I promised JP I would give a detailed update on this guesthouse after I returned so here it is.
Firstly, the good points.
Excellent location, about 5mins to Bangla and the beach, in Soi Jintana opposite Royal Paradise Hotel. Easy to find.
Very nice rooms, big beds, clean and normally pretty quiet. There was building work going on whilst I visited, and the 8 30am tile cutting wasn't appreciated, but the hotel cant help that, and its not for much longer I am guessing. The lift is still not in operation, and shows no signs of being completed. Not good if you are above the 2nd floor. Rooms on the GF are best, Nos 102/103/104 right by the pool. Some of the rooms appear very dark with wooden floor and panelled ceiling, but still OK. Rooms 201 301 401 &501 have tiled floors and are much lighter.
A very good clean pool with a good restaurant complete the good points.
Now for the bad
Im afraid I cant recommend prebooking KN for one reason. Their system sucks, and they have no idea what is going on. The German owner and his wife Nid seem to take bookings without informing either, and guests come not knowing if there is a room for them or not.
When we arrived, we were supposed to have 4 adjoining rooms, close to the pool. These were booked last Sept, and confirmed. As written before, Dodger looked in to confirm this booking in Jan, and it wasn't on their system
A new booking was made, but we arrived to find we had a room on the 2nd floor. one on the the 3rd and two on the 5th
.This wasn't acceptable, and after repeated demands for us to be moved we got on to the 2nd and 3rd floors. Not good enough IMO but there is worse.
Talbotman and his friend asked me to find out what rooms they were getting two days after we checked in. I asked, and was told GF rooms 102 and 14.
In the meantime, the German owner decided to give these rooms to two fellow Germans who cold called so Tom and his friend ended up on the 3rd and 5th floors. Very poor management and totally wrong.
Next, I had been asked to book a room for another BM arriving 14/4 for a week. The owner said he was full, but would definately find him a room there
How I don't know??.
Of course, when the BM arrived, the hotel hadn't even heard of the guy, although I gave him full details previously. Again diabolical management!.
Finally, the morning we were due to leave, Nid informed me that I was to pay by cash as their CC machine had been taken away and they were applying for a new one!!! WTF, I carry 87k baht in my wallet on the last day??
OK I'll go to the bank and see if I can get it from my card. No chance, it was a Sunday, and all I could get was 20k max in cash from the ATM.
I still owe the hotel 67k and Im waiting for their email for the account I can transfer this to. All in all, pretty poor show as they forgot to tell me, and I could have got the cash over 5days withdrawals. But its no way to run a business.
One final good thing. They found us a room where we could all have a shower before we left for the airport, which was a nice and appreciated good touch.
Its a pity the bad outweigh the good about KN as I liked the place, but could never trust them to have a room if you prebook. so for that reason alone, I cant recommend KN to anybody unless you are already there and do a walk in.
BTW the rates after 1/4 are a reasonable 1200baht a night.
When I get round to it, I'll add some pics to this thread, of the hotel grounds and pool.