jimmac

I stayed in the Royal Cruise in July and I would not recommend it. The rooms are small and a bit worn. I booked in advance as a double but it was made clear on check-in they didn't welcome TG guests and they have a security guard parked permanently at the elevator. I didn't try to bring in a TG. The hotel is full of Chinese tour groups. The breakfast is marginal. The location North Pattaya is great. I would recommend you consider the Beach View which is across the street from Royal Cruise. You can book it on asiatravel.com. It is also a bit worn but clean, very guest friendly, good staff, good beauty parlour for shave etc, and the breakfast is good and you're not fighting with tour groups for breakfast. The Mark-Land is one Soi over and it may be worth considering. I think its a step up from the Royal cruise or Beach View.

I stayed at the Beach View for a week last spring and paid 1250Bht for a suite. I asked for and got a huge room facing Pattaya Bay. It was basic but large, clean and with a great,firm king size bed. It is very guest friendly. Have the girl leave ID at the desk and there is no problem. It has a great beauty parlour which offers great manicures, pedicures, shaves and shampoos. They also offered me in-room massage which I didn't try but would if I went back. There are a couple of nice looking ladies there I'd love to have to my room for a massage and see what extras may be offered. I did not find it noisy. The housekeeping staff are great if you give them a tip and the breakfast is OK. The location makes it easily accessible to South Pattaya by baht bus but not in South Pattaya. You're also close to the Big C shopping complex, beer bars at the Second Road end of Sois 2 and 3 and all the massage parlours in that area. I haven't stayed in similarly priced accomodation but I thought for the price it was fine and most of all, no hassles.

You must have had a computer lemon. All lap tops should accept any power input. The cords convert it down to 9 volt direct current. I powered my iBook with no problem in Pattaya this summer and I connected to my AOL account on their Rayong number with no problem. There was a long distance charge for the Rayong calls but they weren't expensive. If I was staying for a while I'd buy the local service provider package. You should have no problems connected and you don't need a transformer.

I stayed at the Beach View in April and was offered in room massage service at the beauty shop. I was in the beauty shop again in July and offered the same service in July but I was not staying at the Beach View. I don't remember why I didn't accept in March. There are a couple of attractive ladies working in the beauty shop. I don't know if full service would be available but I suspect so. If anyone has tried the massage at the Beach View I'd be interested in knowing.

Has anyone stayed at the Mark-Land Hotel recently? How is it for value and for being guest friendly? Are the rooms and bathrooms good quality? Thanks jimmac