oliver17
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Posts posted by oliver17
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I stay at Page 10 Hotel on Soi 10. It's about the closest thing there is to a centrally located hotel. 69 Bar is 5 minute stroll away. Sensations is about 12-15 minutes away (it's better to take a scooter taxi there). LaBamba and The House are 10 minutes away by baht bus. Soi 6 same same. Central Festival Mall is 5 minutes away on foot. You will kill a lot of time in the mall during the daytime because there is nothing else to do in Pattaya during daylight hours.
The room décor is sort of a Scandinavian minimalist theme that looks like it's straight from the 1960's, but the hotel is only a few years old. They are comfortable and have large bathrooms with jetted tubs. On the roof is a nice pool with bar service, also a gym up there but it's small. The breakfast is basic - similar to what Phachara in BKK offers if you have ever stayed there. However, for lunch and dinner it's very good. Room service is speedy and the lobby bar is relaxing. The rooms do have balconies. Across the soi is a beer bar that plays Issan music until the wee hours, so ask for a high floor room.
Several ladyboys work at this hotel. There is always at least one (and sometimes 2) LBs running the front desk, and there are 2 or 3 more working in the restaurant. The restaurant manager is a middle aged LB. I know that at least one of the front desk girls moonlights P4P, but you have to meet her off premises.
If you email them, they may quote you a better price than what their own website or hotel reservation websites quote.
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This has nothing to do with shame of being seen with a ladyboy but just my dislike for nosy people and gossiping, smirks and talking behind someones back that sort of thing.
I am not flaming you here, but this sentence is confusing. If you aren't ashamed to be seen with a ladyboy, then why do you care what people say or think when you are seen with a ladyboy?
If some stranger disapproves of what you and another consenting adult are doing, that's his problem and not yours.
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i booked 3 days in The Landmark hotel for febr 2017..hope they are lb friendly..i send them a email but got nothing back so far ( 2 days)..anybody stay there lately ?
thx Mike
Landmark is LB friendly. Many BMs stay there, and nobody ever has any problems.
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Interestingly, Immigration is rolling out a form that asks a lot of questions. Phone numbers, social media accounts like Line and facebook. What places you frequent. Like 7-11s, bars, temple ..whatever. Parents names too!
Considering that many expats are 60 or 70 or even older, this info won't be very valuable unless Thai Immigration authorities have figured out a way to contact mom and dad in the afterlife.
HilbertSpace reacted to this -
Excellent & thorough review. Thanks, now I know where I'll be staying for my next trip
Earlier today, Sheluver had posted some useful hotel info along with pics in this thread, but now it has all disappeared. I think the forum has had a little trouble today with broken links and pages loading completely.
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Will be in BKK tomorrow for 2 nights and just found out my regular hotel (Ever Rich soi 7) is full !!
So, will switch to the other side and give this place a try. It does sound a bit of a Fawlty Towers joint on the booking.com reviews so it maybe a short review if I ain't impressed. I walked past it the other day when looking for some places to eat in soi 10 (ended up in Galleria for coffee, very good). It is about the 3rd closest hotel to the new CIB and about a 100 metre walk, if that.
More over the weekend....
Better Fawlty Towers than the hotel Barton Fink stayed at.
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Great review oliver, thanks for the effort.
I wonder if you have tried Aloft? which one would you suggest Aloft or Grand swiss?
I booked Aloft last April, nice hotel except for the disappointing pool.
i'm going again BKK next month, and I booked both hotels Aloft and GS, still need to decide which one to cancel.
any recommendation?
Sorry can't help you. I have never stayed at Aloft.
The Grand Swiss pool is on the 7th floor. It is next to the restaruant, and it also has a poolside bar in the afternoons. The pool itself is kind of small, but it was
never crowded when I was there. You also get guest privileges at their sister hotel Citrus 13 on soi 13. As I understand it, they have a decent pool there.
It's going to be hard finding a top notch pool at a 3 star or 4 star hotel in BKK. I have stayed at Phachara Suites in the past. The hotel itself is fine but nothing special. However, they have a large and very nice pool on the 8th floor. They also have a fantastic location on Soi 6 within easy walking distance of Nana Plaza, and several of the upper floor rooms have outstanding balconies (ask for a corner room). You may want to take a look at them.
