The Imperial Phitsanulok — The Largest Free-Form Pool in Town with Spacious Rooms at an Easy Price
If you want a Phitsanulok hotel with a genuinely large swimming pool at a low price, The Imperial Hotel and Convention Centre Phitsanulok tends to come up early in the conversation. It was formerly the Amarin Lagoon Hotel and rebranded to The Imperial in 2021 — a big 292-room 4-star property attached to its own convention centre. What guests keep mentioning is the free-form pool set in a palm garden, which lights up beautifully at dusk, and rooms that run wider than you'd expect for the rate. One thing up front: the building is dated and this isn't a brand-new hotel — but for value and floor space, it delivers.
The Imperial Phitsanulok ran for years as the Amarin Lagoon Hotel before rebranding to The Imperial in 2021. The building is a long, curved low-rise set in a palm garden, with 292 rooms in total and a large convention centre attached. Standard Deluxe Premium rooms start at 35 sqm, while the Duplex Family Suite reaches 72 sqm — noticeably larger than rooms at the same price in bigger cities. Guests agree the generous floor space is the property's main advantage.
The real star is the large free-form pool in the garden — a curved pool ringed by palm trees and a waterside pavilion that, come evening, lights up in warm orange and reflects the building back at you. It's open daily 07:00–20:00. One heads-up: the pool is also open to outside visitors for swimming lessons, so late afternoons and weekends get busy. If you want a quiet swim, the window before 9 am is the one to aim for.
Guests say "the pool is genuinely huge — the kids splashed around all afternoon, and the room was far more spacious than they expected for the price."
For dining there are 3 in-house restaurants. Laguna Café serves Thai and international dishes and handles the breakfast buffet (06:00–10:00). The Dragon Garden is a Cantonese restaurant leaning on seafood, and Risotto Pizza Corner covers Italian. The Imperial Massage spa runs 10:00–20:00, with a fitness centre open until 21:00. Plainly put, several reviews note that breakfast skews heavily Thai-Chinese with limited Western options — if you're expecting a big international spread, adjust expectations a little.
The honest part: the hotel is dated and hasn't had a major renovation in a long time. Reviews mention worn furniture and tired bathrooms, some rooms with faulty or few power outlets, and occasional reports of cloudy tap water. The pool is large but isn't always crystal-clear when usage is high. Overall it reads as clean enough for the price, but don't expect the polish of a newly opened hotel — better to know that going in than be caught out.
The location is in Tambon Aranyik, fairly removed from the old town. It's about a 10-minute drive to the city centre and bus station, 5 minutes to Wat Ratburana and the Sgt. Maj. Thawee Folk Museum, and roughly 10–15 minutes by car to Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat (Wat Yai), home of the revered Phra Phuttha Chinnarat. Phitsanulok Airport is about 19 minutes away (9.8 km), with a shuttle available. The upside of the out-of-town setting is quiet — the adjacent park buffers noise — which suits drivers and conference guests more than travellers who want to walk into town.
The Trip.com score sits at 8.4/10 from 283 reviews ("Very good"). The recurring praise is the pool, the room size, the value, and the friendly staff. The recurring criticism is the age of the rooms, the breakfast, and the distance from the centre. Rates start around ฿900/night for a Deluxe room on weekdays — very cheap for a 4-star hotel with a pool this size.
The bottom line: The Imperial Phitsanulok works best for families who want a large room and a big pool on a budget, and for drivers or conference guests who need comfortable, inexpensive lodging. If your trip is mainly about walking to Wat Yai and the city markets, or you want a crisp modern room, weigh the location and the building's age carefully. But if the pool and the floor space are what you're after, this price is hard to beat anywhere in Phitsanulok.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Large pool in a garden setting — kids can play all day
- ✓ Very spacious rooms, more space than the price suggests
- ✓ Friendly, attentive staff
- ✓ Strong value, cheaper than many similar-class hotels
- ! Building and rooms are dated and due for renovation
- ! Location is away from the old town — you'll want a car
- ! Breakfast skews Thai-Chinese with few Western options
- ✓ Duplex suites are very large — good for bigger families
- ✓ Adjacent park buffers noise, quiet atmosphere
- ✓ Generous free covered parking
- ✓ On-site convention centre, handy for seminar guests
- ! Some bathrooms look dated, 1990s-era fittings
- ! Pool is open to outside swim lessons — busy late afternoons
- ! Some reviews report faulty or limited power outlets
- 💡If you want a quiet swim — go before 9 am → the pool is open to outside visitors for swimming lessons, so late afternoons and weekends get crowded
- 💡If the age of the rooms worries you — request a recently refreshed room at booking and check the latest review photos → some rooms have furniture and bathrooms that feel older than expected
- 💡If you don't have a car — budget for two Grab/taxi trips into town per day → the hotel is out of the centre; you can't walk to Wat Yai or the markets, it's a 10–15 minute drive