Sima Thani Hotel — A Korat Institution Whose Soaring Lobby Still Draws Photos Today
Ask anyone in Korat to name the grand old hotel that has been part of the city for decades, and Sima Thani Hotel tends to come up first. This 5-star property on Mittraphap Road has been open for many years, runs to a large 265-room building, and the thing guests keep mentioning isn't the rooms — it's the soaring high-ceiling lobby that still looks the part of an older grand hotel, and the breakfast buffet at the Nai-Ruen restaurant that several reviewers cite as the reason they come back. Worth saying up front: this is not a brand-new hotel, but its location and price keep it a regular pick for travellers passing through Korat.
Sima Thani has been a fixture in Korat for years, sitting on Mittraphap Road on the way into town. It's a large 265-room building with Superior rooms, Deluxe rooms with a king bed, Deluxe Twin rooms, and on up to Suites and family rooms. The first thing people remark on as they walk in is the soaring high-ceiling lobby — big columns, a chandelier hung over the hall, the kind of grand space you'd associate with an older chain hotel, here at a far lower price. The rooms themselves have been updated, with laminate flooring put into many of them, and guests routinely describe them as large and quiet.
Food is where Sima Thani earns its strongest praise. The Nai-Ruen restaurant serves an international breakfast buffet spanning Thai, Chinese and Western dishes, and stays open for lunch and dinner. For Chinese food there's the Emperor Chinese restaurant doing Cantonese plates and dim sum. Reviewers say much the same thing about breakfast: there's plenty of it, it's restocked quickly, and it punches above the room rate. If your booking includes breakfast, it's well worth taking.
What guests mention most consistently about Sima Thani tends to start at the front door — walking into a high-ceilinged lobby with tall columns and a chandelier, the kind of grand entrance you'd associate with a much more expensive property. That first impression carries a lot of weight, and for most guests it sets a tone the rest of the stay holds up to. Breakfast at the Nai-Ruen restaurant is the single detail guests return to most often. The buffet is wide-ranging, covers Thai, Chinese and Western dishes, and is restocked quickly enough that even late arrivals find it well-stocked. A large number of reviewers say the quality and variety of breakfast here exceeds what they expected for the room rate they paid, and several name it as the main reason they would come back. The rooms themselves draw consistent praise for being large and quiet. Guests who received a renovated room with laminate flooring describe it as noticeably fresher than older rooms, and the size repeatedly surprises people who expected tighter quarters in an older building. The quiet is mentioned often — it sleeps well. The outdoor pool and poolside lounge area come up as a genuine positive: spacious, shaded and not crowded even when the hotel is busy. The gym is described in reviews as actually usable rather than a token space, and the spa with Thai massage and sauna earns good marks from guests who make use of it, particularly those stopping over on a work trip. The front-desk team is one of the most praised elements across all review platforms — attentive, friendly and responsive when requests come in. What guests mention honestly on the other side is that the building and the carpets in the common areas are showing their age, and a few rooms turn up a loose outlet or fittings that have clearly been through a lot. Most guests who accept that going in say the value here remains strong. Taken together across many reviews, Sima Thani is a hotel with a good location, a strong breakfast, good staff and a price that undercuts most 5-star options in Korat — still a logical choice for both leisure and business travellers coming through Nakhon Ratchasima.
On the leisure side there's an outdoor swimming pool with a generous, shaded poolside lounge that several guests single out as spacious. There's a gym that reviews describe as genuinely usable rather than a token corner, plus a spa with traditional Thai massage, a sauna and a steam room. For business travellers and event guests, the hotel runs large meeting and banquet halls — which is why a good share of Korat's conferences and weddings end up here.
The location works in its favour. The hotel sits on Mittraphap Road, a roughly 5-minute drive to Terminal 21 Korat, the big mall that anchors the city's eating and shopping. The Thao Suranaree (Ya Mo) Monument is close by, and Nakhon Ratchasima railway station is about 3.8 km away. There's free on-site parking, which matters a lot if you're driving yourself, and Mittraphap Road makes it easy to flag a taxi or Grab to anywhere in town.
The overall score sits at 8.8/10 from 51 Trip.com reviews, with cleanliness at 9.2 and service at 8.9 — high marks within Korat's hotel field. On Booking it holds 8.2 from 118 reviews, and TripAdvisor ranks it #6 of 63 hotels in Nakhon Ratchasima. The recurring compliment is the front-desk team, described as attentive and kind. The honest gripes are real too: the building and the carpets in the common areas are showing their age, and a few rooms turn up a loose power outlet or fittings that have clearly seen plenty of use — worth knowing so you don't arrive expecting a new-build.
On price, Sima Thani starts around ฿1,100/night for a Superior room in normal periods, which is very low for a 5-star hotel with a pool, spa, gym and a full breakfast. Real booked rates more often land around ฿1,800–2,200 depending on season and room type. During big city events or the Ya Mo festival (late March to early April) rooms fill quickly and prices climb, so book ahead for those dates.
The bottom line: Sima Thani suits travellers who want a large, full-service hotel in central Korat without paying a premium. If you value a handsome lobby, a generous breakfast, a pool and a location next to the mall more than the polish of a brand-new room, it delivers well. If you're specifically after the latest design-led hotel in the city, you'll want to weigh it against newer options nearby.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Generous breakfast buffet with wide variety
- ✓ Front-desk team attentive and friendly
- ✓ Pool and poolside lounge area are spacious
- ✓ Central location, 5-minute drive to Terminal 21
- ! Building and common-area carpets show their age
- ! Some rooms have loose outlets or well-used fittings
- ! Overall styling is not a new-build look
- ✓ Rooms are large, quiet and comfortable
- ✓ Handsome high-ceiling lobby with a grand-hotel feel
- ✓ Free on-site parking, easy if you're driving
- ✓ Spa, Thai massage and sauna all on site
- ! Older building — manage expectations on newness
- ! Rooms fill fast and rates climb during the Ya Mo festival
- ! Chinese restaurant keeps limited hours — check before going
- 💡If room newness matters to you — the building has been open a long time and the common areas are dated → ask for a renovated room (laminate flooring) at booking and check the latest room photos before you confirm
- 💡If breakfast is important — the Nai-Ruen buffet is the hotel's highlight → pick a rate that includes breakfast at booking, which is almost always better value than paying on the day
- 💡If you're driving — the hotel has free parking and sits right on Mittraphap Road → easy in and out of town, and just a 5-minute drive to Terminal 21, which makes it a solid base for exploring Korat