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Great summary thanks. Couple Q's:-
a) Is the resort South of Hua Hin ?(i.e you drive through Hua Hin and then on for another 20 minutes)
b) Did you by any chance get any pics of the beach by the resort and what was your opinion of it?
Looks very nice but maybe bit isolated for many unless you have a vehicle or use the mafia taxis.
Yes it is south of Hua Hin, about 20 minutes away. The car service drivers have taken different routes to get us there, both through Hua Hin and around it. I don't think any time is saved one way or the other. As said in the review, the hotel does operate a scheduled shuttle van into Hua Hin, but only in the evenings. The drop-offs and pick-ups in town occur at the clock tower with the portraits of the King and Queen. In the vicinity of the clock tower is a pretty good night market, and also numerous restaurants. JJ told me there is also at least one ladyboy bar in Hua Hin (one of her friends works there). We didn't visit, but I did see pics of the place. It looks like they have about 6 or 7 girls available, and as you can guess they aren't quite - I am being kind here - BKK quality ladyboys judging from
the pics.
The resort is isolated, but during the day there was no incentive to leave and during the night you can take the shuttle into Hua Hin. Pranburi itself has a couple of farang-oriented bars within walking distance, but neither one of them was much fun.
The Sheraton at least implies that they are on the beach, but directly across the road is nothing but rocks at the waterfront. There is also a fairly impressive walking trail / bike trail under construction along the waterfront. They had made a lot of progress on the trail since I was last here back in January. It looks like it will be a boardwalk type thing with food and drink available along the route. The first pic below is looking across Sheraton's lawn to the waterfront.The 2nd pic below shows the trail and the waterfront. The figure in the middle is JJ taking (what else?) selfies for facebook. The guy in the water was a fisherman gathering up his nets.
Below is a pic of a typical walkway at the Sheraton. Our villa was about a 10 minute stroll from the big restaurant and reception area. There are no motorized vehicles on the paths, the staff uses bicycles to get around.
The pics below are from my January 2016 visit here with Sofie. We spent 4 nights there. Sofie generated some interest in another thread here recently http://www.bangkokladyboys.net/forum/index.php?/topic/7289-sophie-maybe/ These pics are about the only ones I have from that trip that are suitable for the regular section. The other pics I took belong in the advanced section, and I will put them there if I don't lose my nerve first. Here, you can also get a closer look at the outdoor sunken bathtub, which was a big hit with both Sofie and JJ. The other pics are from the main restaurant at breakfast. Somebody please tell me what instrument the girl is playing. She provided entertainment every morning during the January visit. I have no idea what the instrument is called, but I hear it all the time in Asian music.
Youngone and carbonara69 reacted to this -
During my May 2016 trip, I spent 4 nights at the Sheraton Pranburi Villas outside of Hua Hin. My companion was JJ from CIB. Pranburi is about a 3 hour trip by car from Bangkok on a normal day. Regrettably, JJ and I took the trip on May 20, which turned out to be Vesak day, one of the most important Buddha days of the year. It was also a Friday afternoon, making it a big holiday weekend for Thais and the result was a very slow go to Pranburi which consumed 5 hours in the car. We did wisely use a private car service instead of a grimy and cramped BKK taxi, which made the trip a little easier.
The Sheraton Pranburi Villas are located about 20 minutes outside of Hua Hin in the sleeply little town of Pranburi. The hotel offers a scheduled shuttle van service to Hua Hin in the evenings. Taxis are not usually available at the hotel, which is a good thing because Hua-Hin's Phuket-like Taxi cartel charges about 1000 -1200 baht for a trip between the hotel and town. Use the van instead if you want to visit Hua-Hin. As for Pranburi itself, it is within walking distance from the Sheraton or you can simply take one of the mountain bikes that are available for guests to use. Am pleased to report that the mountain bikes are rock solid Treks instead of some cheapo off-brand machine.
