Youngone

I stayed there for a month early last year. Nice condo's with all the amenities you need, good pool area, quiet and pretty good wifi. There are a number of supermarkets nearby, mainly oriented towards Japanese clientele, which makes stocking the fridge easy. The only downside for me is the location, not easy to find for taxi drivers due to the one-way system around that area and it's about a 15 minute walk to the nearest BTS (Phrom Phong). I would stay there again for a 3-4 week visit but probably wouldn't for a shorter trip.

My last visit to Pattaya from February 19th-24th coincided with Chinese New Year and the Cobra Gold military exercises which meant that hotel availability was limited and room rates per night were insanely high. Examples: the Marriott wanted 9K Baht for a standard room, Hilton 15K Baht for a Junior Suite ( no other rooms available) and the Amari Ocean Tower was charging 10K for a Junior Suite ( no other rooms available). I scratched my head a few times at these prices, not because I cannot afford them, but because I know all these hotels well and do not think their rooms are worth that amount of money. One has to stay somewhere though and I suddenly remembered a few very enjoyable stays I had 5-6 years ago at the D2 Baraquda so I checked the prices on their site, which to my disappointment were in line with the other hotels, 8K Baht per night for a 'Baraquda Suite' and no 'deluxe' rooms available; a notable change was that the hotel now belongs to the Accor chain and is no longer a Dusit property.I wasn't too happy about the price, which is why it took some considerable self persuasion to convince myself that a visit to Pattaya was really in order. Anyway, after convincing myself that we only live once and can't take anything with us to our graves I decided to bite the bullet and booked the room. http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-8891-hotel-baraquda-pattaya-mgallery-collection/room.shtml First impression: The Baraquda is a boutique hotel with only 5 floors and 72 rooms which are all non-smoking. The lobby is large, well air-conditioned and staffed with very friendly bell boys and pretty receptionists who are dressed in a navy theme; I guess it's their way of wanting to look modern and trendy. Check-in was very quick and the (very) pretty girl at the reception surprised me by greeting me by my first name and telling me that she remembered me from my 3 previous stays 5 & 6 years ago. The same happened with the cleaning lady, these Thai women have elephant memories! An even prettier lady escorted me to my room whilst a bell boy was following us with my luggage. Upon entering the room the first thing I noticed was that they had switched the aircon on a few hours before, I like that! The room: Very large, probably around 70-75m2, split between a living room and a bed room. The living room has a sofa and flat screen TV but bizarrely no coffee table. There is also a separate toilet in the living room. The bed room has a large comfy king size bed, a large Jacuzzi, a very large rain shower and separate toilet. Positives for the room are its size and a very good Nespresso coffee machine with free coffee. Negatives are the ridiculously organized light switches (to switch off the light in the bedroom you have to make your way to the main switch next to the entrance door) and the water pressure could be better. Biggest negative for me is that the bed faces the window and the curtains are not thick enough to block out the morning sunshine. Location: Excellent! On 2nd road, right across from Soi 13/1 where you can find Stringfellows, La Bamba and The House. Central Mall and Soi Made in Thailand where 69 Bar and One Bar are located is about a 10 minute stroll, as is the soi LK Metro area. Walking Street is also about a 10 minute stroll. Amenities: Decent sized pool which only gets sun on one side until around 3pm, the gym is small but has everything you need. They have a Spa in which they offer (overpriced) massages, no happy endings I'm afraid... The restaurant is located next to the pool and serves mainly Asian dishes of pretty good quality but again overpriced. Complaint: AntAnt and myself departed on the same day but stayed in different hotels. I was flying to London and he was flying to Phuket around the same time of day so we decided to share a ride to the airport which I booked through the hotel. The car was a comfy brand new Toyota Camry which picked me up on time after which we picked up AntAnt in soi 10; so far so good. The driver was a young chap who did not speak a word of English but fancied himself as the Thai version of Lewis Hamilton. Once we reached the Expressway he drove at speeds of 160-170 kmh whilst talking to a buddy on his mobile, overtaking cars on the left and right, driving up behind cars in front of him to within less than 1 yard; it was insane! He seemed totally oblivious to the fact that several speed camera's are in operation along the Pattaya-Bangkok route and seemed genuinely surprised when he was pulled over at the last toll booth before the airport. He got a 500 Baht fine, but instead of learning from it he just continued with his insane driving style. I've never been so happy in my life to leave a car... When I got to the lounge I went online and emailed the GM of the hotel about the experience. To his credit he replied with a very apologetic email within a few hours and offered me a free night for a future stay as compensation. Bottom line: A nice property with large rooms, very friendly staff and a great location. They are guest friendly but do take visitor ID's and call you when they depart. That means you either need to escort your guest down or wait in your room for the call from security, do not do what I did and make your way to the pool as your guest leaves as they won't let her go without speaking to you. In my case a search party was organized whilst she was held by security... Would I stay again? probably yes, but not for the price they charged this time around. Livingroom with Nespresso coffee machine Livingroom and sofa, no table for some strange reason Comfy king size bed facing the window. Downside is that you can't switch off the lights from your bed area but have to make your way to the front door. Large Jacuzzi that can fit 4 easily. I was warned by ShyguyUK that filling the Jacuzzi takes time so I tried it. He was right, it takes 45 minutes to fill up which can be a bit of a mood killer. Very spacious rain shower Decent size pool with sun until about 3pm. The top floor of the building houses the 'Grand Baraquada Suite' which is a duplex apartment. I've stayed there before on a previous trip, the room is great but very noisy due to the fact that the bedroom faces 2nd road and the windows are not sound proof.

