ARI23

I stayed there in November last year great hotel big rooms and beds, good walk in showers, pool area and gym are also good would definitely use again.

This was was an 11 day at Adelphi Grande which was very good. It was great to be recognised by all staffers. Breakfast could be improved as it seemed to be pork heavy, what with the strong numbers of Japanese clientele. I especially like the on time housekeeping service, the washing machine/dryer, good comfy bed and pillows. 
Very-guest friendly and they do not fuss with ID and even send them up to the room. I am a regular so I don't know if this applies throughout. 

The obvious one is the signature dish 'kapaw moo', minced pork with basil & a fried egg. Apart from that, there's yum moo yor, massaman gai & tom yum phamuk (squid).
Also the Thai bar-b-q or mookata buffet as they call. Absolutely, gorge on those 55.
 
Tom yum squid:
 
Mookata
 
 
 

I had wanted to visit on a number of occasions but had to put it off due to my limited number of days here. But this time I forced myself to make the effort. This was a half an hour walk from my hotel and I arrived at 12nn. Tak, the waitress greeted me and showed my table. I was the first one in. I ordered the Tom yum goong, pomelo salad, river prawns in garlic and pepper and a mango sticky rice with a pineapple frost. In the next 5 minutes I was served with the most excellent Mieng Kham I have ever tasted. This was complimentary. And I could not get enough of it. While still enjoying this, my pomelo salad arrived, followed closely by the Tom yum. I reluctantly pushed the meing kham away (it was almost finished anyway). The pomelo salad is typical Thai dish - salty, sour, sweet and held with a good dose of chilli. And there were slivers of chicken meat in-between. The tom yum goong was delightfully sour and delicious. But there was chink in the armor - the prawns were just short of mushy. In the midst of this the garlic pepper prawn arrived. 4 reasonably large prawns, fried in some kind of batter before the garlic and pepper was added in. Here the prawns was fresh. I informed the waitress who took the tom yum away and informed the captain who told her to change it or something. He brought a fresh dish in record time and said that this is fresh prawn. I refused the dish and told him that it should be that way from the onset. I decided to cancel the mango sticky rice. The captain brought the bill on request and pointed out that they did not charge the Tom yum. I said obviously. With nary an apology!! Service from Tak was excellent. The bill was 1318B. I would like to visit them again to try some other dishes.

Yeah! I just saw that. I edited it with another review. Forgive me.  I'm getting old. 
Cheers. 

I don't know about you, but I find street addresses in Thailand confusing...
For example, house number 10 might be located right next to house number 64, which doesn't make any sense to me...
Also, Sukhumvit Soi 22 for example isn't really near Soi 21... And Soi 7 isn't the same as Soi 7/1....
Even taxi drivers who are unfamiliar with a certain area seem to struggle to find the destination quickly. I therefore often print out the location map of a hotel and give it to the driver.
One feature in Google maps that can help you  save time finding a specific place in Bangkok are plus codes.
Plus codes work just like street addresses. You can use a plus code to find or share a place on Google Maps.
Plus codes consist of the short code and the name of the locality (e.g. city). Example:
  PHP3+M7 Short Code   Bangkok, Thailand Locality  
Example for Android devices:
If you enter:
PHP3+P7 Bangkok
in the search box of Google Maps you'll be directed to an address in Bangkok.
If you're near the address, for example in the same district, you don’t have to include the locality code.
To find the plus code for a place on an Android phone, you open Google Maps and touch and hold a place to drop a pin on Google Maps.
At the bottom, you tap the place of interest to you. Then scroll down to find the plus code, such as PHP3+P7 Bangkok, Thailand. 
These plus codes are particularly useful in places with addresses that are not easily located through conventional descriptors like street names or house numbers. That's half of the world's urban population BTW...
Taxi drivers in Bangkok often use Google Maps. If you give them the short code, you might get quicker to your destination...