The property is comprised of 50 detached villas. Each villa has its own private swimming pool. Also available are 2 story villas with multiple bedrooms. The villas all have high walls surrounding them which give you total privacy and seclusion from the surrounding villas. The hotels property is quite large and very quiet.
In the back of each villa is a private pool, along with lounge chairs and a cushioned pit for eating or doing whatever comes natural to you or your ladyboy.
The villas are large and well appointed. I particularly liked the in-room shower that converts to to a wet sauna with seat. Now, I have seen these gimmicky things before in hotel rooms, and they rarely work as claimed, but the Sheraton's shower / sauna gizmo tuned out to be truth in advertising. They are completely sealed and the water is very hot and generates more than enough steam to sweat out the booze and tension in your body, as good as any wet sauna in a health club. This gets an A+ from me.
The villa also has an outdoor shower if you want to bathe outdoors. There is also an outdoor sunken bathtub right outside your bedroom door (seen in 2nd pic, the tiled area in the plants). I didn't use these, but JJ bathed in them every day.
The beds are comfortable and the mosquito netting is not for decorative purposes. You can completely open the bedroom's glass walls and sleep in the fresh air if you want. That's when you want to deploy the mosquito netting, because they do come out in the evenings.
More room details.....
If you get bored with your villa pool, you can stroll over to the hotel's infinity pool. When we there, we were the only guests using the big pool. The Sheraton also has a small restaurant and bar next to the pool. A larger bar and restaurant are located elsewhere on the property. The breakfast buffet is noteworthy, because along with a very nice spread of food, a sushi chef is also on duty to give you a sushi fix if you are in need. Typically for an isolated resort with a captive clientele, the food tends to be on the pricey side
. However, the liquor prices are surprisingly very reasonable 
(80 baht for a Singha , 100 baht for a Heineken ).They do have 24 hour room service (the full menu ), which I found to be commendable on a property with only 50 room units. 
The gym next to the big pool.
To sum up, the Sheraton Pranuburi Villas make for an excellent getaway from your BKK trip. I have been here twice with LBs, and this place has been an enormous hit with both of them. Rates run about 6000 baht per night low season and about 7000 baht per night in high season. This property does have occasional sales, and if you are not a Starwood member, it makes sense to join to get favorable rates here when you book.
Thanks for reading my review. Later on, I may post a director's cut of this review as well as pics from my earlier Pranburi trip with the other LB in the advanced section (also have video if I can figure out to post a video), but that is a couple of days away.
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Another thing you can try is to use your miles on another OneWorld carrier, like JAL or Cathay Pacific. You might be able to score an award deal on premium economy, and get to BKK with little or no damage to your wallet and minimize the miles spent as well. Premium economy is not business class, but it beats regular economy.
HilbertSpace reacted to this -
If you are traveling from the US, you should buy and upgrade. It's a no-brainer since any flight from the US to BKK is going to mean about 20 hours in the air. Do you really want to be crammed into economy all that time even if you are flying for only $25.00?
I flew Qatar business class to BKK on last trip in May. Very impressive inflight service and also loved the business lounge in Doha. Too bad they don't offer A380 planes from the US like Emirates does, but Qatar does offer A380s on Doha-Bkk route. BTW, the bars on the Emirates A380s are way more fun than the bars on Qatar's aircraft.
HilbertSpace reacted to this -
I think just about every place in town will welcome ladyboys, although some may charge you guest fees for their friendliness.
I don't know how you define "5 Star" but there are several very nice properties in the vicinity.
Close to Nana are JW Marriott and Landmark, down Sukhumvit in either direction 10 minutes away by taxi are places like Sofitel, Westin and Grand Hyatt Erawan. None of these places will charge you for bringing a ladyboy into your room.
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The Park Hyatt has a facebook page "Park Hyatt Bangkok" which stated on April 11 "The hotel will open for reservation approximately two months prior to the opening which is scheduled for the last quarter of 2016." That is as precise as they will be about an opening date. Previously, Hyatt had said it would open in mid-2016. Agreed that this place will be much closer to the action than the Grand Hyatt Erawan. Too bad the opening is so many months away.