That little lane where Cheap Charlie's is has developed tremendously over the years. In the past the only places there were Cheap Charlie's, the Moghul room (Indian restaurant and still there) and the local VD clinic (which is still there as well). Nowadays there are places like Snapper, the Tapas Café, Chez Pape and Charley Brown's Mexicana in addition to the older places, making this little sub soi of soi 11, nicknamed soi Aroi, well worth the visit for a nice uncomplicated affordable meal. http://www.tapasiarestaurants.com/ http://www.chezpape.com/ http://www.snapper-bangkok.com/

Mardhi had posted some pics at the start of this thread but for some reason they've gone, luckily I saved them Mardhi's pics...

100% Ladyboy friendly. Jolski usually stays there so PM him on the LBP board if you need more info...

The Adelphi is in soi 8, the hotel in the picture opposite Phachara is the Dynasty Grande On another note, last monh I noticed construction has started on that vacant lot of land next to soi 6. The Phachara sits more or less at the back of that, any noise issues due to construction?

I stayed at The Landmark during my last trip for the 1st time since 2006 and must say that I was very impressed. The location is near perfect, the rooms are great and the pool area is quite relaxing. I was a bit sceptical to book The Landmark at first due to reports of construction on certain floors and accompanying noise, so I emailed the hotel manager and asked him for a honest update. He replied the same day explaining the situation and committed to reserve a quiet room far away from any potential noise for me. With that done I took the plunge and made a reservation... Upon check in the very friendly and gorgeous looking receptionist told me that she would escort me to the club lounge where check in for executive rooms apparently takes place. When we got there I was greeted by a European looking girl in traditional Thai uniform who took my passport and after looking at it immediately spoke to me in my mother tongue. I found it rather amusing but was very pleased when she told me that I was upgraded to an Executive Suite. First impression of the room was very pleasant, it has windows all around and is decorated in a very stylish way. I really can't find anything to criticize about the room, except maybe for the electrics which are all very modern but not easy to figure out. Anyway, the bed is excellent, the curtains keep out all light and there was no noise; I slept without earplugs which is very rare for me. Will I be back? If the price is competitive to other 5 star hotels most definitely. Personally I'd rate The Landmark above the JW Marriott... The living room Bedroom with comfy king size bed and large flat screen TV Large bathtub that can be used for all kinds of fun activities Large rain shower with very good water pressure The pool area which has sun until about 3.30pm. I counted 32 sunbeds which was more than sufficient on the occasions I was there but could get crowded if the hotel is fully booked. Views from the room