Big Dogs : same reason as OTS and Bwana_lb
Bus Stop : in the morning  for the breakfast and the cute waitress
Hillary 2 : I feel good there moving around bodies, enjoying the live music and the drinks, having fun with a ladyboy after or before a session, watching the players at pool

Tom Saap Moo.  Hard to find anywhere but if you ask they will make it for you and will be impressed that you know what it is.  Great isaan food.  Not on menu as far as I can remember, but they always make it for me at Pattaya Beer Garden, not the best I have had but acceptable.
 
 

Big Dogs : same reason as OTS and Bwana_lb
Bus Stop : in the morning  for the breakfast and the cute waitress
Hillary 2 : I feel good there moving around bodies, enjoying the live music and the drinks, having fun with a ladyboy after or before a session, watching the players at pool

While Bangkok is absolutely great for food I must ask you guys to give Cozy Italia a try. Its just in front of CIB and they usually order dinner from there  
Their chicken cashew nut is very good and different from other places. Great Som Tum and Tom Yum Goong. 
Nara restaurant also serves a wonderful fried prawn in garlic dish. It is out of this world.

ShyguyUK and myself had our traditional New Year's lunch this Friday at Artur, a very traditional steak house with a lot of classic French dishes on the menu such as frog legs, burgundy snails, sole meuniere, pan fried foie gras, bisque d'homard, home made sauces such as an excellent Bearnaise etc etc. The last few years we had always opted for Le Normandie, but we decided to mix it up this year around and we sure as hell didn't regret that decision. The food was more than excellent!
 
Artur ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Restaurant/ARTUR-Restaurant-330562996849/ ) is located in Soi Ton Son, in between Phloenchit and Chidlom BTS stations. I exited at Chidlom and it took me about 5 minutes on foot to get there. I had the Bisque D'homard ( lobster soup), sole meuniere and tarte tatin accompanied by some wines recommended by the Thai female chef ( who speaks fluent English and French). Full marks all around and the return factor is very high!
 
Very quiet for lunch, for a more lively atmosphere it is recommended to go for dinner.

 
Amuse bouche, very tasty!

 
House white wine

 
Bisque d'homard

 
A light red recommended by the Thai female chef.

 
Sole meuniere, the beurre blanc and the home made bearnaise that came with it were more than excellent.

 
A glass of the recommended red wine and a glass of Sancerre to go with desert.

 
A raspberry bavarois on the house.

 
Tarte Tatin

 
The least pleasant bit of the afternoon  

The BTS Skywalk from Asok station is currently being extended past Robinson/Times Square mall, and now reaches all the way to just outside Artbox on Soi 10.
Very handy if you don't like dealing with Bangkok sidewalks and crossing Sois. 
It probably only leaves about 150m between the furthest Asok and Nana BTS exits. 

Citrus Suites has lived up to the hype! It’s a great hotel, easy access to the NEP. The suites are massive and extremely comfortable. The staff has been absolutely professional to me and my guests.

For those of you who care about the walk of shame through the lobby, it’s a mere 20 feet from the hotel entrance to the elevators. And the lobby is a ghost town after 1am.

The morning buffet is a bit weak in my opinion but maybe my expectations are a bit out of scope here. Nonetheless, the buffet is sufficient. Orange juice ain’t so great.

The beats restaurant is adequate as well. And I received a daily 100 baht voucher to use at the restaurant.

As far as reservations are concerned, I’d recommend using their mobile site. It was cheaper compared to using a desktop browser. Interesting to see that difference. I saved 5000 baht for my 7 day stay. I booked 5 days prior to my stay.

Here are some pics of my suite.

