Asian Hotel Room

Located on Soi Nana Omni Tower Bangkok is one of the oldest serviced apartment buildings in Bangkok. A serviced apartment is basically a hotel that rents out furnished apartments for short and long term stays. I booked a 2 BR for me and my friends. The apartment was located on the 26th floor. It was nice and offered a lot of space. The furniture showed a bit of tear and wear compared to other competitors in that area like the newly renovated Centrepoint on Soi 10. The security is very tight and a bit annoying. They ask for IDs of Thai visitors, but foreign looking friends like Westerners and Japanese pass without the need to show an ID. Go figure! Maybe it's because the hotel is located close to Nana Plaza, one of the red-light districts of Bangkok. As long as they offer promos and reasonable pricing the Omni Tower is a good offer for people who want to stay close to Nana Plaza. The elevator ride on the outside of the building offers a great view of the city, but can be scary for people who are afraid of heights.
Online Discount Booking: Omni Tower Serviced Apartments

Top Image: Aerial view from my bedroom overlooking Sukhumvit area with its high rise office and condo buildings. Bottom table of images: snapshots of my 2 BR apartment on the 26th floor.

A smaller Bangkok hotel in central location on the crossing of Sukhumvit Road and Soi 19. The Grottino located very close to public transportation like MRT, BTS Skytrain and the Ekkamai bus terminal, taxi transport to the Suvarbnahumi airport lasts around 30 minutes via Asok and Rama 9 highway. The rooms are comfortable and provide a nice amount of space, but some of the hotel rooms are for smokers, be aware of this and ask for a non-smoking room if this is of concern to you. The owners are friendly Swiss people who are more than happy to assist in many matters. The restaurant offers Thai and Swiss dishes. My tip: Try their bread! They operate a bakery with some of the best bread in Bangkok.

Girlfriend and Mom came for a visit to Asia. They wanted to see the famous beaches of Thailand and there is no better place than Phuket in Thailand. I don't remember what website I used to search for hotels, but I found the newly rebuilt Sugar Palm Resort as a last minute offer for 1300 Baht per night. It's located 2 blocks off of Kata beach, one of the nicest and more quiet beaches on the tropical island. The room was great with a sliding divider between bedroom and bath. Everything was new and functional. Internet access for their WLan had to be purchased in 80 Baht denominations for 3 hours with very slow connectivity and poor signal on the third floor. But, hey: other than that it was a great Phuket vacation hotel with nice pool, easy beach access with a lot of touristy places and restaurants near by. I would come here again any time.
Online Booking: Agoda Phuket.

This if one of the quieter apartment hotels in North Pattaya. It is situated between second and third Road close to the Amari Nova Suites that I have previously reviewed. Nova Park offers normal hotel rooms, one and two bedroom suites. All are equipped with a small kitchen, spacious bathrooms and large beds. To my delight it was possible to darken the room totally during the day. The thick curtains make it easy to sleep firmly into the day without being woken up by the bright sunlight. The main building shows some tear and wear to be honest, but it is maintained pretty well nevertheless as everything is functioning. A nice pool and always friendly reception staff make it a pleasure to stay for a couple of days. The massage parlor beside the main entrance offers a great Thai massage. You can either get the massage in the parlor or in the privacy of a hotel room. A pub is on the premise offering British food as well as Thai dishes. The food is decent for a quick snack, but I did prefer to dine outside most of the time.
Wifi internet is available, but as with most other Pattaya hotels, speed and reliability leave much to be desired. The prices are very moderate and the neigbourhood is pretty calm. A nice change from the hustle of South Pattaya. I would stay there again.

A comfortable Nova Park bed. Click on Read More to see additional hotel images.

Read more »

Amari is a well established chain of first class business and resort hotels in Thailand. I have stayed at houses of this chain in various Thai cities and always enjoyed it. About a year ago they invested into expansion in Pattaya, First they expanded theit beach resort with a new highrise and afterwards they errected a new lowrise suite hotel in a very quiet location in Central Pattaya: Pattaya Nova Suites. I stayed there 3 times over the past year. The one-bedroom suite was my choice. The house does not give you the feeling of being inside a hotel with people rushing in and out. It's more of a place for an extended stay. Since the pricing of the rooms is on a higher than average level for Pattaya it attracts a rather wealthy crowd. Stylish eople who enjoy comfort and peace. It's a perfect place for me as internet connectivity is pretty good for Pattaya where time outs and slow lines are always a problem. The interiour design is simple, stylish and functional. You have everything you need and ample of room to lean back and relax. Each unit has a small kitchen with all cooking utensils you ever need. The maids clean everyhting so there is no need to wash any dishes by yourself. There is a rooftop pool and a nicely equipped gym on the 11th floor. At night time they have 2 very nice bars in their basement. One is a bed club and the other one a cocktail club that is made out of ice. Yes ... and ice bar in sunny Pattaya to chill you down at night.
For me this is the perfect place in Pattaya. If I ever find enough time to get away from work for a longer time, I would stay there for weeks and months. Booking: Agoda Thailand

A look at the kingsized bed. There is a clothing and office area behind the wall before you enter the bathroom

Read more »

I had a quick 2 day trip to Pattaya over the weekend. Pattaya is a well known beach and nightlife destination about 2 hours by car from Thailand's capital Bangkok. Pattaya is primarily known for it's affordable prices on food and accommodations as it attracts a lot of European long term visitors who rather spend the cold season in the comfortable tropical temperatures of the Gulf of Thailand.
Naklua Road in the north of Pattaya is known to be the cheapest and less crowded part of the city. Plenty of hotels are hidden quietly in the side street to offer peace and perfect privacy just like View Talay Place. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera along to take photos of their rooms. The room I got was a deluxe room for around 1100 baht (less than 40 US$). It offered around 30 sqm with a king size bed, tiled floors, a bathroom with shower and a small balcony with a view of the nice pool. Their website is pretty accurate so you do get a solid impression. It's basic, but it is clean and very quiet unlike the hotels close to Walking street in the south of the town where you have to cope with high levels of noise day in day out as this is the place of the infamous and vibrant nightlife quarter and red-light district.
Internet is available via cable on all rooms, but it takes a small effort to setup. They will need to plug a cable into their control panel on the reception and provide you with a modem that you will need to plug into the telephone line on your room. There is a technician on duty during the daytime to assist you. Their connection is rather slow, but worked all of the time during my stay. Generally, internet connections in Pattaya are not as good as in Bangkok. All hotels and condominiums that I stayed in over the past 2 years always have had some sort of issues with their internet providers.
Online Booking: Agoda Thailand

The pool area in front of the building. Courtesy of View Talay Place website.