After spending a good 2 weeks in Bangkok I figured it was time for a change of scenery so last week I decided to book 4 nights at the Marriott Resort in Pattaya using Marriott Rewards points. This isn't the first time I've stayed at the Marriott Resort, it used to be one of my favourite places to stay in Pattaya until I got tired of paying a lot of money for rooms that are nice but nothing special. What speaks for the place is the near perfect location, a 5 minute stroll from the hustle and bustle of Walking Street and about a 10 minute walk to the soi Buakhao area. It's a very girlfriendly place although visitors are required to leave their ID cards with security First impression: large open air lobby with some comfy seating areas and a bar. The hotel had arranged a driver to pick me up in Bangkok and about 10 minutes before getting to the hotel he rang reception so that everything was ready for a speedy check in; nice touch I thought. The AC in the room was on when I got there, which always makes for a pleasant entry, Location: right on Beach road in the soi 13 area, adjacent to the Garden Plaza shopping mall. Plenty of restaurants, coffee shops around the hotel as well as a 7/11 make for easy pickings if you're hungry or thirsty. Room: OK room, around 35m2, large flat screen TV, an extremely comfortable king size bed, an OK bathroom with a rain shower and a good sized balcony with sea views. 3 negatives for me: the curtains are too short which means early morning sunlight shines into the room, a bit noisy and the fire alarm is located right above the bed with a piercing green light shining straight at the pillows. Pool/Gym: a good sized pool which gets sun all day. The Spa and sauna/shower facility is truly great, but the massages are way over priced as far as I'm concerned. Bottomline: the positives for me are the location and the pool area, but the negatives are the noise and the smallish rooms. From a value for money perspective I don't rate the hotel very high as the rooms cost around 6K Baht/night and there are definitely better rooms to be had in Pattaya for that amount of money. Since I used Marriott rewards points the price was not a consideration for me. Deluxe sea view room. Added bonus is the glass shower cabin View from the balcony onto the pool area Sea view from the balcony Open air lobby. Due to the heat and mosquitos not a great place to hang around for too long. Entrance from Beach road Pool area Nice bar with stools in the water 2 noisy fuckers in the garden

The only one that springs to mind is the VIE Hotel near Ratchathewi, not an establishment for the budget minded obviously http://www.viehotelbangkok.com/accommodation/vie-penthouse-suite-1/

Bless has large spacious rooms and a pretty good location in soi 33. The pool on the rooftop however is more like a bathtub... Not sure about the pricing, but it might be worth having a look at the GM Suites (soi 3), Lohas Suites ( soi 2), Fraser Suites (soi 11) or Shama (soi 4)

Thanks Mike. I'm not really a Pattaya expert, but within the same price range I've stayed a few times at the Amari Ocean Tower and at the Baraquda ( now belongs to the Accor group, when I stayed it was still Dusit). I'd rate both these hotels higher then the Marriott.

Basilico in soi 33 is one of my favourites when it comes to pizza.

There are 2 Tawandang locations, 1 on Ram Indra and 1 on Rama 3. I've been to the Rama 3 location probably 10+ times, it's good fun as long as you bring a couple of fun loving girls. The concept is pretty simple, first you eat a ton of food, then you drink a lot of beer, which is then followed by Isaan style music and dance. Food wise they serve some German dishes, but the main emphasis is on Thai food and their locally brewed beer. It gets pretty busy there, so I'd recommend reserving a table if you want a half decent table with view of the stage... http://www.tawandang.com/eng/home.html

I remember Ploy very well, she was one of the most relaxed girls I've ever come across; cool chick to hang out with. I was told last night by Bee, who is good friends with her, that she is back in Bangkok and working in a massage salon in soi 7/1. Don't know the name, but according to Bee it's the one on the right hand side next to Star Inn. I'll have a look later this week...

Thanks for the review, very helpful... The location is really good, but the (perhaps unjustified) worry about construction noise during the early morning and day has prevented me from booking this hotel so far. Could you hear noise from construction outside in your room?

The hotel has two entrances, one via CIB and the other one via soi 7, so no need to pass CIB to get to your room although some of CIB's lovelies can from time to time be found lounging around in the small reception area..

There are loads of hotels in BKK that don't require sign-ins. The first 3 that come to my mind are the JW Marriott, Emporium Suites and Bless residence ( very conveniently located if you like to visit Darkside), but there are many many more. http://www.blessresidence.com/home.html http://chatrium.com/chatrium_emporium/ http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bkkdt-jw-marriott-hotel-bangkok/

I've never stayed there but I've had dinner there a few times with a number of LB's, the service was always friendly and courteous which makes me belief the hotel will be LB friendly.

