rex

I am going from Residence Gardens to Nana Hotel mid-morning (flexible) on Monday 16 January. Am currently planning to take the bus, but would be happy to share a taxi if anyone is interested.

Well, I'm sitting in the place in question right now, composing this on the in-room computer. I've been here 4 days and am moving to the RG tomorrow. I'm fresh from yet another confrontation with a baht bus driver who refused to bring me all the way here. > The good side of this place is that it is a nice, quiet, clean conduminium building with good views and decent pool. The facilities in the room are clean. No problems with bringing guests. The disadvantages, however, are numerous. Minor things like the slow computer and Internet connection, which have driven me nuts at times, and resulted in my doing most of my Internet and email stuff at cafes in Pattaya. The CD Drive is "kaput", in the words of the owner. The bed is hard, even by Thai standards. There is a microwave but no toaster. The only hot water is in an instant unit connected to the shower, which is only hot enough if the pressure is very low. The cable TV channels seem to shift location and come and go as they please. I only had CNN for one night and now BBC has disappeared too. I've got two Bloomburgs, though, so that's really useful. :-/ But by far the biggest problem is location. It's a ten minute walk just to get to the road, by the time you go down the elevator, walk around the building and down two long driveways. Then you have to wait for a baht bus, not so numerous in this part of town, then it's 10 or 15 minutes into Walking Street. Getting back is worse. Many drivers make it plain that they don't want to come this far, and I have had two who have simply stopped and refused to go any further, one about 500 metres short, the other more than a kilometre from the gate. And that's during the day. At night you have no choice but to pay whatever they demand, 100 baht or more. Walking is out of the question, it's way too far, and the girls are all too polite to complain about the location, but you can tell that they feel they've been brought to Outer Mongolia. Worth considering if you have your own transport, otherwise, forget it.

Thanks to those who answered my question, but I've now decided to give China a miss this time around. No prizes for guessing why.

This place does look good. The Internet connection is a big attraction. Is it guest friendly?

Hello all. My first post here. Does anyone know whether there are Travel Agents offering visa services in Pattaya? Would the amount they charge be comparable with the Khaosan Road agents? Specifically, I will need to get a tourist visa for China, and would prefer to arrange it in Pattaya rather than through the Chinese embassy or a Travel Agent in BKK, which would necessitate hanging around in BKK at a time I would rather be enjoying a (ahem) beach holiday. I cannot arrange it here in Australia due to various technicalities. See you in May, people.