Phutawan Resort — Pastel Bungalows in a Garden Where Your Dog or Cat Stays Too
If you want somewhere to stay in Nong Bua Lamphu that isn't a row of identical hotel rooms, Phutawan Resort stands out the moment you drive past — a rainbow-lettered sign at the entrance and free-standing bungalows painted pink, orange, green and blue scattered across a garden dotted with a bright bicycle sculpture and little windmills. The thing guests talk about most is simple: your dog or cat stays free — and that is genuinely hard to find at a small-town property in this price range.
Phutawan Resort sits at 182 Moo 6 in the Nong Bua subdistrict, a few minutes' drive from the centre of Nong Bua Lamphu town. The property is built as 11 free-standing bungalows rather than rooms in a single block — each painted a different pastel colour (pink, orange, green, blue, purple) with a small front porch and chairs to sit out on. Inside, each is one spacious room with a bed, sofa, dressing table, flat-screen TV, fridge and air-conditioning. The tiled floors stay cool underfoot, which matters in the Isan heat.
What sets this place apart from everything else in the province is the pet policy — dogs and cats stay free with no extra charge. Anyone who travels with their animals knows how rare that is, especially in a secondary city where the options are thin to begin with. The free-standing bungalows and the open garden give a dog room to move rather than being cooped up in a tight room. Call ahead to confirm the number and size of pets they can take, as OTAs vary in what they report.
One guest recalls pulling in on a whim after spotting the rainbow sign and the pink cabin, then finding out the dog was welcome too — and getting a comfortable night for both of them.
There's an on-site restaurant called Khrua Phutawan (Phutawan Kitchen) cooking Thai and Isan dishes to order. Breakfast is cooked fresh from 6 am to 1 pm but is charged separately at roughly ฿100–300 per person — it is not bundled into the room rate, worth knowing before you arrive. The grounds include the decorative garden for a wander and photos, a karaoke setup, a 24-hour front desk and luggage storage. Wi-Fi and parking are both free, and you can park right in front of your bungalow.
The location is convenient for anyone here on errands or breaking up a road trip. It's a 5-minute drive to Nong Bua Lamphu Hospital and 7 minutes to Naresuan Field in the centre of town. The resort sits just outside town on a roadside plot with a hill backdrop, quieter than staying in the middle of the market. If you fly in, the nearest airport is Udon Thani International, about 47 km away and roughly a 50-minute drive — the resort runs an airport shuttle at ฿700 per vehicle one-way if you arrange it ahead.
To be straight with you, this is a budget country resort, not a luxury hotel. Online reviews are still limited because it's a small-town property people stumble onto more than book months ahead. The bungalows are prefab-style construction, not chain-hotel polish, and you'll see some wear with age. Bathrooms are a plain shower, no bathtub. If you expect 4- or 5-star finishing and service, this isn't it — but if you want a clean little cabin with a private porch that takes pets, for a few hundred baht, it punches above its rate.
On price — bungalows start around ฿550/night, which puts it among the entry-level rates in the province (most Nong Bua Lamphu stays start from about ฿430 up). You get a whole bungalow to yourself, no shared wall with the room next door. With only 11 units, the place can fill quickly when there's an event in town or a festival on, so it's worth phoning ahead or locking in a booking early.
The bottom line: Phutawan Resort works best for road-trippers passing through Nong Bua Lamphu, especially anyone travelling with a pet. You get a colourful bungalow of your own, a porch for a morning coffee and a garden to stroll, all at an easy price. If you go, pick a bungalow further back from the road for quiet, and call ahead to confirm what size dog or cat they can take before you set off.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Free-standing bungalows with private porches
- ✓ Pets welcome at no extra charge
- ✓ Budget price for a whole cabin to yourself
- ✓ Pretty decorative garden for a wander and photos
- ! Prefab-style build, less polished than a chain hotel
- ! Breakfast charged separately
- ! Slightly outside town with little around it
- ✓ Brightly coloured cabins that photograph well
- ✓ Quiet, with a hill backdrop behind the grounds
- ✓ Park right in front of your bungalow
- ✓ Near Naresuan Field and the hospital — handy for errands
- ! Bathrooms are a plain shower, no bathtub
- ! Road-facing cabins can catch passing traffic noise
- ! Only 11 units — fills fast during town events
- 💡If you're bringing a pet — call to confirm pets are still accepted and what size or number of animals they can take → OTAs report differing limits, so confirm directly with the resort at booking
- 💡If you want quiet — ask for a bungalow set further back from the road → the cabins nearest the front road can catch passing traffic during the day
- 💡If you want breakfast — Khrua Phutawan cooks fresh to order, but it's charged separately at around ฿100–300 per person and not included in the rate → order ahead or budget for it