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Reviews of Tara Raft Kanchanaburi

2.5 out of 5
Tara Raft Kanchanaburi
15/1 Soi Rong-Heep-Aoi Ban Nua, Kanchanaburi, Kanchanaburi

Reviews

7.2

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 15 out of 109 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 44 out of 109 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 34 out of 109 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 13 out of 109 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 109 reviews" "

7.6/10

Cleanliness

6.8/10

Staff & service

6.0/10

Amenities

6.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

6.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

6/10 Okay

Wipawee

Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

6/10 Okay

Darren

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
A tale of two hotels.....
So, after having such nice welcomes.everywhere I've ever been in Thailand, here was a bit of a shock. There is no real welcome and interaction comes across at best nonplussed, at worst rude. But if you come prepared for that and you have a room on the raft, they are lovely and are good value for the price. Once you get over the lack of interaction with anyone.... It's great! The view from the river are really lovely to wake up to.
Morning view
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

6/10 Okay

Neil, Althorne

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Sometimes you get what you pay for. . . Quiet, cheap with comfortable bed. Cramped shower/toilet. Raft floating on the river Kwai. Close to nightlife & restaurants, far enough for quiet sleep.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2023

4/10 Poor

Stephen L

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very basic accommodation
This floating hotel is okay if you are wanting the most basic of accommodations. If you are wanting something a bit more refined, keep looking. The bathroom was filled with mosquitoes that were entering through a hole on the floor that was drilled to drain shower water. The room had a lot of noise from adjacent rooms. If you don’t speak Thai, you will find communication with the staff difficult. We mostly dealt with a young boy that was camped out on the couch in the “lobby”. My wife speaks Thai, so we managed.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Nicholas

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2022

8/10 Good

Paul

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great views and location, soft bed.
Our stay for 5 nights was very nice. The room had a balcony which was lovely in the afternoon with no sun and a cool breeze, we sat there with our feet dangling in the water having a beer most afternoons. The bed was very soft and comfortable which is not so common in Thailand. It’s a 5 minute walk to the local bar area and if you want to rent a scooter there are places nearby. We will stay again on our next trip
Balcony view
Bed view
Top deck sunset view
Top deck sunset view
Stayed 5 nights in Feb 2020

6/10 Okay

John

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Good value for budget travellers
Great river view, easy walk to Kanchanaburi station and shops and market. Room looking rather tired, needed a bit of renovation. Overall good value for money. If using this town as a base for Hellfire Pass, staying at Nam Tok would be a better choice.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
We have stayed in this hotel twice before and it was newish with friendly staff. This time the staff were very stern faced and no maintenance has been carried out for years. Obviously the location is still perfect but we won't be staying again.
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A peaceful break
A little bit of a walk into Kanchanaburi but very quiet and peaceful. Lovely comfy small rooms though could do with some hanging space. Breakfast very nice.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Very basic but at the price thats what you get. Its a nice outlook on the river but its a decent walk to the nearest shops.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2018

4/10 Poor

Ronnie

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
room was not as in the picture.

6/10 Okay

Don

Disliked: Staff & service
Bad signage and miserable staff but a nice view
This hotel has the worst signage making it incredibly difficult to find the reception area. There is a carpark out front and then a flat roof area. One must climb some stairs and then go down and find a sign to another set of very steep stairs. The staff are miserable, scowling and very unhelpful. I could see they had a huge TV monitor so must have seen us struggling to find them but had not cared enough to come and assist. I had read earlier reviews of people buying the best room and then being put in the less expensive room. So I booked the expensive room. Yep, they gave me a middle room with a view of a very sad looking fish trap rather than at the front where the view is of the river. They had nothing about our reservation, no paperwork, not computer. They had to call someone, their boss I presume. So this all took quite awhile, while we were totally ignored. Not even invited to have a seat or a drink of water. We had booked the best room with a view of the river. I had read previous reviews where even if you do this they give you a lesser room with a terrible view of a bunch of ugly fish traps and pollution. Sure enough that's what they did. I protested and asked for a refund. Back to the phone they went. Finally we were directed to the front room which we had paid for. The room is very basic but ok for the price. The location is ok as there are shops and bars close by.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
a nice stay on the river close to shops a relaxing spot to stay
Stayed 5 nights in Mar 2018

6/10 Okay

Peter

Liked: Room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2017

8/10 Good

Tony

Lovely river experience
Great river views accompanied by great mosquito bites but somehow worth it. A unique experience. Would stay again for a long weekend.
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

