Next time you visit Ratchaburi, book a room at the new Navela Hotel & Banquets (032-206-599, www.fb.com/NavelaHotel), where vintage touches like cane furniture meet with crisp, contemporary decor.

 

It’ll set you back just B990 for superior, B1,300 for superior with balcony on weekdays or B1,500 on weekends, and for that price you get no shortage of style.

 

Design gimmicks play on the area’s indigenous craft goods, like ong mangkorn (giant water jars) and homespun patterns, while balconies look out on uninterrupted views.

 

Its on-site restaurant Sala Tor-Kao offers super mouth-watering Thai dishes ranging from nam prik platu (shrimp paste with fried mackerel), hor mok talay (seafood spicy coconut cake), green curry, pad Thai and many more.

 

While you're there, check out the ongoing Art Normal festival, which transforms the town through art.