mardhi

I used to frequent the wine bar and Spasso when over for weekends while living and working in Singapore and then when I moved to Bangkok to work. Even at the relatively high prices being charged, it was still much much cheaper than equivalents in Singapore. There used to be 3 lovely hostesses in the wine bar, fluent in English and just model look stunning. Oddly enough, I have never stayed here, despite being a regular at Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong and Jakarta. It was just always that much easier for me to stay next door to our office which meant the Sheraton Grande in Sukhumvit which is an equally nice property. Great report.

Good to see Youngone stuck with the low calorie menu on his flight, no dessert

AOT limo is something quite high like 1200b now even for regular Camry. I'd just take a taxi and be done with it. Never have understood the logic of using commuter trains, changing and then trying to get down 10m high staircases while carrying luggage. Then walk a further 500 meters to the hotel right at the hottest time of the day. All this hassle when you can get an aircon cab for about $12-15US.

I along with youngone and shyguy ate here last night. I had beef fajitas which used very good sirloin. Lots of peppers and onions with sprinkling of shredded cheese. I enjoyed it. It's by no means cheap and not sure I'd consider it good value for money. I'd go again but am hardly a big Texmex fan so probably not their target market. I'm sure American's would have a different take on the place. We each had main course and shared plate of Nachos Grande. Bill came to 1000 baht head Including drink.

If this had been plonked onto Thonglor or Langsuan (Ploenchit) it would be the perfect location surrounded by other upmarket restaurants, coffee shops etc. Judging by how long the fit-out took, they presumably spent serious time and money getting the look exactly right for their plans. That cost plus the very high rent will mean they have to sell a lot of booze (rather than just food) to have any chance of getting a return of that investment. Time will tell if it works. Personally I'd have put a simple steakhouse there selling 500b Australian beef Fillets and pretty much replicating what the Beefeater has done in Pattaya. Packed out every night. Excellent quality at very reasonable prices and appealing to broadest spectrum of visitors incl. almost all of those who frequent Soi 4.

Very true. I've never yet met a Thai who likes Mexican and my missus ranks it about as low as Indian food for choice of places we go to eat together. It could well be the perfect excuse for some.

Thanks for that drink list Youngone. I think I'll wait a few weeks for things to settle in and then head over for some food especially now that Sunrise Taco's is no more at Soi 10.

Food prices look at high end of the scale for Mexican food so Hopefully should be good. Just out of interest how do drink prices look? No mention on the website from what I could see.

On the beachfront which is what this hotel is all about. The public deckchair zone is a good 200m walk from the hotel part of the beach there they have maybe 20 sunbeds just for hotel guests.

Took a 5 day trip here over the Loy Kratong festival and set out to find an absolute beach front hotel, ideally in easy walking distance of the town centre (which I take as the crossroads between Centara Grande and Hilton hotel). and ideally something smaller than the huge chain hotels I have spent my working life living in. Found this hotel by using booking.com's map and just highlighting and then clicking on the hotels. For the days we wanted this came up at an acceptable room rate plus it was a much easier/shorter walk than the Veranda Lodge where I have stayed before. For those who know Hua Hin, this plot is directly adjacent to the grounds of the Centara Grande, which used to be the Sofitel and before that, it's original name was 'The Railway Hotel'. It is located in a straight line direct to the railway station, probably 500m away directly inland. As with all beach plots here, the plot is deep and narrow. The hotel has been built around a private house which is still used to this day. The property is made up of probably 12 'blocks' which comprise 3 or 4 rooms on two floors. Upper floor rooms have huge terraces. 3 blocks are adjacent to a swimming pool which remains in the shade for most of the day and was always empty during our stay. The action, if you can call it that takes place at the beach. The hotel has it's own 30 odd meters of frontage straight onto the sand. The views are about as good as they get. Also in this area is an infinity pool surrounded by sun loungers plus the hotel restaurant and a bar. The whole thing is very nicely done albeit in a old money tatty way. It's not a 5* property and does not claim to be. Breakfast was excellent buffet with made to order egg station, fruits, western foods, Thai foods etc and in our case incl. in our rate. The best bit of all is eating in the covered restaurant with a complete open perspective onto the beach. We booked a studio room and from memory it was just under 4,000b night incl breakfast and taxes. The room itself was large with a private terrace and a full width bathroom with walk in shower, oversized bath tub, twin sinks etc. Large kingsize bed with good quality bed linens and efficient aircon were all big plusses. The only negative was the mosquitoes. here is link to the hotel website:- http://www.baanlaksasubha.com/ I'll add some pics in the next few days along with more info about the town but the website is pretty accurate and the sunset views are that good.....

Middle pool which was always empty whenever we walked past.

A few pics of the bathroom

My regular driver in BKK did the honours. Given I used to do this run almost every weekend when I first moved here, I was insistent he drove and not send a friend (which can happen on last minute plans and we go back to our place outside Pattaya). I've used this guy for 8 years and he is about as safe a driver as you could hope for. Hardly any English though so need to speak with him in Thai. The road conditions have improved a lot since my last visit nearly 5 years ago. took us about two and half hours to go door to door.

Good to see your plan coming together. My liver won't be so pleased but never mind. Elite card certainly seems the way to go for least hassle long term stay's for the under 50's not working.

