ARI23

Maitria is close to both the MRT & BTS stations, roughly 650m, so this is always a good thing and it is something I always lookout for. The walk to trains is comfortable and fast.
I have been with Adelphi Grande for the past 7 years (roughly 2 visits a year) and have been comfortable with them. Unfortunately, staff turnover is very high so that’s a negative. Before that it was Parchara Suites on soi 6 (now Parkroyal).
The people at Maitria are good. Well most of them. 
Housekeeping is spot on, and this is very high on my list. I never fail to see housekeeping, already cleaning rooms when I leave at 930am.
Breakfast was a little sparse (although coffee was good), but I guess that is to be expected at this price point.
There is a small laundrette in the basement, which is a useful feature to have.
The room layout is awkward, and furniture placement makes it very difficult to move around and be comfortable. So this was a negative for me. Not something I’d care to repeat. 
The bed was spectacular, one of the better features in the room but I just wished the WiFi connection was better. 
I booked the studio grand deluxe, 2,600B nett per day, with breakfast.
 
I had planned. 2 week stay with them but I came down with Bronchitis while on a food binge in Yaowarat on the 2nd day. Doctors on the 3rd day, and I got a flight back home on the 4th day. All my plans, down the drain!!! Ah! Well.
Dan

Suits me fine.
In the Premiere suite the bathroom is quite big as are the other rooms.
Restaurant is good. Has the benefit of an outside area which looks down on passing foot traffic. This paid dividends for me as I met a very nice LB who happened to walk past and I caught her eye. Bingo. A match made. Going to catch up with her during my upcoming trip. (photo attached). Have seen a couple of CIB girls in there with their "clientele".  I get on well with the reception staff and the concierge. A nice guy. Always smiling. The one thing it hasn't got, and I would like, is a pool. Neither has it a gym. Mind you with my physique I dont need to visit one of those.
The only downer I can recall is the reception staff stopping me taking 2 CIB girls to my room. Only one at a time!
So for my trip in March, due to it being a warm time of year I am trying a couple of others. Hopeland, (Denbosch think it is ok but sometimes I doubt his opinion!). Also going to give Promenade a go.
 

I use the same salon Oliver (across Viva cafe) for many years. My masseuse Oy is not there anymore but I had a very good thai massage - 1 hour 300B - in January. I went with a thai lb, we each had our masseuse, and her verdict was : good place.

Massage places in lower Sukhumvit are more common than 7-11 stores.  Soi 8 has 4 or 5 legit massage houses alone. The smaller places pretty much offer the same services for the same prices (300 baht or so for a Thai massage). A good rule of thumb in finding a legit massage is to look for places staffed with middle-aged Thai ladies instead of 21 year old girls. 
Below is a place I frequently use when I stay on Soi 8. It's a legit place, reasonably priced. Just tell them what body parts need special emphasis and they will work on them.  There are several other massage houses within spitting distance of this one that offer the same fare. 

If I'm doing an afternoon date I might mention the pool and that she can bring a suit if she wants to swim or hang out.  Note...all my afternoon dates have been with girls from CIB and Cindy's.  No one has ever taken me up on it.  I think for 4 reasons:
1.  They don't want to be in the sun and get their skin darker,
2. They don't want to get their hair wet,
3. They still have to work that night and need to go back to their room and get some more sleep and get ready for work.
4.  They are sex workers and I'm just a customer for them.  They don't really want to hang out after the job is done.
It would be different if your date was with a girl from TF or whatever and not full time pay for play.  Or if it was a long long time date.
In Thailand I've found that almost all the ladies will take you up on going for a bite to eat either before or after fun in the room, but that's about the extent of extra curricular socializing I've experienced. 
Totally different from Las Vegas.  If you ask a stripper to hang out at your poolside cabana, 90% will take you up on it.