I did a google search for a Hyatt Regency in Bangkok, but all I found from Hyatt was an announcement they made back in 2012. It sounds like you may be right to be suspicious of this hotel ever becoming a reality.
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I have a trip to BKK coming up and will be arriving in BKK April 30 and leaving on May 22. My passport expires November 16, 2016. The passport has to have 6 months validity from what date? The date of entry into Thailand (April 30)? Will I be able to get a 30 day tourist visa on arrival even though the 6 month date will occur while I have it?
I tried to obtain info from Thai government sites, but have not gotten a definitive answer. Can somebody point me in the right direction, and provide a link to preferably a Thai government site to answer this question? I can get my passport renewal expedited if I have to, but it will cost me $200 US to do so, and I am trying to avoid that expense if I can use my current passport to get entry on 4/30.
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I have never stayed at Icheck Inn, but I know for a fact that it is ladyboy friendly. You can email them
and ask if you want peace of mind, however.
Soi 11 is totally farang oriented, with a lot of bars, decent restaurants of every cuisine and for all budgets.
Plenty of currency exchanges, pharmacies, 7-11s also. I have stayed on Soi 11 my last 3 trips and enjoy the
area very much. Nana BTS is there also, which is a real plus.
Soi 11/1 is bit more quiet with very little vehicle traffic because of its small size. Not much there really, but
it doesn't matter because Soi 11 is only a few steps away.
CIB is a 5 minute walk, Nana Plaza and Chaos 9 are about a 15 minute walk depending on how
many shopping stalls and gawkers are clogging the sidewalk on Sukhumvit. In the evenings, you are
better off just walking directly on Suk facing into the traffic instead of using the sidewalks. You will see what I mean when you
visit. Don't worry, it's totally safe as long as you walk very close to the carts, scooters, taxis etc parked on the side of the road.
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Sukhumvit 11 Clinic, located in the sub soi of soi 11 where Cheap Charlie's is located.
This place is also convenient for STD tests, but at rates a little pricier than elsewhere. I thought STD testing was all they did there.
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I have never met a LB yet who was able to get private healthcare Insurance, dental included or not. It seems to be similar to life Insurance in so far as none of them pass the acceptance stage and obtain coverage.
Why can't they get coverage? Even if they list themselves as male?
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ANA does fly between Tokyo (both NRT and Haneda) and LAX. The return flight from NRT to LAX is ANA. To get the $2800 fare, they want to stick you
on United outbound. However, the more I think about this, the more attractive the United/ANA option sounds to me than gambling with China Southern.
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I'd give them a try in April (but not Sept/Oct/Nov during Typhoon season) if I were travelling business or above and on a recently acquired aircraft at a huge discount to other airlines. My gut feel always still comes back to Cathay's refusal to allow Chinese to be Captains.
Hmmm... now I know why CX pilots always have Aussie accents. It is also rumored they have an undocumented policy of putting their flight attendants out to pasture
before they get long in the tooth, apparently right before they hit 30 years. old. One more reason that Cathay stands above the others in my view.
According to Matrix software, ANA has one stop connection over Tokyo into BKK from LAX for $2787 round trip in April. United is actually a bit cheaper.
I tried matrix for my dates and noticed that the LAX-NRT leg is a codeshare United flight. I would have to think long and hard about this, because I
don't even trust United to transfer my luggage to ANA in a competent manner. It seems like every time I have ever flown United, there are issues
with flight delays, inoperable IFE systems, snarling employees, etc. They are the worst of the US "legacy" airlines, and that is really saying something.
I find this software very handy at times. Can't book on it but it pulls fare inventory and is surprisingly accurate. Problem is you then have to find where to buy the tickets (airline website normally best bet in the times I have used it).
Matrix is very useful. Here is a useful guide in using advanced codes to route your flight however you like:
http://www.travelcodex.com/2012/01/advanced-routing-language-in-ita/
You can print out the codes and then call the airline direct and have them input the codes. Or, if you know a travel agent, they
will do the same thing for you.
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While planning for upcoming April trip, I learn that China Southern is flying business class between LAX and BKK for $3000 US.
