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Martin do you have any information on the contract renewal? Seems like you told me the current rates were good through October this year.

From: Front Manager LK Renaissance Hotel (fo_renaissance@lkpattaya.com) Sent: Thu 1/08/09 8:17 PM To: Dear Mr. Jon FLB Room Rate Room Type Daily 1-6 Month 6 Months Overs Superior (40 Sq.m) 1,750/Night 45,000.- 37,500.- Deluxe A (60 Sq.m) 2,450/Night 63,000.- 52,500.- Deluxe B (60 Sq.m) 2,100/Night 54,000.- 45,000.- One Bed Room (80 Sq.m) 3,150/Night 81,000.- 67,500.-

I was wondering the same thing. I am there for 3 weeks beginning 14 December and got the FLB rate. Even so, I cannot imagine doing so for 2 months.

I agree. Used to use Mr. Toom - sometimes the cars were OK, sometimes not so OK. Tried Pattaya Limo and they were a no show. Walked out to arrivals, dickered for a bit and agreed on 1400 baht all in, and ended up in a Toyota that had only 200 kilometers on it. Lady driver was great and, if anything, drove a little faster than I would have asked for. Ever since I don't bother with pre arranging.

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I would say that they are statistically equivalent - all way too small to do anything more than wading.

Good luck if you ever have reason to cancel a reservation (with more than 2 months notice) and actually receiving the deposit back (5,000 baht by credit card). After several attempts and communications, some not always so understandable, they said that they have processed the refund but that the bank of thailand has not done their thing and Metropole doesn't know when they will. After waiting 5 weeks now, me thinks that refunds are not part of the program. Maybe if and when the $US somehow recovers some day.

Last April was my 1st stay there. I simply walked up in the middle of the afternoon and asked to see their various rooms. I chose the 1 bedroom suite. While filling out the paper work I asked if I could get the FLB rate. After about 5 minutes of their talking amongst themselves they said fine.

I stayed in a 1 bedroom suite the last 10 days of July this year. It was my 2nd visit here and I have a reservation for the same suite in December. This 2nd visit left me feeling somewhat empty about LK Metropole. Much of what lajimmy said rang true for me. What I liked best about the room was the balcony - plenty of room and decent chairs, table and pool view. What I like least was the constant lack of water pressure throughout and the frequent lack of sufficient hot water. Additionally, for as much room as there is in the suite, the sofa could and should be far longer than what is provided. It is closer to being a love seat than a sofa - very challenging to lie in comfortably. I will likely cancel my reservation for December and instead plan on returning to Soi 13.

Yes - smoking in the rooms seems to be no problem.

That's pushing it. The gym is pretty damned basic.

Thanks Alex. See you again this Wed.

19 hours to push back - Denver/LAX/Narita/Bangkok

The distinguishment for me is the "living" in LOS versus visiting 3 or 4 times/year. A never ending choice, from what has been posted by a few expats, becomes far less interesting over time. Yet when making a few trips/year, it is impossible to imagine it getting boring or less attractive. So for this point in time, I can't see "living" in LOS for the same money as being necessarily much better than at home.

I disagree - especially with the "much better" part. Add together the trend of the exchange rate and the rise in costs/inflation that we have seen in the past 2 or 3 years, I think that it is difficult to assume that you will get as much value for the $ as in your own country. Sad really. When I started coming to LOS in '98, your perspective would have been more accurate.