Phayao Gateway Hotel — A Rooftop Pool over the Lake in Phayao's Tallest Tower
If you want to stay in the actual centre of Phayao — close enough to walk to the lake, with a pool the kids can jump into — Phayao Gateway Hotel is the name locals point to first. It's the 8-floor pastel tower that was once the biggest hotel in the province, open since 1994 and last renovated in 2014. What guests keep coming back to mention is the 4th-floor outdoor pool with a separate kids' pool and a view over the rooftops toward the hills around Kwan Phayao — something the small guesthouses in town simply don't have. Rooms start around ฿900/night, and yes, the building shows its age, but the rooms are larger and cleaner than the price suggests.
Phayao Gateway has been open since 1994 and was, for years, the tallest and largest hotel in Phayao town. The 8-floor pastel tower is still a landmark you can spot from a distance as you drive in. There are 108 rooms in total, running from Superior twins up through Deluxe and the roomier Premier category to the Mini Suite and the corner Premier Suites that open onto city views. Rooms are done in warm wood tones with carpet or wood-look flooring, Capiz-shell wall art and a Thai textile runner across the bed. Several guests say the same thing — the rooms look a little dated for their age, but they are large, clean, with fresh linen, and everything works.
What sets Gateway apart from anything else in town is the 4th-floor outdoor pool. There's a long pool for adults and a separate oval kids' pool, ringed by checkerboard tiling and bright-coloured walls, with a steam room beside it. Because it sits up on the 4th floor, it looks out over the town rooftops toward the hills around Kwan Phayao — and that's exactly why families with children pick this place over the smaller pool-less hotels. The one thing to know up front: the pool and gym open late, around midday, not first thing in the morning, so anyone planning an early swim should adjust.
Across dozens of verified reviews on Trip.com and Agoda, guests keep landing on the same core verdict: a big, clean room with fresh linen, a buffet breakfast included in the rate, and a pool the kids can actually use — solid value for a hotel sitting in the centre of Phayao. That consensus is worth unpacking. Starting with the rooms: they run larger than the price would lead you to expect. The furniture shows its age — this is a 1994 building last renovated in 2014, and that is obvious to anyone who looks — but the functional basics hold up well. The air-conditioning is cold, the satellite TV works, the hot water is consistent, the bathrooms are clean, and the towels and bed linen feel noticeably newer than the building's years would suggest. Guests who picked a Premier or Premier Suite report better overall condition than those in the base-category rooms, which tracks with what you'd expect from the upper tiers. The buffet breakfast at The Cafe' earns more praise than most guests anticipate for a hotel at this price point. The spread includes congee, bread, eggs, fruit, tea and coffee, staff who keep refilling without being chased, and a calm, unhurried dining room to sit in before heading out. The pool is the most frequently mentioned highlight in the reviews. Families value the setup — a proper lap pool for adults and a separate oval kids' pool on the same 4th-floor terrace, so parents can swim while children play without anyone sharing a single crowded pool. The elevated position means the terrace looks out over the low rooftop skyline toward the hills behind Kwan Phayao, a view that catches many guests off guard for a hotel in this price bracket. The location generates consistent, unsolicited praise. The hotel is genuinely central — not described-as-central, actually central — with Kwan Phayao reachable in roughly 10 minutes on foot. The evening walk along the lakeshore to catch the sunset behind the hills is a routine guests describe doing multiple times in a single stay. Restaurants and coffee shops are close enough to handle dinner without a taxi, and the Big C is a short drive away for supplies. Staff come up in positive terms across platforms — approachable, helpful with local directions, quick to suggest restaurants and temples nearby, not the kind of front desk that processes you and disappears. Free on-site parking is flagged as a genuine relief for drivers who would otherwise circle the town centre. The fitness room and snooker tables are mentioned as unexpected extras for a provincial hotel at this rate. The honest downsides from lower-rated reviews are consistent and worth stating plainly: the building and some of its furniture look their age, the pool and gym open late around midday rather than at the start of the day, and a handful of rooms have older fixtures or middling cleanliness scores. None of these negatives have dislodged the core verdict. The guests who have stayed report, almost uniformly, that they got more than they paid for, and a sizeable share say they would book again on a return trip to Phayao.
The building packs in more than you'd expect from a provincial hotel. There's Gateway Fitness, a gym that several guests describe as larger and better-equipped than they expected, plus a snooker club, a Thai-massage spa, and The Cafe' restaurant serving a buffet breakfast. Rooms come with air-conditioning, a small fridge, satellite TV, drinking water, and a bathroom with a bathtub-and-shower combination. Shared facilities include a lift, a 24-hour front desk, luggage storage, free on-site parking, and several sizes of meeting and banquet rooms — which is why the hotel regularly hosts seminars and weddings for Phayao locals.
Location is the genuine strength here. The hotel sits on Pratu Klong 2 Road in the middle of Wiang sub-district. It's about a 10-minute walk to Kwan Phayao, the large freshwater lake at the centre of the town, where an evening stroll along the shore catches the sunset behind the hills. Restaurants, coffee shops and a Big C are all close by for an easy dinner. Wat Si Khom Kham, home of the great Phra Chao Ton Luang Buddha, sits on the lakeside under a 5-minute drive away, and the Phayao bus terminal is nearby too — handy if you arrived by coach. The upside of this spot is simple: you can get around town with or without a car, unlike the edge-of-town hotels that demand you drive everywhere.
The Trip.com score sits at 8.2/10 from 41 verified reviews, with location the standout at 8.9 followed by service at 8.1. Guests most often praise the large rooms, the friendly staff, the free parking, and being within walking distance of the lake. The honest caveats from lower-rated reviews are consistent — the building and rooms feel dated, which tracks with a 1994 opening and a 2014 refresh. Cleanliness scores a middling 7.8, and some rooms have older furniture. The other recurring note is that the pool and gym open around midday and the snooker tables close in the late afternoon — shorter hours than you'd assume, so plan around them.
The bottom line: Phayao Gateway suits families and travellers who want to stay central in Phayao, walk to the lake, and have a pool for the kids without paying much. From around ฿900/night for a Superior, it's good value for a large room with full facilities, even if the tower itself shows its years. Couples or anyone wanting a city view should look at the corner Premier Suites. Compare Agoda, Booking and Trip before you commit — and if the pool is a priority, check the opening hours with the hotel first.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Central location — 10-minute walk to Kwan Phayao
- ✓ Large rooms, fresh linen, buffet breakfast
- ✓ Outdoor pool with a separate kids' pool on the 4th floor
- ✓ Free parking and friendly staff
- ! Building and furniture feel dated
- ! Pool and gym open late, around midday
- ! Some rooms middling on cleanliness per reviews
- ✓ Affordable for a large room in the town centre
- ✓ Close to Kwan Phayao and Wat Si Khom Kham
- ✓ Large gym plus snooker and a Thai-massage spa
- ✓ Family-friendly with a pool for the kids
- ! Older-style rooms, last renovated in 2014
- ! Snooker closes in the afternoon — short hours
- ! Free Wi-Fi focused mainly on common areas
- 💡If you plan to use the pool or gym — both tend to open late, around midday, not in the morning, and the snooker closes in the afternoon → call the hotel to confirm hours and don't plan an early swim
- 💡If room freshness matters to you — the tower opened in 1994 and was last renovated in 2014, so some furniture looks dated → request a Premier or Premier Suite, the hotel's upper room tiers, for the best condition
- 💡If you want a city or lake view — ask for a high floor on the side facing the town when booking → lower floors and inner-facing rooms look at neighbouring buildings instead of an open view