meet to not come to your hostel anymore.Goodbye forever like you said.

beutiful place close to river and walking street. highly recommended

This accommodation is in a really good location. In particular, the river view is great so you can stay in the hammock all day. It's clean, with no bugs as expected. In February, it was okay without air conditioning, and it was a bit cold in the early morning. I recommend bringing your own down sleeping bag.

The perfect location. Combines walking distance to the city center together with peace and juice and a pastoral view

I’ve had a lovely stay at Baan Pai Riverside with my sister in law. The bungalow is minimalistic but offers all you need! First my plan was to stay for 4 nights but I extended until 10. The location is perfect in a green and quiet environment, crossing over a cute bridge and you’re already in walking street. The stay includes breakfast, coffee tea and all day you can tap water. The people working at the reception are extremely nice and kind. I met Lyon and will never forget all his nice stories he shared with me. He calmed me down after my accident in Pai and helped me with everything. I would definitely recommend Ban Pai and next time Pai I will stay here again for sure <3 Big thanks!

View along the Pai River, Mae Hong Son

Top location, super low price, magnificent, cleanliness could not be better.

Great value. If you want to be close to all the action without any street noise. Choose this place. Got a fan room, AC (or fan) is not needed in February. Feels like you are at a secluded resort, but cross the bamboo bridge and u are right in town.Final point, the owner of the place is a gentleman, I paid for 2 nights and unforseen circumstances meant that I had to leave and they refunded me the unused night in cash, with no fuss.This is for sure the place to stay in pai. I'll be back