My favorite is Massaman curry but it varies quite a lot between places, can be too sweet in some. I found a great one in the Emporium Food Court a few years ago but the past few times I've looked I couldn't find it. Best one I did find  on my last trip was at Lengkee in Pattaya. They also do great duck dishes there as well, Duck with Pineapple was a revelation, did not expect it to taste so nice. 
Massaman at Lengkee 

Duck & Pineapple at Lengkee

The Green Chicken Curry at Sanguan Sri on Wireless Road in Bangkok is one of the best Thai dishes I've had. Found out about it on Mark Wiens blog (https://www.eatingthaifood.com/sanguan-sri-restaurant/), not far from Nana so I had a walk round. Only open 10am - 2pm and mainly full of office workers. The sauce was amazing, the chicken is on the bone but really tender. Keep going back to try it when I'm in Bangkok
Green Curry from Sanguan Sri

On the soi 6 side. 7th floor, no problem with the noise from the street. 
Breakfast is not a problem in itself. You won't starve here. But, and Mangatanga also noticed it, the breakfast is weak. For westerners especially. Few viennoiseries. Few fruits. No omelette station.
It is marketed for asian people.
Have you been to the Monsoon breakfast (Adelphi Suites) ? Not on the same level.
Coffee (brewed) is good though and that's not common in BKK.

I am in the same kind of room as Mangatanga was in April (see pics above). 
Only problem is the shower. I had 2 different rooms because I asked for a quieter room - the first one was close to the lift -  and each time the temperature of the water was changing all the time during the shower. Not cool.
Otherwise, comfortable. 
Breakfast is a little weak. 
Many chinese people though the hotel is quiet. I have seen 2 children (we are not on the same schedule).
Personally I prefer the Adelphi Suites. The design is better. In Citrus Suites the rooms are all in length. You can see it in last Mangatanga picture 

1-8 December I took 3 LBs to Koh Samet for some R&R. (I had been in BKK and Isaan for 2 weeks).
The rationale for Koh Samet was that I wanted a beach break and was tired of flying.
Koh Samet ticks the boxes, its a quiet island, about 3 hours car ride from BKK and about 15-20 minutes by speedboat.
***Tip - don't wear shoes, as you may get dropped off on the beach, rather than at a pier, depending on where you are staying.
I didn't want to stay at Sai Kaew, which is the biggest and busiest beach, as I had heard reports of hordes of Chinese tourists and non-stop noise from jet skis etc. 
I chose Ao Wong Duean as it seemed a good mix of some amenities, but not too busy There was a choice of 3 resorts and I chose Samed Cabana.
I was happy with the choice and took 2 bungalows on the beach, which was well worth the premium over the bungalows set further back.
The resort was about 85% Nordic types and 14.8% farangs with their teeraks, plus 1 farang with 3 LBs in tow!
The resort was good value, a little bit tired, but I enjoyed the stay and so would recommend it.
Breakfast was a bit repetitive, but the staff were very helpful and friendly.
For dinners there are about 7-8 options on the beach. My favourite was a pace called 'Nice and Easy' towards the far end (300 metres away?) as it was the best value and had very good service.
They had the usual fire shows on the beach and Chinese tourists were brought in just for dinner at some of the other restaurants. 
There were 2 mini marts in close proximity, so useful for beer and ice runs etc. 
***Tip - take plenty of cash as very few places take cards.
We went out a few times. The LBs liked a beach called Ao Phai which had 3 high end resorts. I preferred the laid back atmosphere at Ao Wongdeuan.
One evening we went out to Naga restaurant, which is joined to Naga Bar and is very well known. The restaurant is a BBQ style joint, with all you can eat for THB 189/person, which was a great deal. The bar next door was busy with tourists painting themselves with effervescent paint. (Whatever floats your boat?)
There's a number of tours you can take. I chose a 6 stops all day boat tour, which became much of a muchness, so would avoid the 9 stops version, as 1 beach becomes like all others after a few hours. The snorkelling was good fun. 
Getting around is by scooter (THB 100 per day) or the pick-up Songthaews. We rented one for a few hours and rode around the island. THB 1,500 for 2.5 hours.
If you go into main town of Koh Samed from a beach resort you will need to pay the National Park Fee - which was THB 50 for Thais and THB 300 for farangs for 5 days.
***Tip - if you go island hopping or travel around on the land, make sure that you take your national park tickets with you. The park rangers jump out from behind bushes to inspect your tickets! If you don't have one, then you need to buy them all over again!
In summary, if you want a nice relaxed break, this resort fits the bill. If you want a romantic get away, maybe Ao Phai would make more of an impression. 
I'd definitely go back to Koh Samet and probably this resort.
***Tip - take a few bottles of booze to drink on the verandah of your bungalow, as the prices on the island are 20-30% higher than on the mainland.
***Tip - take mosquito mats with you. The hotel provides one, but 2 in a room is more effective. 
***Tip - ask the beach restaurants for mosquito coils under your table, as otherwise you will get bitten
***Tip -  you can get to Ban Phae pier on the mainland by public bus, van or car. I chose the private car option and it was about THB 1,800 each way from BKK.
***Tip - you can get over to the island by public ferry, which only runs when it is full. Speedboats cost about THB 350/person
***Tip - if you don't like fish, then maybe not go!
***Tip - try and avoid weekends and public holidays - it gets noisy as that's when the Thais visit
Cheers
SAG

