Budget Hotels in Kanchanaburi
8 Guesthouses, Raft Rooms
and Hostels, Real Reviews!

If you want a riverside raft room for a few hundred baht but don't want to gamble on a run-down place, Tamarind is a name budget travellers keep coming back to. It's a guesthouse on Mae Nam Khwae Road in the heart of the backpacker strip, scoring 8.1 on Agoda from over 1,100 reviews, with a location score of 9.0. There are two room types to suit your budget — clean, bright rooms in a two-storey concrete building, and wooden raft rooms that hang out over the river and open onto the water. What guests mention most is the riverside restaurant with River Kwai views in the evening, and that it's a short walk to the bars, restaurants and market. The older raft rooms, with woven bamboo walls, are showing their age — if you want something newer, take a room in the building.

Blue Star is a family-run guesthouse that has been a fixture on Mae Nam Khwae Road for years, and one of the first names budget travellers reach for. It sits between the Bridge over the River Kwai and the war cemetery, about 2 km apart, a 10-minute walk to the Bridge. The draw is a row of gabled wooden bungalows stepping down toward the river, linked by a raised wooden walkway through a green garden, with many rooms giving a balcony over the water and the tropical birds. There's a choice of cheap fan rooms and air-con wooden bungalows with hot-water bathrooms, from just ฿350. Guests praise the pancake breakfast with cinnamon coffee and the owners' help. You'll hear the nearby bars in the evening, but not late.

If you want a budget-friendly stay that's quieter and cleaner than the guesthouses on the main strip, Apple's Retreat is a name travellers talk about fondly. It sits on the Tha Makham side across the river from the bar strip, so it's much quieter, but a 10-minute walk back over to town. It's run by Apple and Noi, a local couple long in the Kanchanaburi tourism scene. The stay is a two-storey concrete building of 16 rooms with firm beds on brushed-concrete platforms, air-con, WiFi and hot-water bathrooms, alongside their riverside Blue Rice Restaurant, which grows its own vegetables. It scores 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor, ranked #5 of 128 guesthouses in Kanchanaburi. What guests mention most is the food and the Thai cooking classes.

VN Guesthouse is a family-run riverside guesthouse that people who love a sunset keep mentioning. It scores 7.9 on Booking from over 1,100 reviews, with a location score of 8.8. The selling point is the raft rooms out over the river, which many reviews call some of the best River Kwai sunsets of their trip — rooms with woven rattan walls, wooden floors and a breeze all day. The riverside restaurant serves Thai, Chinese and Western food from morning to 10 pm, a fine spot to sit and watch the river. There's a choice of rooms in the building and out on the raft to suit your budget, from a few hundred baht, and it's a short walk to the Bridge and the strip.

Bamboo House is a riverside stay that's about the closest of the cheap places to the Bridge over the River Kwai — a few hundred metres' walk. It's built around a lawn that tumbles down to the river, with a relaxed, quiet feel. The real strength is the genuine range of budgets: from a woven-bamboo raft room with a fan, a mattress on the floor and shared bathrooms set up on the lawn — the cheapest option — up to bamboo-walled, thatch-roofed bungalows with a fridge, comfy bed and an en-suite hot-water bathroom. Guests in the floating bungalows call them immaculate for the price, with fine river views; the cheapest raft rooms, though, are genuinely rustic, so you have to take them in that spirit.

Sugar Cane Guest House 1 is a riverside raft guesthouse among the cheap waterfront places in the middle of town. It has 22 rooms, each with a private balcony, and it's about a 15-minute walk to the war cemetery and the Thailand–Burma Railway Centre. The draw is the bamboo-walled raft rooms over the water, which reviews say have fine river views and good, cheap food at the restaurant. It's near the bars and restaurants but quiet enough to sleep. Worth knowing: the property and its older raft rooms are starting to wear with age, some bathrooms are basic and drain slowly — take it in a rustic spirit and it's good value.

Nita Raft House is a cheap, rustic floating raft on the River Kwai for travellers who actually want to sleep on a raft without paying a lot. It's a wooden raft with woven rattan walls, and some rooms have a private balcony out over the water with views of the river, the hills and the sunset. What guests mention most are the owners, who speak good English, are welcoming and help with sightseeing and trips. It's a walk to Pakprak Market and cheap eats, and about 15 minutes from the bus station. The honest part: rooms are simple, some are fan-only with no air-con (though the river breeze helps), and cleanliness in places is still old-raft standard — take it in a rustic spirit and you get the full river experience cheaply.

107 Hostel (One-O-Seven) is an in-town hostel that suits solo budget travellers and anyone arriving by bus or minivan. It scores 8.7 on Booking and 9.1 on Hostelz, among the top-rated hostels in Kanchanaburi. The big plus is the location, just two blocks from the bus station — step off the bus and wheel your bag over, very handy if you're connecting. The dorm beds have privacy curtains, new air-con and big lockers, and there are plenty of showers and toilets so you're not waiting. There's a shared lounge, a terrace and a bar to meet other travellers, and private rooms if you'd rather not be in a dorm. What guests mention most is staff who go out of their way to help.