S, Pacific Palisades CA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Comfortable
Comfortable with nice and relaxing views. Great location. Easy access from train station.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2017

8/10 Good

P Wong, Hong Kong

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice raft hotel, 10 mins to night market
Helpful, smiley and friendly staff, who helped us arranged transfer back to Bangkok. The view from room is unbeatable!! Close to night market. River kawi is less than 10 mins away by tuk tuk!
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2017

8/10 Good

WAI KWAN

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Fair stay
Quite good in terms of value, only thing to complaint was about the bad smell from the toliet pipe. Location was good, convenient to access to other places!
Stayed 5 nights in May 2017

8/10 Good

Katie, Philadelphia, PA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location with beautiful views
Located on the river, our room had perfect sunrise views facing the mountains. Within short walking distance of convenience store, restaurants, and nightlife. The shower situation is interesting but we were comfortable overall. Would definitely recommend

10/10 Excellent

Peter

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very relaxing stay.

8/10 Good

jules, australia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cheap clean hotel on the river
I booked this hotel because it was cheap and within walking distance of the train station. The room was clean and tidy, with an amazing view of the river and a nice little balcony to enjoy it from. The staff spoken pretty good English and were very helpful. The wifi dropped in and out a bit buts that only critisim. As far as cheap hotels go this was very good one.

8/10 Good

Dominic

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Nice views
Nice views on the top deck over the river Kwai. 500meters walk to the war graves and memorial centre. 1km walk to the bridge.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Not satisfied !
Planed to stay 3 nights, but left after 1 night. Room was clean enought, but to small. Nice location out in the river, but this hotel is for backpackers/young travelers. Servicepersonell was more or less sleeping in the reseption area. Didn't feel very welcome. Will not be back.

6/10 Okay

Samantha

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This hotel is NOT for everyone....
Heed the warnings about access to the hotel.. it is on the river with terrible steps leading to it. The rooms get mosquito since there are no screens for patio doors. Asked for fan for room, none available. You shower next to toilet and therefore floor is always wet and very slippery. Bring your own soap and shampoo would be advisable. People are friendly, but English is limited. Food is limited, but there are other places to eat not far. And the idea of romance staying on the river is... well, it won't happen. Garbage and stink. Loud music. Power boats all the time. Etc. Etc. YMMV of course.

8/10 Good

ROBERT, nottingham uk

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
SOMETHING NOVEL AND DIFFERENT.
very good value if you fancy a hotel/guesthouse with a difference,beautiful view from top deck as sun sets over the river.

6/10 Okay

Justin, Oregon, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Rough beginning, smooth ending
Our check in wasn't that great as the 3 girls working that day were just laying around the main reception area/ dining room. They seemed a little irritated that we were there. The. The wifi didn't work, so they eventually got us a new password. But after that initial unpleasantness, the rest of the stay was quite nice. The breakfast wasn't anything special, and for 100 baht you could get a lot more from somewhere in town. But overall it was clean, quiet, and enjoyable. The street this place is located on is off the main drag so it's a lot quieter (for those who don't want to party at all the bars). By the end of our stay, we were enjoying it a lot.

4/10 Poor

Raj, Pune,India

Disliked: Staff & service
Good in emergency.
Time passed with it's own Pace

8/10 Good

James, London

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Unique Comfortable Stay
Unique floating raft. Room a good size and the bed was comfortable. Great view from the room.

4/10 Poor

Frank, Sydney, Australia

Disliked: Staff & service
Terrible experience
Was given room no.3 which was almost on the bank of the river and which was surrounded by the river rubbish. A request to change to a room further out into the river was met with a very unfriendly NO even though the rooms were empty when we arrived. WOTIF guests getting the worst rooms??? Furthermore in contrary to other hotels in the world,the rooms are not cleaned if the sign CLEAN THE ROOM is not hanged up. It took a sit-down protest in the corridor before our room was agreed to be cleaned. Overall very bad experience.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Great, quiet stay in the river. Lovely sunset. Five minute walk to a variety of restaurants.