Rules are : you leave the room at 12, you get in the room at 2pm (see above the reason).
If you are nice, ask very politely, meet the right receptionist and are lucky, sometimes you will get the room at the check-in. It has happened to me a few times.
You absolutely want/need the room at the arrival ? Take the early check-in (if available). Around 50 bucks. May worth it.

Good news: Gaggan has just opened his new restaurant, called, well..., "Gaggan Anand"...
It's located on Sukhumvit, but waaay up on Soi 31... Address: 68 Soi Sukhumvit 31.
https://bk.asia-city.com/restaurants/bangkok-restaurant-reviews/gaggan-anand

Heartbreaking that Gaggan has closed. It was exceptional (although I never felt it was a top 10 in the world restaurant).
I come to BKK frequently, and generally avoid Pattaya. The main reason for preferring BKK is restaurants. BKK has so many fabulous places for food. It's become a foodie vacation destination. Nothing beats having a world-class meal followed by a world-class LB for dessert.

I've been to Talad Rod Fai a few times, it's a good night out if you like memorabilia and antique sort of things. It's a mix of locals and tourists, the ladyboys I've seen have been with bfs walking around or working in the stalls. The bars are tiny and not really a place to go for. 
I've been to rock bar a few times in coco walk, I've not seen any ladyboys in the area. The problem you'll have here and many Thai orientated places is that they go out in big groups and don't really mingle with others outside their groups. Western style bars are popular for P4P and singles looking for farang because they allow random people to meet, Thai bars are more for groups of friends to drink/sing together, there is very little interaction outside their immediate group. 
I haven't been to Udom Suk nightclubs but there's plenty of these sorts of locations dotted around Bangkok, for some reason they tend to have the best food too. They're all girls as far as I'm aware, you'd need to go to a gay area to find ladyboys for local guys. 
Places imo you would be more successful :
 
RCA - loads of ladyboys go here for fun but it's hard to break them away from their groups they go in. Bring a card with your line ID on it to slip to them. 
Ratchada Rot Fai Market - just up Rama IX is the newer version of the old Rot Fai market, bigger bars and apparently there are ladyboys there according to another BM in a thread from a year or more ago. 
Thonglor - there are plenty of Thai nightclubs here, I've seen ladyboys in groups when I've been out and about too. But again, breaking them from the group will be challenging. 
Saphan Kwai - near saphan Kwai bts is a straight and gay gogo bar area aimed at Thais. Bound to be ladyboys there, but not sure where exactly. The straight area is on Suttisan Winitchai Rd around soi Inthamara 2. The gay gogos are opposite side of Phahonayothin Rd down Soi Pradiphat 20 - near Embassy Hotel. 
As a tourist, you will have limited success with any non P4P ladyboys, as they generally are more interested in building a relationship (whatever that relationship may be) than a one night stand with a tourist who may never be back. So I agree with Flip-flops comment above, if you're going to go to the effort to meet them in these places make sure you let them know you're not just a 'one hit wonder'. 

