Araya Hotel Uttaradit — Roomy 36 sqm Villa Rooms with Garden Views and a Pool That's Hard to Find in This Town
If you're looking for a place to stay in Uttaradit and want a roomy space, a swimming pool, and easy parking, Araya Hotel is a name drivers passing through town mention often. It's a 3-star property built as a cluster of low villa-style wings on Highway 11 in the Khung Taphao area. What guests say over and over comes down to two things: rooms of 36-38 sqm that feel bigger than the price suggests, and a buffet breakfast several reviews call better than expected. One thing to know up front — this isn't a town-centre hotel, but you trade that for quiet and parking you never have to fight for.
Araya Hotel opened in 2007 and had a major renovation in 2018. The building is a set of low three-storey wings wrapped around a central garden, so it reads more like a villa compound than a standard hotel block. There are 78 rooms across four types — Standard Villa and Standard Twin at 36 sqm, Boutique Villa at 36 sqm, and a Luxury Room at 38 sqm. The detail guests raise most is room size: bigger than the photos suggest, and roomier than comparably priced places in town. Most rooms have a large window looking onto the green garden, a comfortable bed, a work desk, and a wardrobe.
The buffet breakfast runs 07:00-10:00 in the renovated ground-floor dining room, lit with blue cove lighting and hung with a painting of an Uttaradit temple. It's an Asian-style spread — rice soup, hot dishes, eggs, fruit, and juice. Plenty of reviews single it out as the part that exceeded expectations for a hotel at this level. There's also a small café, a minimart, and a shared lounge to sit in. For anyone here on business or for an event, the hotel runs meeting rooms and a large lawn it regularly uses for weddings and banquets.
Reviewers on Trip.com keep landing on the same line — that the rooms are larger in person than in the photos, the beds are comfortable, and at this price it counts as real value for Uttaradit.
The outdoor pool is what sets Araya apart from other places to stay in town — very few hotels in Uttaradit have an actual swimming pool. It comes paired with a fitness room kitted out with a treadmill, dumbbells, and weight machines that look new and well-kept. The garden around it is pleasant to walk, with a wide stretch of lawn where kids can run around. The overall mood is quiet, helped by sitting outside the busier part of the city.
On location, it's worth being straight. Araya sits in Khung Taphao, right on Highway 11 (the Phitsanulok-Den Chai route), not in the centre of town. It's about a 10-minute drive into Uttaradit proper, and roughly the same to the train station. The upside is excellent highway access for anyone driving on to Phrae, Nan, or Sukhothai, plus a large free car park with EV charging. The flip side: without your own car, getting around is awkward and you'll be relying on hired transport.
The overall score is 8.3/10 from 81 Trip.com reviews (Booking.com sits at 7.9 from 115 reviews). The highest marks go to location/access (8.6) and staff service (8.4), with many guests calling the team friendly and helpful. What you should know in advance is that cleanliness is not consistent across every room — some reviews report bathrooms that weren't fully cleaned, musty towels, or an aging bathroom ceiling. A few rooms lack a kettle or hair dryer, and the walls are thin enough to hear the room next door. There's also no elevator, so an upper-floor room means stairs.
Rates start around ฿650/night for a Standard Villa on weekdays, climbing to roughly ฿900-1,200 over holidays and long weekends. Set against a 36 sqm room plus a pool and breakfast, that makes it one of the better-value options in Uttaradit. As always, compare Agoda, Booking, and Trip.com before you book — the discounts differ from one platform to the next.
The bottom line: Araya Hotel suits road-trippers who want a big room, a pool, and easy parking on a budget. If you can accept an out-of-town location and cleanliness that may not be spotless in every room, it delivers value that's genuinely hard to find in a small city like Uttaradit. The practical move is to ask to see the room first, or request a freshly cleaned one at check-in, to steer clear of the rougher rooms.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Rooms larger than the photos suggest, comfortable beds
- ✓ Buffet breakfast is tasty with plenty of variety
- ✓ Friendly, helpful staff
- ✓ Large free car park, easy highway access
- ! Cleanliness inconsistent in some rooms
- ! Out of town — hard to get around without a car
- ! No elevator, upper-floor rooms mean stairs
- ✓ Outdoor pool, a rarity among Uttaradit town hotels
- ✓ Villa-style rooms with green garden views, quiet setting
- ✓ Strong value for the room size
- ✓ EV charging and meeting rooms for events
- ! Furniture and bathroom ceilings dated in some rooms
- ! Thin walls — you can hear the room next door
- ! Some rooms lack a kettle or hair dryer
- 💡If you don't have a car — Araya is on Highway 11 outside the town centre, a 10-minute drive in → if you arrive by train or coach and don't rent a car, budget for hired transport both ways every time
- 💡If cleanliness matters to you — room condition is inconsistent → ask to see the room first, or request a freshly cleaned or recently renovated room at check-in, and it makes a real difference
- 💡If you get an upper-floor room — there's no elevator → if you have heavy luggage or are travelling with elderly guests, request a ground-floor room when you book