Samsonite

Agreed. WHY, with all the hotels in Pattaya is it so difficult to find one with the Quality, but Necessary amenities? Good Location, Girlfriend Friendly, In Room Safe, Pool, Small Kitchenette (make a cup of coffee, heat something in the microwave) and easy access to the rooms. I could even "forgive" the negatives of some of the hotels, such as The Sandy Spring, if they had In Room Safes. Surely, simply adding that one item, which is so rare, would increase a hotel's business? Guess it is getting like BKK where you have to pay up and up to get a really good hotel. Speaking of which, what is the Hard Rock asking for a night?

When the subject has come up in a bar I start asking the girls to show me their hands. Only ONCE, at home or in thailand, has a girl had fingers as has been described by this theory. All the rest, you couldn't tell the different, that is, their ring finger was a little longer than their index finger and they were all generic women. No ladyboys.

Sorry, old wife's tale. Doesn't work Most of the time. Start checking the hands of the women you know and you'll find many of them must be ladyboys if you believe this nonsense. Bullfeathers.

The Haven AKA "Taste of Thailand" is just 4 or 5 doors down the street toward Beach Road. They do a "Full English" breakfast or whatever you would like. La Maison, across the street and to the left of The Haven also serves breakfast. The thai food at La Maison, IMHO, is excellent.

Apparently not. I still stand by everything I said in the original review, but now that I've had time to reflect on this last trip I do have to add one or two caveats. Unless you have a girlfriend who likes to cook or you like to cook yourself, the almost "full kitchen" is a lot of wasted space. Also, and again, the place is IMHO very attractive, but the living room **as furnished** is cold, uncomfortable and was rarely used, except by a few of my female companions when they wanted to watch TV. Even then I found one lady lying on the floor on a towel and a pillow trying to get comfortable. Not having a TV in the bedroom is an advantage from my point of view, given how much your average BG likes to watch Television. Also, the bed is just fine for two people, but if you like threesomes it will definitely be too small. So, if you are not going to entertain guests other than your immediate "friend" and, therefore, you don't need a separate bedroom, and you don't need a full kitchen, an upscale "studio" with a kitchenette might be more suited to your needs. Trying to find one in Pattaya is another story.

Thanks everyone for all the great information. The price sounds almost too low. What do you get for 700 THB as compared to say, The Sandy Spring. What I mean is quality and condition of room, furniture, size of bathroom, etc. Thanks. If there were a web site wouldn't bother you with these questions. Thanks, again.

Thanks for the information. Does anyone know if they have a web site? I couldn't find one via Google.

Thanks, everyone, for the information. One more to cross off the list.

In Room Safe?

Has anyone stayed at this new hotel? http://www.bestbeachpattaya.com/ If so, what is your opinion?

Da Joe's thai food is also very good. I've eaten it at the bar many times.

That sounds correct. They will give you a sheet showing their rates and their policies, unfortunately I forgot to pick one up. They do state, in no uncertain terms, that they do not want the business of certain individuals who, we might say, are....confused about their orientation?

There is Plenty of Hot Water, however in the apartment I rented the bathroom sink faucet was installed correctly, to my way of thinking, but the shower faucet was installed backwards. In The States the standard installation of single handled water faucet has the handle moving counterclockwise so the Top of the handle with the colored Mark or Dot moves to your left for hot water and clockwise, moving the Mark or Dot to the right, for cold water. It would seem there is no such standard in thailand and every hotel I've used has it installed one way or the other. After a few days of wondering if The Golden Crab has sufficient hot water I figured out if you turn the handle so the Mark or Dot on Top is all the way to your right, clockwise, and then lift it so it comes on, in a few seconds you will get more extremely HOT water than you need and you can then move the handle back toward center to get a temperature you find comfortable. Do NOT just turn it on while it is all the way over to the right and jump in. As with anywhere, including home, test it before using. Starting from center and moving the handle one way or the other never seems, for whatever reasons, to produce enough hot water. Just FYI.

I've had very good luck with Mr. Phairoj Munchit, 06-774-5643. A reliable and safe driver. He is based in Bangkok, but knows Pattaya very well.

