I told a local Thai friend I was going to stay at Classic Kameo in Rayong and asked her whether that was a good choice- she said "That's the best hotel in Rayong!"
We left Bangkok on the white van from Ekkamai and trying to ask the van driver to drop us at the hotel was a nightmare. He couldn't understand what we were saying and dropped us at some road and we had no idea where we were. There were no taxis, no tuk tuks. In the end, we paid 80 Baht to ride on a motorcycle which brought us here.
1) Location
Located near many eateries, you won't go hungry staying here.
One thing though, we still haven't figured out how to reach here.
2) Rooms
The room was spacious and the cable channels were predominantly Japanese ones. I asked my friend whether many Japanese stayed here. Apparently, there are many Japanese factories in Rayong, which explains the prevalence of Japanese food for breakfast, Japanese TV channels and brochures written in Japanese language.
It was like a mini apartment, complete with a cooking area.
3) Restaurant
Breakfast was provided.
Although the breakfast was spread across two tables, the amount of food we ate was actually quite little. It was predominantly cereal, a limited variety of bread, salad (lettuce leaves didn't look fresh), some fish (they labelled it fish and chips- but there were no chips), Japanese food like miso and an egg station. Our favourite part of the breakfast- the flavoured dried anchovies.
4) Service / Wifi
While the room was great, and the breakfast was either average or slightly lower than average, what really pulled down the score of this place was the lack of free wifi in rooms. I know free wifi in rooms is not an entitlement but honestly, many places have free wifi in rooms nowadays, I don't see why they can't have it here too. It costs 150 baht for one device to have wifi in the room.
There is free wifi in public areas but you have to overcome numerous hurdles to get that free wifi. Firstly, wifi is spotty. Secondly, you have to get a piece of paper from the reception for the username and password. Thirdly, this username and password entitles you to login to one device at each time. Fourthly, this username and password is only valid for 24 hours and you have to get another piece of paper the next day.
Besides the lack of free wifi in rooms and the trouble we have to go through to get free wifi in public areas, service wasn't fantastic either. While the staff who made the rooms were polite, those at the reception didn't leave a good impression.
The receptionists either looked bored or didn't take any initiative. I asked one of the receptionists why my device said that it couldn't log in. He said, "Oh that's because the paper is only valid for 24 hours." And the conversation dropped dead there. Logically, the next step would have been for him to take the initiative to ask if I want another piece of paper to get wifi?
5) Conclusion
While the room was spacious and clean, the service, breakfast and wifi leaves much to be desired.
Classic Kameo Hotel & Serviced Apartments
11 Soi 6 Ratbumrung Road
Tambon Nernpra
Ampur, Rayong, Thailand
.jpg)
.jpg)
