Prince Heritage Theatre Stay Bangkok

Style and Character

The Art Deco-inspired building is both spectacular and spectacularly restored. The erstwhile cinema now serves as lobby and bar and features a huge screen, the venue’s original wooden stage and an old projector. The stage is used for weekly dance sessions and other events and more often than not a vintage film flickers silently on the screen, accompanied by jazzy lounge sounds. A small exhibition explains the building’s illustrious history and how it was restored from near ruin. It’s a simple set-up with a young, arty vibe – a rarity in Bangkok.

Service and Facilities

The staff are friendly and engaging, speak good English, love films and happily take guests on a walking tour around the area, free of charge, to point out the main historic sites and best eating options. The lobby-cum-auditorium is a great place to hang out, meet fellow travellers and soak up the vintage vibes. The separate room and dorm sections of the building are accessed with electronic key cards, adding security.

Rooms

On the ground floor there are several dorms reserved for female travellers, with pod beds that afford a modicum of privacy, complemented by spotless bathrooms. Upstairs, there are mixed-gender pod rooms and larger dorms featuring small room-within-room-style cabins, which all share bathrooms.

The property’s highlight are clearly the four suites. Two come as duplex rooms with a compact downstairs living area and a simple but comfortable bedroom upstairs. Shiny wooden floors, period-style furniture, and flawless (if not particularly elegant) bathrooms manage to retain the period feel of the public areas. The same goes for the two large master suites located behind the cinema screen. These also have wonderful period-style furniture, creaking wooden floors, vintage movie photos gracing the walls, wooden window shutters and small bathrooms.

Food and Drink

Breakfast is basic: toast or congee and fresh fruit, plus a good selection of organic teas. For now, there’s no restaurant, but given the plethora of street food choices on the hotel’s front porch, that’s not too much of a drawback. The bar serves a range of great cocktails inspired by classic films, accompanied by copious amounts of free popcorn. It's is a great place for an early evening glass or two.

Value for Money

Double rooms from 4,000 Baht (£93), year round. Dorm beds from 1,000 Baht (£23). Breakfast included. Free Wi-Fi.

Family-Friendly?

It’s really a place for young professionals, friends or couples, though families are welcome and extra beds can be put into the suites.

Location

The Prince Heritage Theatre Stay is located on Charoen Krung Road, five minutes’ walk from Saphan Taksin sky train station and the Chao Praya River, and close to the hipster nightlife of Chinatown. Bangkok’s main historic sites are a short ferry ride up river. The area around the hotel is crammed with some of Bangkok’s best street food vendors as well as plenty of historical buildings.