My recent guesthouse experience.

[captcraig2 120]

I have traveled to Pattaya many times and stayed in many different hotels but staying at a guesthouse was a first time experience for me.

 

I arrived early in the morning and my wife and daughters were coming later in the day. I decided that since my children were on this trip that I would look into a room in Jomtien. The taxi suggested I try a guest house and drove me to a place called Stepan's guesthouse soi 4 Jomtien.

 

I told the Thai lady which is also either the manager or mia farang to the owner that I needed a room with two beds because my wife and two daughters were enroute. She showed me an okay nothing fancy room for 800 baht. Room was rented, asked for two more pillows because the room only had two. About 4 pm the family shows up and we get ready to go exploring, return back to the hotel about 9 pm spoke with the ladyboy at the front desk and went to the room.

 

At 11:30 pm we get a knock on the door, it's the ladyboy. Seems we have a problem, manager called and said room for two people only...we have to rent another room. I refused and told them I would just check out, manager says ok but I keep half money for room!

Not gonna happen, anyway I offered to pay extra and meet in the middle but that was not an option, police were called we got all our rent money back and now wondering the street at midnight with two children and pouring down rain!

 

All ended okay but Stepan's Guesthouse will never see me again, management their is off the rails!

Edited September 27, 2016 by captcraig2

[js007 795]

Since they knew of your plans in advance, it seems odd that they would up the price after you checked in.

[captcraig2 120]

I'm sure there was a misunderstanding somewhere and that was why I offered to pay additional for my children. The manager/owner mia farang I'm guessing, refused. In return she lost all the revenue on a night where there were very few customers, if any. Makes no sense, we were checking out in five hours anyway.

Edited September 27, 2016 by captcraig2

[teelack 9,352]

Well at least you have the satisfaction of posting here and sharing the pain and warning others. Thats a small comfort but it is what I believe the forum is for.

[jacko 8,777]

So idiotic to do this at 11.30pm.

Perhaps some rules meant to apply to non-family arrangements were applied to you.

 

The reviews on Tripadvisor are mostly good, although there are some complaints about the grumpy wife's attitude. Perhaps the OP should add a review there too. Being effectively kicked out of your room at 11.30pm is not good guesthouse hospitality.

Edited September 28, 2016 by jacko

[Goldpanner 399]

Tripadvisor dont publish all the reviews they get. Ive posted 3 reviews in the last 3 yearsand only 1 has appeared

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

All ended okay but Stepan's Guesthouse will never see me again, management their is off the rails!

 

You and your family were treated atrociously by the management. You should definitely submit your review to TripAdvisor. Just copy and paste your P-T post, perhaps leaving out the above final sentence.

 

In many cities, it's illegal (a violation of local ordinances) for a hotel to put a registered guest on the street in the middle of the night. That's to prevent fully booked hotels from kicking out guests because they are offered more money for a room by a prospective guest.

 

Evil

[atlas2 4,329]

Definitely post this on trip advisor.

With two kids in the rain at night that is appalling.

 

I will make a point of telling everyone I know and asking they pass it on to their aquaintences .its nothing to do with me but I'm fuming.

[jacko 8,777]

Definitely post this on trip advisor.

With two kids in the rain at night that is appalling.

 

I will make a point of telling everyone I know and asking they pass it on to their aquaintences .its nothing to do with me but I'm fuming.

I hear you hang around in Jomtiem, you could blockade the place and warn prospective customers.

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

Hardly the Sanuk one is looking for in LOS. Bad business practice as well. i'm sure some of these guesthouses are very good, just find them.

[atlas2 4,329]

I hear you hang around in Jomtiem, you could blockade the place and warn prospective customers.

 

Yes I'm tempted to use my Blackbelt in ballet!!

[plahgat 523]

If travelling with family I would have checked and booked a room well in advance, and not relied on a taxidriver to take me to some unknown guesthouse were he probably got some commission!

 

Plahgat

[captcraig2 120]

Thanks for the advice and I would normally agree with you however this was a spur of the moment trip and I checked into the hotel at noon. The taxi was also not from Pattaya and had no idea where to stop, that was my wife telling him via mobile phone regarding the area, hotel was just a random pick.

[graymatter 153]

I know what I would do but that's me so there is no point in going into too much detail. At 11 pm I would simply tell him to go away a

and we will discuss things in the morning.

 

I moved to guest houses a few years ago with the understanding that you are taking a few chances with almost no security checks on guests, risks of security with things in your rooms and a general lack of facilities, To offset these issues you should be paying a lower rate but I recommend doing some research and getting a recommendation. In many cases the guest house isn't licensed so they are taking a chance on you as well and in a situation like this the trouble to kick you out at 11pm is more than its worth.

 

I admit that i'm surprised that the police were called unless he was a friendly wanting a tip.

[captcraig2 120]

Actually the police officer was very friendly and never mentioned anything regarding a tip, he handled the situation very well.

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

If travelling with family I would have checked and booked a room well in advance, and not relied on a taxidriver to take me to some unknown guesthouse were he probably got some commission!

 

Plahgat

 

 

Well, there it is.

 

If it's just me I'll bunk up behind a 7-11 and rest my head on an empty Chang bottle if need be, but when you're bringing kids you gotta book in advance.

[captcraig2 120]

Thanks but it was already explained earlier.