6/10 Okay

Brian, Manchester

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Nice small room
I arrived at the hotel before check in time and was grateful to be allowed to check in early. However, that's as far as it went with the hotel staff. Most of them don't speak good English, so you need to be prepared for that. The facilities in the room were ok. However, the water in the shower was cold. The room was very clean when I arrived. However, the biggest let down for this room is the size. It is absolutely tiny. I barely had space to open my suitcase. The bed is however very big. Also be aware that this hotel has quite a few steep steps to enter it.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Comfy hotel

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Edward, Taree NSW

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A surprise packet
It was located in a quiet area but close to transport and walking distance to nightlife and eateries. We stayed 4 nights and thoroughly enjoyed our stay visiting local attractions Bridge on the River Kwai etc. Our room on the river was very good and quite a nice surprise.There was something going on all the time on the river to keep your interest. The staff were very pleasant and helpful. We paid for a taxi from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and our accommodation but there is a mini bus service running every hour to/from for a third of the price. Victory Monument is one bus stop but ask the hotel when you book.

10/10 Excellent

Linda, North Carolina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
I had booked this under the Raft hotel but due to a health issue stayed the last four nights at the B&B Hotel. I liked the Floating Raft a lot but also thought the B&B very nice also as closer to town and with its own restaurant. You can't go wrong with either!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
peaceful river room
I really enjoyed the peaceful quality here and the helpfulness of the staff. They accommodated all my needs and wants.

6/10 Okay

santanu, Mumbai, India

Disliked: Room comfort
Riverside comfort
It was good, could have been better

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Recommend
I would recommend this hotel-on-water for four reasons: The staff is super helpful and friendly; the rooms are clean; its very inexpensive; close to all the sites. It is a bit run down, but if you are looking for something clean and inexpensive, this is your place.

8/10 Good

Deborah, Hua Hin, Thailand

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Peaceful spot on the River Kwai Noi
Very nice room with view of the river. Clean and big comfortable bed! Lovely place to sit outside with a cup of tea in the morning or a glass of wine at night.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Standard room does not come with river view!
Initially, I booked the standard room (without the river view) from hotels.com without knowing it, I thought I booked a room with the river view (as seen in the photos). The standard room was really disappointing as there was no river view at all and the room was very small. However, I upgraded to the room with the river view the next morning and the room was way better than the standard room. The photos shown on hotels.com (with the river view) is not the standard room. While the option for the room with the river view was not displayed on hotels.com when I was making my booking. So, please take note about this when you are making the reservation. I urge hotels.com to ensure that the photos provided by the hotels/resorts are correct as this affected my overall experience with hotels.com and impacted my holiday.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Bugs and tiny room, window with no view.
We wanted to experience a Raft on the river kwai and was so excited to arrive at Tara Raft. We were led to our room to find it had no view out the window and just enough room to walk around one side of the bed. We dumped our things and headed out to see the sights, its about 5-10 minute walk to the restaurants and bars and you walk through the locals area (lots of dogs too). When we returned to our room that evening we pulled the covers back to find lots of insects in our bed. We spoke to the man that worked there (who spoke little English)and showed him the bugs and asked to move to another room. He moved us to an even smaller room again with a window onto a wall, no apology and he even asked us to give him the water out of the new fridge! The rooms were right next to reception/eating area you could smell cigarette smoke and it was quite noisy. The main terrace however has stunning views over the river kwai and it was beautiful and peaceful there.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hidden gem - don't miss this one!!
This place is a HIDDEN GEM! My only regret is that we didn't stay longer. The best thing is its the cheapest accommodation we stayed in, and our favourite by far! Tara Raft is literally a huge raft on the water (don't worry, its stationary! You could feel it bob up and down from time to time though!) so the views are to die for and your balcony is literally on the water. We spent ages there enjoying the sunset glistening off the river and the beautiful landscape, listening to the water lapping around the raft. The room itself is also GORGEOUS. It felt cosy because as the pictures show the bedcovers are lovely colours, the furniture is made of lovely wood and the bed is huge! There's a mosquito net provided if you want to use it, as well as a safe. The staff didn't have amazing English by any means but we managed just fine, they were very helpful. There wasn't a kettle provided but in our 10 days of travelling we only used a kettle once or twice anyway. There was a fridge of course, and the bathroom was perfectly fine other than a funny smell perhaps from the water (though it didn't smell on the balcony at all).

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service
Good location
Close to the main strip and clean room but it was very small and for our budget room you couldn't see the river. Was decent for the price.

6/10 Okay

Mahapol, Bangkok

Nice room, superb view
If you want to stay quite in town, this is the place. It's behind the War Cemetery.

8/10 Good

preechakorn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
วิวดี
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

øystein

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

8/10 Good

Ulf

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location - have you feet in the river…
Nice location on a raft on water. Also close to lax Al restaurants and bars. You can actually sit on the balcony and have the feet in the river.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022