mardhi
-
Content Count
2,768 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
93
Posts posted by mardhi
-
-
Dont think this place is comparable with the nearby cheap joints.
Regardless of prices offers a nice alternative in the Soi 4 area, with no need to walk to Soi 11 or so.
Bad or good it is for us, I think it contributes to a new look of Soi 4, albeit being sideways. Let's say less mongering. Just as hooters does.
I don't think they will be patronised by the orphanes of paradise and golden bar.
Needs to attract customers and the location is not much ideal to catch passer byes, other than majestic grande guests or people just off Annie's.
I believe they have to invest in marketing
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.
scottie1954 reacted to this -
Good excuse for BM's to escape partners/travelling companions on a trip - "I'm just popping out for Mexican food" and the joys of 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.
scottie1954 reacted to this -
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.
-
-
Middle pool which was always empty whenever we walked past.
-
A few pics of the bathroom
-
Sounds superb.
How did you get over to Hua Hin? Drive or take the train?
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.
-
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.....
oliver17 and Youngone reacted to this -
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.
-
Between soi 1 and soi 3 for a nice range of Thai street food. Soi 11 for khao man gai. Soi 4 near Nana for beef noodle soup.
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 recommend the street vendor directly across from New Wave bar (just past CIB on Soi 7). Everything I've tried there so far has been really good, but their papaya salad (Som Tom) is especially good. Me being the falang that I am I always tell them "no spicy", and it hits the spot every time. If you want to get some BBQ then go to Soi 4. Setup in front of Stumble Inn you'll find Un, and IMHO she makes the best BBQ around. If you're looking for a good desert the ice cream vendor at Dubai on Soi 4 (next to Hilary 2) can't be beat. 100B for a 3 scoop cone of some of the best ice cream I've had in a long time.
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.
OneTrueSaxon and randyandy69 reacted to this -
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.
-
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.
OneTrueSaxon and randyandy69 reacted to this -
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.
-
Where is that German bar/ restaurant that a few BMs go to? I love German wheat beer. What sort of food do they serve there?
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.
-
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...
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. -
I use these guys a lot to get a reference price. They've been way ahead of the curve for a long time, mainly because they've developed the search engines for most of the airlines. It was a bit of a secret for awhile. Now they're more generally known. Nowadays, many of their attractive features have been added by some airlines (like looking ahead a month for the best price)...good for us retirees who aren't bound by the demands of wage slavery.
This is a superb product !!!! Been looking at plenty London bound flights for November and this has just cut through the crap - cheapest by far is some 22,000b ex BKK on KLM in economy. That is half the price i have seen before.
Many thanks for suggesting this - aside from the GDS systems used by agents, this is way ahead of plugging through each airlines website. The month feature is really handy as well.
Good job that man for suggesting it.
-
I remember when they launched this chain, that aircon was NOT included in the room rate - so you had to pay extra if you wanted it. Presumably the fan is free ?
I could well imagine in Thailand, no aircon room at these rates is not going to be popular with customers. Maybe they now just included it and left the fans there.
-
I'd go for iCheck in purely for the location. Trudging up & down Soi 11 would get very boring very quickly to me at least.
-
I was quite impressed with the soap when I found it. Does not seem to be a regular bar of soap but one of two little bottles - one is shampoo, one is shower gel but I found them in the room itself on a tray, next to drinking glasses and loo roll. However that was when i stayed overnight, so they may spec the 'extra's' differently.
Mexican restaurant at old Paradise location- Nana
in Restaurants, Places to Eat and nightlife
Posted
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.