Correct, I reckon at least 75% of the clientele is Japanese. When I book on their website I always write in the comments field ' please reserve non smoking room on high floor facing Benjasiri Park'. So far I've never had any issues and I've probably stayed here 20+ times over the last 4-5 years or so.

Now that the protest site at Asoke has been dismantled I decided to stay at the Emporium Suites again this time around. This isn't the first time I'm staying at the Emporium, over the last couple of years it has somewhat become my home away from home. I love the spaciousness of the rooms and the location is perfect for me as it's walking distance from places like Akane in soi 33 where I like to 'relax' during the day after a heavy night of drinking. The fact that the hotel is connected to the mall and the BTS makes it even better for me. First impression: smallish lobby with some comfy seating areas and a bar. The receptionists are always smiling and upon check in upgraded me from a Studio Deluxe to a One Bedroom Suite. Location: connected to the Emporium Mall on soi 24 means you can access the mall and the BTS from within and there is no need to go outside; handy during rainy season when it is bucketing down. Room: nice room, around 90m2, a living room with a comfortable sofa and large flat screen TV, a bedroom with an extremely comfortable king size bed and an OK bathroom with a shower as part of the bath; no rain shower which is a miss in my opinion for a hotel like the Emporium. Pool/Gym: a good sized pool which gets sun until about 3pm. The gym is large and fully equipped. Bottomline: I would recommend this hotel for longer stays if your budget allows it. There is free Wifi and the place is totally guest friendly. The outside Lobby Pool area which can be a bit noisy at the moment due to the construction of Emporium 2 on the other side of Sukhumvit Livingroom A fully equipped kitchen with microwave, coffee machine, toaster and washing machine Comfy bedroom with king size bed View from the room

All rooms including the smaller studio's have kitchens, so there is no need to book a 1 bedroom suite. The funny thing is that they think they're doing me a favour by upgrading, but I actually prefer the studio's. From a space perspective it's similar, the 1 bedroom just splits the unit in 2 rooms. If you book well in advance they often have special offers with up to 60% discount.

Thanks for the tip Bangui, I'll definitely give this place a try when I'm back in April. I like Tsu at the JW Marriott, but I agree that the value for money factor is nowhere to be found down there.

When I plan a night out in Patpong, I typically kick it off with a dinner at G's in Patpong soi 2, adjacent to Foodland. G's was started 2 years ago by Guido, a German chef who has been in Thailand for about 17 years and who used to be the GM of Livingstone's Lodge in soi 33, nowadays called Ocean Bangkok. On a side note, Guido was quite well know in Germany before he made the move to Thailand as he had his own cooking show on TV in the 90's. The place is quite small, probably about 10-12 tables and serves German food as well as Thai food, but obviously with Guido being German the emphasis lies on German food and drink. There are around 30 specialty German beers on stock as well as a number of great schnapps bottles. The food is the typical German robust type, with portions that could feed half a family. Before ordering you get some home made bread and good garlic butter, which is not always easy to find in Bangkok, and Guido talks you through the menu and specialties of the day. Main dishes vary in price between 200 Baht for Curry sausages to 450 Baht for excellent Pepper Schnitzels or Caper Meatballs , so a visit won't exactly break the bank... Guido himself is quite a colourful character who'll entertain you with some of his political views and Thai experiences from the last 17 years. He's not a LB lover per se, instead he's a regular in Silom soi 4 and connoisseur of Thai boys; it's always a parade of characters visiting the restaurant every time I visit down there. The place definitely gets a thumbs up from me when it comes to the food as well as for the 'value for money' factor. https://www.facebook.com/GsBangkokRestaurant http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g293916-d3446028-Reviews-G_s_Bangkok-Bangkok.html Guido in one of his typical poses

Thanks SM, I didn't actually realize there was another thread on the JW, otherwise I'd have posted it there. After reading the older thread it does appear there is general consensus that the place is extremely guest friendly to all genders The tip to use the entrance on the left hand side after 11pm is a great one, it saves passing reception and it's a good bit shorter to the elevators as well.

Yes, I've been to Tsu quite a few times, even when I haven't stayed at the hotel. Excellent food, but it does come at a price... I find the lunch and dinner buffets at the hotel pretty descent and they do offer value for money in my opinion.