This must be a fairly new build…everything looks pretty fresh and clean.
Got to my room. They are quite small, but fairly well laid out.  Downsides are that it has a mini bar with regular exorbitant hotel prices.  I’d much rather an empty fridge and I’d stock it myself.  It also only has one drawer and that’s located in the bathroom by the clothes closet.  So storage is almost non existent.  I’ve kept most of my crap in my suitcases and littered the tv stand with the rest. It’s also quite dark in the bathroom.  Aside from those things it’s fine.  Lots of electrical sockets and has modern hookups for the TV if you want to hook up your streaming gear.  I don’t know how good the wifi would be for that though.
I figured I didn’t get an upgrade, but it turns out I did.  All the room’s except the suites are the same size.  My room was considered an upgrade because it has a good view. Half of the rooms have a totally obstructed view because there is a condo very near to it on one side.
 

Just checked in here after my first three nights in town at the Mercure.
I did some contact work this year and was in a Marriot hotel for about two months. This gave me enough points to become a Marriot Bonvoy Platinum member and I’m using all those points to stay here for eight days.
My first impressions are very good. Seems quite nice and has a good vibe to it. Check in was fine, but my room was waiting for final inspection so I’m writing this as I wait for it.
 I’m not sure if it’s because of my status or because I had to wait for my room to be made up, but they gave me a voucher for a free drink at the pool bar.
The pool bar area is nice, but quite small. I estimate the pool is at least 20 metres, so I can get some laps in (provided I’m the only one using it, but I probably will be as I like to swim in the mornings).  It gets all the morning sun too which is a bonus…the Mercure pool area is a lot bigger, but doesn’t get sun until the afternoon.
I was expecting a basic drink as my freebie, but the bartender Nan made me a legit Long Island iced tea. So far so good. There isn’t a smoking area on the pool floor (10) so I came down to the eighth floor for that.  
I’ll add more to this review as I check out my room and the gym and what not…I just wanted to get it started while I’m waiting.
Oh, and here’s a bonus…taking a lovely lady home from the CIB Christmas party is going to be a quick trip, lol
 

Are you member of the Pattaya Forum Dhana ?
There is a trove of information in the Pattaya forum - as it should be, many expats or would-be expats in this forum - about the process to retire in Thailand. 
Just type "retirement" or "visa" in the search function/button. Or take a deep look at the "Living in Thailand" topic or in the chit chat one.
https://www.ladyboyspattaya.com/forum/89-living-in-thailand/

Bm Ari is spot on , this lady( pattaya based )  opened my bank account last year as a non resident for me , She does all the paperwork / legwork with the bank and immigration  etc etc , and is a mine of information …
 

Are you member of the Pattaya Forum Dhana ?
There is a trove of information in the Pattaya forum - as it should be, many expats or would-be expats in this forum - about the process to retire in Thailand. 
Just type "retirement" or "visa" in the search function/button. Or take a deep look at the "Living in Thailand" topic or in the chit chat one.
https://www.ladyboyspattaya.com/forum/89-living-in-thailand/

I did get one cleaning in Smile Dental Asoke branch this summer. Very professional. I recommend.

Is quite cheap but where I live it is free if you do it every year together with preventive checkup

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A546B met Tapatalk

Thanks. Good to know. That’s about 20% of the cost for me here. I may consider doing that at some point, but insurance is picking up my dental bill next month so I’m good for a while.
But that does cause a dilemma if I’m in BKK and need my teeth cleaned.  Do I frivolously spend 1500 on my health or do I put that money to a more reasonable use…like buying lady drinks? 555

Agree 100%. Large executive rooms. Weak breakfast.

I have a trip coming up very soon and I was considering this place. I hope somebody who has stayed there recently can offer their thoughts. 
I stayed there many times when it was Phachara Suites and had some of my most rewarding LB adventures there with Sofie and Jam when they were new on the scene (see below) and several others.  It really did offer the best combo of location, large comfortable suites, huge balconies, jacuzzi bathtubs and a quality pool. I hope things have not changed. Thanks in advance. 