This is about $1500-$2000 less than what my usual favorites like Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific are charging. Yes, I know
this is a Chinese airline we are talking about and you get what you pay for, but this really does look like a genuine bargain.
I flew them once before domestically in China back in 2002. They were perfectly acceptable, but I have no idea what their long haul
product is like. I am particularly interested in their on-time performance is like, since I know layovers in China can be dodgy affairs and
sometimes can be very late. Anybody here have experience with China Southern? Thanks.
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I stayed there for a couple of nights 2 years ago. I remember it was a bit of an ordeal getting a taxi at the hotel itself because of its location. You are better off
going out the rear entrance and hiking up Soi 4 a bit to hail a taxi.
And it does cater to Japanese as you said. Even the bathrooms reminded me of those you find in Japanese hotel rooms and room service menu had extensive
Japanese offerings.
Nice review Gympy.
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has anybody any information of where to buy CAD software in Bangkok, I am hoping to get it cheap.
Do you have a specific program in mind? What is application?
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Recently I received an email from Hyatt offering Hyatt Gold Passport members 30% off room rates at their higher-end Asian properties. The dates of the offering
coincided with my Dec 2015 - Jan 2016 BKK ladyboy jaunt, so I jumped at it and spent a few days at the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok. The normal rates
at the Grand Hyatt range from 6000 baht up to 10000 baht per night, with Club rooms at 8000 baht. If you are so inclined, you can also take one of their cottages
starting at 22K baht per night. I selected a standard room at the discounted rate of 4K baht ($110 US). I then traded in some of my Gold Passport points
and upgraded into a Club level room. It costs 3K points per night to upgrade. It really was a deal too good to pass up. A similar room in New York or
Tokyo would cost around $450-$500 per night, so this was a steal in my opinion.
Hyatt also has a Park Hyatt under construction in Bangkok. It is set to open "mid-2016". Park Hyatts and Grand Hyatts offer similar amenities at roughly
the same level of luxury, so you can't go wrong either way.
The spacious lobby features soaring ceilings and plenty of seating. Also plentiful were smiling security guys dressed in dark suits everywhere you turned.
My room was number 1008, a corner room located at the end of the hall...
The minibar. Inside was the usual soft drinks, liquor and candy, nothing extraordinary.
The well appointed bathroom.
Bathroom personal items included everything you need in this cabinet.
The Grand Hyatt has 8 different restaurants and bars by my count. A big favorite with every ladyboy I took here was the
Bar@494, actually a wine bar that also had ace bartenders who knew how to mix some truly bodacious cocktails. This bar
had just the right vibe for a drink or two prior to going upstairs for boom-boom. (this pic is courtesy of Hyatt website).
The Grand Hyatt has a BTS station close by (Chit Lom). A taxi ride to Nana Plaza takes about 10 minutes more or less determined by
traffic on Sukhumvit.
Even at regular rates, the Grand Hyatt offers a real bargain. I certainly would not hesitate to stay there again.
Iphone7 & iphone7 plus ( this is not an android vs ios thread )
in Technology and I.T Forum
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Mine arrived yesterday. I upgraded from a 6s. The 7 has a matte black finish. I think it looks pretty sharp. The hoo-haw about the home button radically changing seems to be total BS. It still functions pretty much the same way as previous versions with fingerprint activation, but still needs to be pressed to move between apps. I can't tell any difference myself.
The thing you notice immediately is the improved display. it's much brighter with more vividness in the colors. I really like the display upgrade.
I was playing music on it last night and it seemed to be chewing through the battery charge at a faster clip than on my old iPhone. It does come with an adapter for your headphones to be used with the lightning jack. I haven't tried out the earbuds that came with the phone.
I took a few pics with the camera, but not enough of them to form an opinion about its abilities. It too is supposed to be an improvement from previous versions.
I haven't dropped it into water yet to see if it really is waterproof. I will take Apple's word for it.
The setup went smoothly and everything transferred from the old phone with no issues.
If you are moving up from an IPhone 5 or 6, I would recommend getting this phone. If you currently have a 6s, you should probably just save the money for your next ladyboy expedition.