Pattaya must be different than BKK or elsewhere as my experience has been just the opposite. I've not tried a walk-up in Pattaya, well actually I have, last September, and one place was booked solid and the other two I looked at quoted me, as they do in BKK, their "rate rate" which is their highest rate. Ended up sticking with the hotel I had originally booked as no one offered me anything better than what I already had.

You might read the recent review of The Inn of The Golden Crab.

E-mail Mr. David Wales at, thegoldencrab@hotmail.com

You might want to go to China Air's web site and check their schedule for different days of the week for departure and return times. They have a flight leaving BKK at around 2PM and another around 5PM. As to which is the better airline, they all have the pros and cons and I, except Singapore Air, cannot really tell the different between various Asian airlines, especially in Business Class. I would match China Air's business to any of the others.

From the hallway that leads to the rooms on each floor. Same view from the kitchen window.

No, but I understand a web site is under construction. There is a "view."

I've stayed in one of the Sandy Spring 2,500THB suites and it was simply two of their standard rooms joined by a common door. The rooms were exactly the same. Take the couch out of the "living room" and replace it with a bed and, voilà , you have another "deluxe sea view room." You don't even have to change the end tables as they use the exact same tables as night stands, which don't have drawers, btw. In the "bedroom" add a refrig., two chairs and a table, and, again, you have another regular room. Of the 4 rooms I've used not one had a chest of draws for your underwear and socks. I've never seen a flat panel TV in any room, just your standard tube TV and I don't think it was over about 21" in screen size. The bathroom are small and the shower head is designed for midgets. The last room I had and "final straw" for me, had a dark ring of mold around of tub and it was never cleaned the whole time I was there and the carpet was vacuum about every 3 or 4 days. Of course, there is no in room safe, or I could "forgive" some of the negatives. The place is wearing out fast and I've seen no attempt to maintain the building. It will, in the not too distant future, be another skidrow flophouse dump like the AA next door.

I've stayed at the Sandy Spring 3 times in 4 different rooms and I canNOT, other than location, understand the appeal. Well, there are two very attractive girls behind the reception desk. ;-) I'll post some pictures sometime over the next couple of days.

Same side as the Lek. The old wing is across the street from The Sandy Spring and the new wing is directly across from The Haven.

Actually, quite a few, but I've yet to figure out how to use a photo hosting service. I'll try and do that over the next couple of days.

The Inn of the Golden Crab, Soi 13, Pattaya. E-mail: Mr. David Wales, thegoldencrab@hotmail.com I've spent little over two weeks at The Inn of the Golden Crab and give it high marks. It is not a hotel, but rather apartments. Currently 1 bedroom apartments are 1,000 Baht a day and you can add 100 THB to that if you want your unit cleaned and linen changed daily. The apartment has a kitchen with a two burner cook-top, full cabinetry, counter space, refrig. and all the tableware and cookware you might need. The floors are very attractive marble tile throughout the apartment. The bathroom has a shower, walk-in type separated from the loo by a 4 foot tall by 6 inch thick partition. Nicely done for that type of bathroom design. There is a car park under the new wing, but at ground level, and, of course, a lift. The in room safe is the best I've seen to date, but, unfortunately, not the biggest. You can have a 7 digit number plus a letter combination making it nearly impossible for someone to "crack" your code. Plus, you only have to enter the code once to open the safe. To lock it, just close the door and turn the knob counterclockwise. If I could change anything I would add a couch (sofa) in the living room. As it is the two chairs and the coffee table give what is otherwise a very attractive room a "cold, unfinished" feeling. Each room has a balcony large enough for a table and two chairs looking toward the east and over the pool. My only complaint is they are apparently not finished with the building and the construction noise starts around 9AM and goes on until 6PM. Once the new wing is completed I understand the owner plans to shut down the old wing and gut and redo each apartment so they match the new wing. As it is not a hotel there is no food service, but La Maison is next door and The Haven is just across the street. While it is not the Marriott, it is a great location and I would stay there again. Send e-mail to, Mr. David Wales: thegoldencrab@hotmail.com