The B Ranong Trend Hotel — Bare Concrete Colour Rooms and a Rooftop Pool in Central Ranong
Most travellers treat Ranong as a stopover — one night before the boat out to Koh Phayam — but The B Ranong Trend Hotel is the kind of place that makes people stay a second night. It's a small 23-room hotel on Ruangrat Road, the old Sino-Portuguese trading street, and what guests keep mentioning are two things: rooms with bare polished-concrete walls painted in bold colour — red, purple, mustard yellow — done in a loft style, and a small rooftop infinity pool that looks out over the rooftops of Ranong at dusk. The lit THE B marquee sign out front has quietly become a photo stop for people walking past.
The B Ranong Trend opened in 2011 on Ruangrat Road, the oldest trading street in Ranong town. The building is a renovated shophouse done up in a loft / industrial style — bare polished-concrete walls, exposed metal piping, warm Edison bulbs. Each room runs a different accent colour: some are deep red, some bright purple, some mustard yellow. The 23 rooms split into Superior and Deluxe, in both double and twin layouts. If you prefer plain white rooms this won't be your thing, but guests who like a room with some character tend to walk out with a phone full of photos.
The headline feature is the rooftop infinity pool. It's small — more a soaking pool than a lap pool — but the edge looks out over the rooftops of Ranong with green hills in the distance, and the hour before sunset is when most people head up. There's a small bar beside the pool for drinks. One honest note: the pool is fully exposed, and midday sun in this part of southern Thailand is fierce and hot, so late morning or evening is far more comfortable than the middle of the day.
Reviews of The B Ranong Trend Hotel paint a consistent picture of what this place gets right — and where it sets honest expectations. The line that appears most often, in slightly different forms, is this: "I never expected a hotel at this price in Ranong to have a rooftop pool — going up for a cold beer in the evening with the breeze and the whole town spread out below was worth more than the room cost." That sentiment, or something close to it, comes up across dozens of reviews, and it captures the core of what The B does well.
The rooftop pool is the centrepiece. Reviewers consistently note it's small — a soaking pool, not a lap pool — but nobody seems to mind, because nobody comes here to train. They come to sit on the edge at dusk, look out over the old shophouse rooftops of Ranong and the green hills beyond, and order something cold from the bar beside the water. Several guests say it's the single best-value hour they spent in Ranong, at a hotel price that hasn't crossed a thousand baht.
Rooms draw the second-most attention. The bare polished-concrete walls painted in bold accent colours — deep red, bright purple, mustard yellow — consistently surprise guests who weren't expecting a loft-style interior at this price point. Reviews that rate the hotel highly often mention the room character specifically: "we walked out with a hundred photos." The candid reviews also flag real limitations: some rooms run dim because the design leans on dark tones and warm Edison bulbs, and the air-conditioning in parts of the older building is slow to reach temperature on hot southern afternoons. Both things are true at once, and the best reviews acknowledge both.
Location is the one point where every review, positive or critical, agrees. Regardless of how guests rated the room or the breakfast, almost all of them note that the address on Ruangrat Road is excellent — three minutes to the Walking Street, easy access to the morning rice-porridge and dim sum shops, and a practical base for anyone catching the early boat to Koh Phayam. For that specific type of trip — one night in Ranong before the islands — reviewers repeatedly say The B is the obvious choice at this price.
Where reviews are more reserved is on breakfast. The consensus across many posts is that the Western breakfast is ordinary and not a reason to choose the hotel — and several writers suggest walking out to the old coffee shops on Ruangrat Road instead. That's a fair and honest note, and it doesn't undermine the hotel's value: The B is selling design, a rooftop pool, and a central location, not a breakfast spread. Guests who arrive knowing that leave satisfied. The 8.3 score from 46 Trip.com reviews, with location at 9.5, reflects exactly that. In a town where most hotels are generic and forgettable, this one leaves an impression — and at roughly ฿700-1,000 a night, it delivers more than the price suggests.
The ground floor is an open-air restaurant and bar facing the street, fronted by the lit THE B sign and a row of vintage props — an old motorcycle, classic pickup trucks parked alongside. It serves made-to-order Thai food and drinks, and the evening atmosphere is lively because it sits right by the Walking Street. Breakfast is Western-style and charged separately from the room. Worth saying plainly: several reviews call the breakfast ordinary rather than a reason to stay — if you want a good morning meal, walk out to the rice-porridge, dim sum and old-style coffee shops a few doors down on Ruangrat Road.
Location is the strongest card here. It's a 3-minute walk to Ranong Walking Street, which runs on Saturday evenings, and it sits beside Sook Park where locals come to exercise. A few minutes on foot takes you to the replica Rattanarangsan Palace and the old buildings that tell the story of Ranong's tin-mining past. The Raksawarin hot springs are about 2 km away — a short hop by Grab or motorbike taxi — and the piers for Koh Phayam and Koh Chang are roughly 7-8 km out, which makes this a sensible base before you catch a boat.
The Trip.com score sits at 8.3/10 from 46 reviews, and the highest sub-score by far is location at 9.5, with cleanliness and amenities both at 8.1. The complaints in lower-rated reviews are real and worth knowing before you book: the air-conditioning in some rooms is slow to cool on hot, humid southern days; some rooms feel dim because the loft design leans on dark tones; and a few rooms show their age in the older building. Some staff speak limited English, so non-Thai guests may want a translation app on hand.
On price — The B Ranong Trend starts around ฿700/night for a Superior room, rising to roughly ฿900-1,200 for a Deluxe on weekends. That is genuinely cheap for a hotel with a rooftop pool and this much design personality. In high season (November-April), when Koh Phayam traffic peaks, rooms fill quickly, so book at least 1-2 weeks ahead, especially for Friday and Saturday nights.
The bottom line: The B Ranong Trend works best for budget travellers who want a place with character and a central location, used as a base before a boat to the islands. You get a rooftop pool and loft-style rooms at a price that's hard to find in a small town like Ranong. If you're expecting big-hotel service, bright rooms, or a generous breakfast, it won't match. Read it for what it is — a small Boutique that trades on design and location, not a luxury resort — and you won't be disappointed.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Rooftop pool with a town view — better value than expected
- ✓ Central location, walkable to the Walking Street and restaurants
- ✓ Loft-design rooms with real character, very photogenic
- ✓ Free parking and airport transfer available (surcharge)
- ! Air-conditioning in some rooms is slow to cool on hot days
- ! Rooms are fairly dim by design
- ! Breakfast is ordinary, not a highlight
- ✓ Industrial design that stands out in Ranong
- ✓ Budget price, a good base before heading to Koh Phayam
- ✓ Sits on Ruangrat Road with its charming old shophouses
- ✓ The THE B sign and vintage props make a fun photo spot
- ! Some rooms show wear consistent with the building's age
- ! A few staff have limited English
- ! Ground-floor restaurant faces the street, so some evening noise
- 💡If you're sensitive to heat — at check-in, ask for a room where the air-con cools well and let it run a while before you settle in → some rooms in the older building are slow to cool on very hot days
- 💡If you like a bright room — the loft design leans on dark concrete walls and warm Edison bulbs, so rooms read dim → if you plan to work or read, a small portable light helps a lot
- 💡If you're using it as a base for Koh Phayam — the pier is around 7-8 km away and the early boats leave on time → check the boat schedule ahead and ask the hotel to arrange a morning ride so you don't miss it