Sabuy Best Hotel Phayao — Spacious City-Centre Rooms, Park Out Front, Walk to the Lake
If you want a Phayao base that works for getting around town on foot, lets you park right out front, and puts you a short walk from the lake without paying much, Sabuy Best Hotel Phayao is a name that drivers passing through Phayao keep coming back to. It's a small 3-star hotel on Phahol Yothin Road — an easy-to-spot white building trimmed in orange and yellow. The rooms aren't fancy, but they are noticeably larger than the price suggests, with white-tiled floors and wood furniture. What guests mention most is the central location, the free breakfast, and how easy parking is — it holds a score of 8.2 from 37 Trip.com reviews at a budget rate.
Sabuy Best Hotel Phayao is a small five-storey property — a white building trimmed in orange and yellow — sitting on Phahol Yothin Road in central Phayao. The rooms prioritise space and cleanliness over decor, running from Standard Twin and Standard King at 24–30 sqm up to a 35 sqm Standard Room for Three for families. The detail that surprises guests is how much floor space you get for a budget rate: white-tiled floors, wood furniture, high ceilings, and on the upper floors a faint line of mountains through the large windows.
What sets this apart from the lakeside hotels outside town is the central location and the parking. The hotel has its own free car park out front and behind, plus a valet-parking service. For anyone driving a northern Thailand road trip who has circled a small town hunting for a space, that's the thing several reviews mention first. Step out the front door and you're under a minute from in-town restaurants and coffee shops, while the Phayao bus terminal is close enough to walk to — handy if you arrive by coach.
One guest summed it up as "rooms much bigger than expected, parking right at the hotel, and dinner in town a short walk away — hard to find at this price in Phayao."
Breakfast is another point guests praise. It's a Western-style breakfast included in the room rate, served roughly 07:00–10:00 in the white-toned ground-floor dining room. The menu is simple — eggs, bread, and hot drinks rather than a wide buffet — but several reviews note it's an easy way to start the day without heading out first. There's also a small on-site restaurant and bar, plus room service for late returns.
Facilities are about what you'd expect from a 3-star city hotel — free Wi-Fi throughout, free parking, a lift, a convenience store, and a 24-hour front desk. There's luggage storage, laundry service, and meeting rooms for groups. Worth flagging up front: there is no pool and no gym here. If you're after a resort-style stay with a pool, this isn't it. What Sabuy Best sells is a central location and large rooms at an economy rate, not resort amenities.
The location, on Phahol Yothin Road, is about a 10–15 minute walk to the Phayao Lake (Kwan Phayao) waterfront. Wat Si Umong Kham and Wat Luang Rajasathan are only 200–300 metres away, and the Phor Khun Ngam Mueang monument and lakeside walking street are a few minutes on foot. Wat Sri Khom Kham (home of the great Buddha image) is about 5–7 minutes by car. The thing to know before booking: this is a city hotel, so the views are of the town and the mountain line, not the lake itself. If you want to open the curtains onto the water, this isn't the place — but as a base for exploring the town on foot, it's more convenient.
The Trip.com score sits at 8.2/10 from 37 reviews (and around 7.8 across the larger review counts on other platforms). Location and value score best. The honest feedback from lower-rated reviews flags a building and furniture that show some wear, weak sound insulation between rooms, and hot water that can be slow to arrive in some rooms. A few reviews note daytime traffic noise from Phahol Yothin Road out front. These are real limitations worth knowing — but for a central Phayao stay at a budget rate, rooms this size are good value.
The bottom line: Sabuy Best Hotel Phayao works best for road-trippers who want a central Phayao base with large rooms and easy parking at a budget rate. Don't expect lake views or a pool, but you get a walkable in-town location, free breakfast, and parking out front. If you want the quietest room, request an inside-facing room on a higher floor at booking — it cuts out most of the road noise from Phahol Yothin Road.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Central location — walk to the bus terminal and Phayao Lake
- ✓ Rooms larger than expected for a budget rate
- ✓ Free parking out front, easy for drivers
- ✓ Free breakfast and friendly staff
- ! Building and furniture show some wear
- ! Weak sound insulation between rooms
- ! No pool and no gym
- ✓ Spacious rooms with clean tiled floors and high ceilings
- ✓ Budget starting rate, strong value for a central location
- ✓ Park at the door, with a valet-parking service
- ✓ Close to town temples and the lakeside walking street
- ! Hot water slow to arrive in some rooms, low shower pressure
- ! Street-facing rooms catch daytime traffic noise
- ! Views are of the town, not the lake
- 💡If noise sensitivity matters — sound insulation between rooms is weak, and street-facing rooms catch daytime traffic from Phahol Yothin Road → request an inside-facing room on a higher floor at booking, and pack ear plugs to be safe
- 💡If you want a lake view — this is a city hotel, so the outlook is the town and the mountain line, not the water → if a lake view matters more than an in-town location, look at lakeside options like ABIZZ or M2 Hotel Waterside instead
- 💡If you arrive by coach without a car — the upside is the Phayao bus terminal is within walking distance and the town temples are walkable too → but to explore around the lake or out of town, plan to rent a car or scooter, or arrange a taxi ahead