 

Well, I completed my stay at the Ambassador Hotel, and I have to say, overall, it was a big disappointment. The location is good, close to a few important areas, and offers good access to the BTS. However, the first big letdown for me was the atmosphere. I didn't feel relaxed in the hotel's lobbies; it seemed more geared towards accommodating large groups. So an English guy smoking weed on the lobby steps stood out like a sore thumb.
The room itself was a good size and had a small sofa and coffee table, which was a plus. However, the bathroom was terrible. The extractor fan was loud and made the entire ceiling vibrate. The shower head was fixed and sprayed water everywhere. I managed to address this issue by cleaning the head with a dental kit, but the lack of a detachable head was not appealing to the ladies, if you catch my drift. On my final night, the toilet malfunctioned; the flush wouldn't stop, and it took maintenance hours to come and fix it.
So, I had one extra day in Bangkok and was determined to free myself from the Ambassador. I tried booking a room at Hotel Eleven, but unfortunately, they had no rooms available. Nonetheless, I did have a good look around, and it seemed much better, with a tucked-away location. In the end, I returned to my old faithful, Dynasty Inn, for my final night.

Thanks for the recommendation of Hotel eleven, I will book it next time. 
 

Yeah, that's true Oliver.

I would be also be keen to head to the parties on Christmas Eve at LLB (since I missed it last time). It looked like a big event.
And it's close proximity to Cindy's so would head there if Cindy and Singter are hosting another party this year.

https://www.bangkokladyboys.net/forum/index.php?/topic/11406-christmas-party/

It's not only Air China.  Since the end of the Covid crisis, Airline companies twist their schedules and rotations for a number of good and bad reasons (not enough planes, lack of employees, rentability, ...).
Client not happy ? Cancelling ? They don't care, they make so much money. 2023 will be a great year for the travel industry.
From IATA (International Air Transport Association) (June 2023) :
Airline industry net profits are expected to reach $9.8 billion in 2023 (1.2% net profit margin) which is more than double the previous forecast of $4.7 billion (December 2022). Airline industry operating profits are expected to reach $22.4 billion in 2023, much improved over the December forecast of a $3.2 billion operating profit. It is also more than double the $10.1 billion operating profit estimated for 2022.

Yeah, agreed. Airlines are making so much profit over a huge uptake in travel and they're milking money with what they're charging for flights. 

Thai Airways re-scheduled my flight from Singapore to Bangkok on Christmas Eve and unfortunately that re-scheduled flight wouldn't had worked for me as I'd miss the flight once I arrive in Singapore.

So I have to take a later flight (so stuck in Singapore for a bit longer) so instead of arriving at 6pm on Christmas Eve, I arrive at 10.30pm in the evening. It wasn't my plan to arrive in Bangkok too late in the evening for the Christmas parties.  

Not as bad as Knobby's experience with Air China though.

Big update,
Flight cancelled 
I got an e-mail the other day from Air China telling me the flight from LHR to PEK had been moved to another now later time.
This meant I would miss the connection to BKK and spend a night in the airport.
No thanks, I don't think so.
So after phoning them, I cancelled the whole thing. They have acknowledged the cancellation request and said they will pay it back. Mind you they hadn't taken the money from my card yet.
I noticed on Skyscanner the flights advertised by them have changed, now 20 hours to BKK instead of 15.
I would imagine others have been cancelling.
 
 

5 or 6 year ago I had a fly to Chengdu on Air China. During the night one lady was watching movies on her tablet. The sound on, without earphones. I stopped a flight attendant : could she ask the lady to put the earphones ? The flight attendant was embarrassed : sorry sir, I can do nothing. People here (cf in China) do as they want.
The price will have to be very good to choose Air China again.

Give this a go. 

I used Orange Taxi Service in August. 1200 B including tolls and no problem. Drivers on time, good cars.
Difficult to tell. If it is an usual week-end you will have all Bangkok going Pattaya on friday afternoon/evening. The Bangkok exit will be difficult, after that it should be an easy drive. On a sunday afternoon it took me 2 hours. For you I would say between 2 and 3 hours. It would be good to get your feedback.
Anyway you will be there for a great night. Lbs bars : New Bar, Delirious bar, Bon Bar, all the others on Buakhao, Katoeys'r us on WS ... If you have questions ...

I always use Orange Taxi Service from Pattaya. Last time they charged 1200 THB for single trip from Sukhumvit to Patts