Feung Nakorn Balcony Rooms & Cafe

Feung Nakorn is a family-run boutique hotel in a restored elementary school that's particularly popular with family travelers. Though it's in a busy area, the entrance sits down a small alley that separates the two wings, and the hotel is generally peaceful. Subtle vintage Thai touches include axe-pillow seating in the lobby, and gorgeous old-fashioned green stairs with refurbished dark-wood handrails. The deceptively large space has rooms in a main building that surrounds a courtyard that was once the school's playground, cafeteria, and basketball court. There's also a koi pond overlooked by a sundeck and charming outdoor bar. As of 2016, one wing was being remodeled with the intention of opening a separate hostel on the same property.

Feung Nakorn is set right on one of Bangkok’s first roads (there’s no sidewalk on the hotel’s side of the street) in a quaint and increasingly traveler-friendly Old Town neighborhood that’s filled with other hotels and guest houses, coffee shops, and jewelers. There are plenty of street food vendors and convenience stores nearby, and a number of popular temples and other attractions are also within walking distance, but it’s a trek to the Skytrain for connections downtown and elsewhere, and traffic around here can be heavy.- Four-minute walk to Wat Ratchabophit temple and Saranrom Park

• Eight-minute walk to the Giant Swing
• 12-minute walk to Museum Siam
• 13-minute walk to Wat Pho temple
• 15-minute walk to the Grand Palace, Khao San Road, and Democracy Monument
• Seven-minute drive to the Golden Mount
• 10-minute drive to Wat Arun and Chinatown
• 11-minute drive to National Stadium Skytrain station
• 12-minute drive to Hualamphong mainline train and subway station
• 14-minute drive to Siam shopping malls
• 23-minute drive to Chatuchak weekend market
• 32-minute drive to Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang International Airports

A variety of air-conditioned rooms are spread across the four-story main building. Standard amenities include flat-screen TVs, phones, free Wi-Fi, and safes, plus mini-fridges, coffee- and tea-making facilities, and hairdryers. Pricier categories have robes and slippers. Guests get free in-room snacks and drinking water daily. The Standard Double and Twin Rooms have pastel-green or red accent walls, and trendy black-and-white gallery-style compositions. The burnt orange floor tiling is slightly dated, while plenty of light gets in despite the white shutters partially blocking the windows. Traditional freestanding bedside tables frame comfortable king-size beds on classic dark-wood frames (some with elaborate headboards, others without). Despite dark-wood tables and chairs, closets, TV cabinets and vanities, these rooms still feel bare, and all the freestanding furniture appears makeshift. Decent but basic wet-room-style bathrooms have white floral wall tiling. There are chic dark-wood vanities with contemporary countertop sinks, and power showerheads with basic curtains. Triple Rooms, similar to Standard Double and Twin Rooms, have three single beds, while four-person air-con single-sex Dormitories have lockers and shared bathrooms. Suites range from 517 to 645 square feet (48 to 60 square meters) and have off-green accent walls with artsy montages, tanned wood-panel flooring, dated dark-wood vanity tables, and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the garden. Separate, somewhat old-fashioned living spaces have small kitchenettes. Larger, modern bathrooms have gorgeous terra-cotta floor tiling, and busy floral wall and floor tiling in the open walk-in showers with rainfall showerheads. Bathrooms also feature lovely dark-wood vanities, stained-glass features, and stylish countertop sinks. In addition to the front patio space, attractive enclosed outdoor spaces run along the back, accessed from the bedroom or bathroom.

Fueng Nakorn is a mid-range property with little in the way of facilities. That said, there is a plentiful breakfast buffet (for a fee), and the light-flooded open-air restaurant serves meals throughout the day. The gorgeous Tanao Bar sits under a white-wood pagoda that has a plantation feel, and overlooks the pond, but it can be quiet in the evenings. Along with free hotel-wide Wi-Fi, there are internet terminals for guests to use in the courtyard restaurant area, and the 24-hour front desk can arrange laundry and dry cleaning services. On-site parking is free and secure.