The S Design Hotel — Cross the Road From the Bus Terminal to a Bold Colour-Block Building in Central Buriram
If you arrive in Buriram by coach and want a place you can wheel your suitcase to without ordering a Grab, The S Design Hotel is a name budget travellers bring up often. The building wears a bold yellow-orange-grey colour-block facade you can spot from down the street, it has been open since 2014, and it holds just 19 small rooms. The two things guests repeat most are a 2-minute walk to Buriram Bus Terminal and rooms that feel cleaner than the price suggests — but there are real limitations worth knowing first, and we'll get to all of them.
The S Design Hotel is a small property where the word Design actually earns its place. The building is only a few storeys tall, but the front is dressed in blocks of yellow, orange and grey, and at night uplighting picks out the S design hotel sign above the entrance — it's a building you remember after one photo. Inside there are just 19 rooms, split into Standard and Deluxe in both twin and double layouts. Rooms run clean and white, with a curved pale-brown headboard wall and a red accent cushion to add some life. Every room has a balcony, a flat-screen TV, air conditioning, a fridge, a work desk and a private bathroom. Several guests say the rooms feel more spacious and cleaner than what they paid for.
What sets this place apart from other rooms at the same price in Buriram is the central location right by the bus terminal. It's a 2-minute walk from the lobby to Buriram Bus Terminal, so coach arrivals can wheel a bag straight over without changing transport. There's a 7-Eleven and walkable restaurants nearby, the town centre is about 1 km away, and Buriram train station sits roughly 2 km out. Guests are consistent on this point — that walkability is the main reason they picked the hotel, and it makes the place genuinely convenient for anyone moving in and out of the city by public transport.
Beyond cleanliness, the thing guests praise most across Trip.com and TripAdvisor is the bed — review after review mentions a soft mattress and soft pillows, and sleeping better than expected for a hotel at this rate. The bathroom is tidy and stocked with the basics. Service draws compliments too, with several guests noting friendly, attentive staff, especially on quieter days when there are fewer people to look after. To be honest, though, the staff feedback is mixed: a few guests ran into limited English that made communication harder, so it helps a lot if you can speak some Thai.
One guest recalls: "Got off the coach, crossed the road and they were there. The room was clean, the bed was softer than expected, and you won't find this price anywhere else in town."
The spot most guests like to photograph is the rooftop breakfast deck — timber flooring and floor-to-ceiling glass that looks out onto greenery, with long tables that are comfortable to linger at. Breakfast is freshly made Thai food; on busier days it runs as a small buffet with Thai dishes, and on quiet days the staff plate up a separate set with eggs, chicken sausage and a little salad. Elsewhere there's a lobby with a polished stone floor and a reception counter carrying the S logo. The Thai restaurant takes à la carte orders between 07:30 and 16:00, and the hotel adds free parking, luggage storage and laundry service.
The Trip.com score sits at 8.9/10 from 73 reviews, which is high for a budget hotel. On TripAdvisor it holds 3.6/5 and ranks #3 of 5 hotels in the Nai Mueang area. The honest complaints cluster around three things — a weak shower head and a weak toilet flush that several reviews mention in agreement, no elevator so you carry bags up the stairs (tiring if your room is on an upper floor and you're loaded down), and an air-conditioner compressor that hums faintly at night in some rooms. A few older reviews also note that the entrance is a little hard to find from the main road because the building sits down a side lane.
The bottom line: The S Design Hotel works best for budget travellers arriving in Buriram by coach or train who want a clean room next to the bus terminal for a few hundred baht. The building photographs well, the bed is more comfortable than the price implies, and on that front it's genuine value. But if you're carrying a lot of luggage and the lack of an elevator worries you, or weak shower pressure is a dealbreaker, weigh it up first. And if your main goal is football or motorsport at Chang Arena, this place is central and a fair drive from the stadium, so you'll need a car or Grab — but as a cheap in-town base you then drive out from, it does the job well.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ 2-minute walk to Buriram Bus Terminal — ideal for coach arrivals
- ✓ Clean, spacious rooms with beds softer than the price
- ✓ Bold design facade that photographs well
- ✓ Rates from a few hundred baht — strong value on a budget
- ! Weak shower head and weak toilet flush
- ! No elevator — you carry bags up the stairs
- ! Some staff have limited English
- ✓ Central location by the bus terminal, easy in and out of the city
- ✓ Rooftop breakfast deck with glass walls looking onto greenery
- ✓ Free parking, luggage storage and laundry on site
- ✓ Quiet and good value outside event weekends
- ! Some rooms get a faint air-conditioner compressor hum at night
- ! Entrance is a little hard to find from the main road, down a side lane
- ! Far from Chang Arena — you'll need a car or Grab for matches
- 💡If you have heavy luggage or stairs are hard for you — there's no elevator, so ask for a ground-floor room at booking or check-in → upper-floor rooms mean carrying bags up the stairs yourself
- 💡If water pressure matters to you — multiple reviews agree the shower head is weak and the toilet flush is soft · if that's a dealbreaker, look at another in-town option, but for a quick overnight it's fine
- 💡If Chang Arena is your main goal — this hotel is central and a fair drive from the stadium, so you'll need a car or Grab → for stadium-side sleep look at Amari Buriram United, but for a cheap in-town base you drive out from, this is better value