Where on soi 11 is the Khao man gai place/cart? Quite partial to that and invariably end up at Pratunam intersection as never found anywhere remotely as good nearer.

I'd agree about the vendor at New Wave. Not cheap for streetfood but the portions are much larger. Chicken Fried Rice had a lot of chicken, maybe 2/3rds of a breast. Chicken & cashew nuts also had surprisingly high amount of Bell Peppers in it which is rare given the cost. Only downside is she is not always open every day and she starts in the evening. However one NOT to eat in is New Wave pub itself. Food is terrible, even the Thai food and vastly over priced for what it is.

Last time I went to Hua Hin I stayed here:- http://www.verandalodge.com/rates.html The hotel is spitting distance from the Marriott and sort of across the street from the new mall. It is absolute beachfront and sits on probably the best part of Hua Hin beach. No vendors, no people, no donkeys. Just sand, sea. The hotel is small, maybe just 30 rooms and it's family owned. I would assume it is LB friendly, most Thai places are in my experience. I travelled with a GG so its going back maybe 4 years. We had a deluxe room which is basically a small block of rooms toward but not on the main road and it was about 2,500b night through one of the booking sites, forget which. You are so far down the small lane, you do not hear any traffic noise. Small balcony and no view. Room was very clean but simply kitted out. Nice bathroom, good bed, good linen. No complaints and air con effective. They have a small pool which is where the garden bungalows are situated. Seafront villas have stunning views. Garden villas have no view. The restaurant/bar is kind cool in the style of a beachfront casual eaterie you'd expect to find on Bondi Beach with large wood windows all opened up and getting the sea breeze (plus the sand) coming through. Service is not to the same style though but the food was good. Great almost and cheap. I'd go back in a heartbeat just for its position on the quiet beach. It is about 100m walk along the sand to what was the Marriott and now called something else. We often ate in their beachfront steak house which while pricey was also excellent. Just steer clear of wine unless you fancy a heart attack when the bill arrives. You can walk it into town, but its a good 10 minute walk, longer if the lb's are heeled up. At the end of the lane (on main road, about 150m) you can hail a tuk tuk to save your legs. I researched a lot for that trip and took a punt on this as it was pretty cheap for absolute beachfront. It's not a 'polished' resort, service can be quirky but as I say, I'd stay there again.

You can get the train from Don Muang rail station into Hualumpung Station (main terminus in BKK) and then connect to the MRT underground up to Asok. From Asok you are on the main BTS section for Sukhumvit hotels. Will take forever though, but it can be done. Probably worthy of its own mini trip report if you do it.

This is the newly refurbished hotel that sits on top of the new Check-in Bar. It is a no bells and whistles joint for sure. It is though, a) Cheap b) Central c) Clean. There are 24 rooms spread over 2 floors. All the fittings are new such as beds, linen, pillows, aircon, shower heaters etc. The floor is painted with the stuff you see in car dealerships - it actually works surprisingly enough. The prices seem to vary from 800b to 1100b. I have stayed twice now and paid 900b first time, then 800b second time. No idea why that was. The hotel is currently NOT BUSY - you could just walk up and get a room. There are no other facilities and I do not remember seeing an in room safe. I will ask him about that when I next go to the bar, as for many it will be important. You do get noise from Country Road which is below some rooms (that is the live music bar next to Check in). If important, ask for a room over Check in bar. Last time I stayed, the room was over Country road and I had no problem - but then I was not trying to get some sleep at midnight.

Citadine's are worth a look. Studio and one bed apt's in Soi 8,11,16 from memory. The one in Soi 8 is quite far down the soi and not much around it. The one in Soi 16 is next door to a new large Foodland 24 hour supermarket. The one in Soi 11 is as I recall adjacent to the old Bed Supperclub. One bed's are frankly a waste of money - studios just as big almost and better layout. Can't remember pricing but should be around your budget.

Popped in last night for some food. Noticed sign from 1st Sept. They will be closed from 11pm to 6am. Prices have doubled since my last visit and the quality has dropped quite a lot. However some things never change and you still find 4-6 really old haggs sat in the smoking lounge looking for customers. If any are a day under 50 I'd be amazed. I won't be rushing back.... Picture of the rather empty coffee shop, albeit I forgot to mention the new dining tables!!

Is Pala inside soi 19? I can't place it unless its newly built as part of terminal 21.

I think its off Rama 4 road which sort of runs paralel with Sukhumvit (at least in the area most of interest to visitors). Its called Tawang Deng and I recall Youngone going there before. Never been personally so can't add anything the place/food. However there are other Issan Pubs also with the same name.

Good to know. That place is also home to Tee, Lek and Pammy who all used to work at Guess at the same time. If you get up as far as I-Check-in hotel, you have gone too far and its about 6 shophouses before I-Check In.

Nachos Warning They have two versions of Nachos at Sunrise so be careful what you choose. One comes with cheese in a tube, aka the above pic and is supposedly designed for the thai market. The other one uses real cheese (well as real as Americans consume ) and is wayyyyy better than the test tube cheese. I remember seeing Greg who owns the chain at the Patpong store once drunken morning circa 3am and we were chatting about it. The real cheese version is more expensive.