To get to the Hotel from the airport should not be more than 450 THB. When you get to the taxi stand, you HAVE TO ask, how much the trip will be for the first time they will say more than it should be. In our case they tried with 600 THB. This was my second visit to Bangkok in a 12 month period, so I knew it is too much and just asked why, when last time I had to pay 400 THB. After this you just will be sent to the driver for further negotiation about the price. Taxis should run with meter, however from the airport they try to get a fixed price. Normal meter price would not be more than about 250 THB + 70 THB for the toll. However 400-450 should be still acceptable for a ride to the center.

The hotel itself is located very close to the Wat Pho and Grand Palace. (only 2 streets from the Arun Residence - see my review of that place) So I think location is perfect for sigthseeing.

Staff speaks good english which is not usuall, especially in case of smaller hotels. They are also very helpfull. We wanted to go to Ayutthaya for a day-trip and they helpd us to organize a private trip with a guied on a very reasonable price.

The rooms are clean and very nice. We were staying at the room 401 and 402. Both of them are river view rooms, however if you pay the extra for the view you should rather go for the 401, which is probably the best room of the place.

They do not have a restaurant or bar. There is a coffe place next dor on the river, where also the breakfast is served and there is a very nice and cheap local restaurant just on the corner. Opening times are strange, but as we experienced they are opent till 6-7pm. They have english menu.

So, I'd recomand this place if you go to Bangkok to see the sites and do not want to stay at a huge, busy and expansive hotel!

We stayed at the Aurum hotel for 2 nights in early March. We had booked for a room with full river view and were looking forward to stay in this hotel. However, we were very disappointed upon our arrival to realize that the river view was in fact a very restricted one, as there was a big brown building sitting right in front of our windows. As a result, we had a very partial side view from one window, and the other two windows were on the building and on the back of another building on the other side. From what we could gather, there are only really 2 rooms in the entire hotel with an onobstructed view. Unfortunately, ours was not one of them despite its category. When we complained about this, we received a very small discount (about 3%), which we felt was a bit tacky.

Other than that, the hotel is indeed very beautiful, and the staff (mainly one very nice lady) is helpful. The manager, however, took 2 days to come back to us about our insatisfaction. We feel they should definately inform people that the view is only partial in order to avoid disappointment.

Another issue we had with this hotel is the lack of cupboards. There is only one very narrow cupboard with about 4 hangers, and that's it! No drawers to put clothes in or shelves. You can manage if you only stay for 2 days, but if you plan on staying a week, you will end up with your clothes all over the place!

In terms of locations, it's fabulous for the royal palace, the river and Wat Po, but quite far if you plan to spend some time in the more animated areas of the city. As the boats stop running around 19.00, you will have to take taxis to reach the hotel and it takes 20-30 minutes depending on the traffic.

My boyfriend and I stayed in a riverview room for 3 nights at the beginning & end of our holiday in Thailand. Our flight was delayed by 14 hrs so we ended up arriving exhausted at 6:30am. Because of this we missed the allotted breakfast time of 7-10am but when we did surface they were happy to give us breakfast anyway. The staff could not be faulted.
Vivi where we had breakfast is a lovely outdoor cafe right over the river. They also do great coffee & cakes.
The room was adequately sized rather than palacial, but it was very nicely decorated with some lovely touches. We had no problem with the temperature of the shower unlike a couple of previous reviewers. The best thing about the room was the view over the river, which was superb. The room also had a balcony overlooking Vivi's. I know Bangkok is not known for its rooms with views except for the 5 star skyscraper hotels, so this was a bonus.
It was less than 5mins walk to Wat Pho for a massage, 5 mins from Tha Tien riverboat pier and 5 mins in the other direction to the flower market, which is definitely worth seeing. I agree with the previous reviewer that the Coconut Palm restaurant round the corner was an excellent budget choice.
Just one word of warning. Even if you give the taxi driver instructions provided by the hotel and tell them it's very near Wat Pho, because the hotel is so small & new, none of them know where it is, despite the place being very easy to find in the end.
I think if your main reason for visiting Bangkok is to see the major sites in Old Bangkok, there's no better location, but if you're more interested in downtown shopping, pick a hotel near the skytrain.

We had actually planned to stay at the nearby Arun Residence but they lost our booking and recommended we stayed here instead. My wife's sister had stayed at Aurum recently so we knew it would be ok and they agreed on the same room rate we would have paid the other hotel. When we checked out it was a bit inconvenient though because they would not take a credit card and insisted we paid cash because they had done a slightly lower rate. The staff were friendly and although the room was a bit small, it was clean, modern and finished to a high standard. You could catch a slight peek of the river from our side view room but if we were to return I would undoubtably choose a full river view. There was no bath but the shower cubicle was large, the water temperature goes hot and cold but not too suddenly so you get time to step out of the way. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant so don't expect room service. Breakfast is served at a nearby cafe and you have to order from the limited choice the night before. Due to the location, the attractions are busy in the daytime but in the evening you will find few options for eating and no entertainment. A good budget restaurant is Coconut Palm or 'The Deck' restaurant at Arun Residence is superb. If you walk up to Maharaj Pier just opposite Wat Mahatat past the Grand Palace complex there is an S&P bakery and restaurant or you can cross the river for a meal at Supatra River House. Aurum is in the northern part of Bangkok just across the river from Wat Arun and within easy walking distance of Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. Vimanmek Mansion, Wat Benchanabophit and Chinatown are just a short tuk tuk or taxi ride away. Having visited Bangkok several times before, we knew the Skytrain doesn't come anywhere near the area so many of Bangkok's other attractions are difficult to reach. I would suggest, if you have time, staying in this area for a couple of nights and somewhere near a Skytrain station for any further nights to see what the rest of Bangkok has to offer.