I have had 3 stays with Adelphi. It fits with my location requirement which is to be close to both the MRT & BTS stations making travel relatively easy. Bikes and cars aren't exactly the best ways to travel in Bangkok. 
There is a Tops supermarket at the beginning of the soi so that is a great convenience and the Phrom Phong BTS station is some 300m from the main road. 
The hotel is good in that the rooms are well equipped and  large. The washer/dryer requires less luggage and I find this ideal. 
Breakfast was part of my pkg but much of what they serve is pork to cater to the Jap clientele but I am generally comfortable with eggs and toast. But they should cater to others too. 
Room service is on time and this  is something I am particular about. Staff are attentive and good at what they do.  
I am sure I would return in future.

Beginning this Saturday (24 August 2019), two more stations will be added to the Blue Line extension past Tha Phra: Bang Phai and Bang Wa. At Bang Wa, the MRT connects to the BTS Silom Line. 
The BTS green line (Sukhumvit line) was recently extended too and trains will be going past Mo Chit now and go till Ha Yaek Lat Phrao, next to the large shopping complex.


https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375051
 
 
 

Dynasty Inn,
5 4 Sukhumvit Road Soi 4 Nanatai Klongtoey, Bangkok, Thailand, Bangkok 10110
I was at the Dynasty Inn hotel 3 nights at the beginning of August 2019.
I didn't find any review about this hotel which seems little discussed in this forum, contrary to the Dynasty Grande.
 Why you (and I) would choose this unassuming little hotel (around 60 rooms)? To be in the heart of the action. At your right, count 60 meters to Nana Plaza via Hillary 4 and the Stumble Inn. If you take on your left, Hillary 2 is at 30 meters.
The reviews are good (8.3 on Booking) and this hotel is of course guest-friendly. 
I asked for a non-smoking room at the back of the hotel (quiet rooms). 1 680 baht a night for 2 people. I didn't take the breakfast.
At the entrance of the hotel, the front bar gives you a look at the scene. Very useful to give a rendez-vous to a lb, take a drink and evaluate the chemistry. At night a few ladyboys stand on the sidewalk.
Food from the restaurant is known to be good. I didn't test it.
At the front desk, the hotel staff is friendly and helpful. It's a big plus. The people make the place. No walk of shame. Your guest will let its ID at the reception.
At the check-in they ask for a 500 baht cash deposit for the key.
The back annexe seems to face the rear of Nana Plaza but in the room there is no noise of music or whatever.
The room is quite new, clean and large. 26 square meters. 
Aircon works well, a bit noisy. Comfortable big bed, safe (laptop friendly), fridge, ... Fast wifi.
Complimentary water, coffee.
Bathroom is modern and clean with a hand hose.
All lbs of Nana Plaza know the hotel and will be happy to make the short walk for a session. So no short-time room to pay.
 
All in all I was positively surprised by the quality of this 3 star hotel, clean nice room, friendly staff, located in the heart of the action. I was pleased all the time I spent in that room, feeling well.
Recommend strongly.
Note: Dynasty Grande, on Soi 6, belongs to the same owner and has pool and gym. Around 300/350 baht more expensive by night. Same kind of rooms. Better lobby, front desk not so friendly.
Pictures :
- the entrance of the hotel from soi 4, see the bar. 
- The room with the bed, flat tv, safe. The bathroom. The mirror (ladyboy not included in the package).

Hi OTS,
The guy is there every day. He is not annoying. He is simply there.
Like the ladyboys at dusk (maybe not the same lbs than 20 years before).