Updated 30/01/2008 THE BEST VALUE HOTELS IN THAILAND (Bangkok, Samui, Pattaya & Jomtien): BANGKOK
PALACE HOTEL (ex MERCURE) (****): With such a strategic
location, mid-way between the Pratunam Market and the But this is actually not the case: after being backed by the reputed ACCOR group, its new Thai management works like a hard discounter. Therefore, we were surprised to receive a spacious "Deluxe Room", on the Executive Floor, for less than $60. Believe it or not, rate included continental breakfast and evening drinks in the Executive Lounge, where hostesses generously serve complimentary juices and snacks all day long. Of course, there is a pool, Jacuzzi, brand new fitness centre, and sauna. You will find a pleasant "Lobby Lounge & Bar", just opposite the "Palace Bakery". Many restaurants. Three massage parlours are welcoming the bodily weary and sybaritic guests. The "Grand Ballroom", very popular for seminars, can receive up to 1,500 guests. One of the very
best value in Bangkok.
BANGKOK
PALACE HOTEL: City Square: 1091/336 New Petchburi Rd, Bangkok 10400
TARNTAWAN
PLACE (****): With a splendid location
in the heart of the entertainment and business area of Patpong, Thaniya
Plaza, Silom and Surawong, Well known by travellers, the TARNTAWAN PLACE is part of those few hotels taking their new guests out of regular clients warm recommendations. During our visit we saw in their guestbook so many letters coming weekly from all around the world to pay gratitude for the commitment and dedication of the multilingual staff, cleaness and comfort of the hotel, that we understood why there is no need of a PR manager to make that place that popular. We just picked up at random one comment out of hundreds: "I have visited Bangkok four times in the past year and have stayed at your hotel. Everything about it is just right. Location, price and service. Your staff is always helpful and smiling. How can you not love this place. It's the best in Bangkok!". Who could say more ?! The self controlled airconditioned rooms are all appointed a four star way. Spacious and light, decorated with some Thai items and nice fabrics, equipped with an inexpensive minibar, coffee/tea making facilities, satelite TV, and IDD telephone, they are currently refurbished to an even higher standard (marble and ornamented china in the bathroom, smooth carpets, upgraded furnishment...). Sound proofed, they make you feel like miles away from the bustling Surawong road. The intimate Business Center is equipped with a fax machine and a computer to surf on the Internet or send e-mail. Typing and translating service is available on simple request. Jet lag removing relaxing massages can be enjoyed in the cozyness of the hotel room. To keep even closer to the guests, meeting their special requirement and providing them very personal tips to enjoy the City of Angel just like a long term resident would do, the weekly management cocktail is a great opportunity to feel like that family atmosphere making the TARNTAWAN PLACE much more than an hotel. If rooms are first class, rates are cheap. Illustrating with perfection the title of our chapter! A Deluxe room was THB 1,950 (about US$ 49) the day of our visit: on June 2000. A large Deluxe Suite was only THB 2,600 (about US$ 65). The check out bill will certainly not be inflated by the extras: the Thai and International cuisine served in the lobby lounge is so affordable that many guests like to stay there for lunch or dinner. A very good address
to enjoy the best of Bangkok in a smooth atmosphere.
TARNTAWAN
PLACE: 119/5-10 Surawong Road, BANGKOK 10500
TAI-PAN
(****): Definitely one of the best value in
town, the TAI-PAN is first of all highly praised for its great location
: one of the most By night, the atmosphere becomes frantic : the legendary "Soi Cow Boy", its go-go clubs, bars and seafood restaurants, welcome the expats who know that "leisure" here are cheaper, better, and much more friendly than along the touristy Patpong Road . The wise guests will discover that place with much pleasure, and mix with expats, catching useful travel tips from them. Actually, it should be easy for the management of this privileged hotel to take profit out of its fame to neglect all the rest : service, rooms, and F&B ; on the contrary, the place is professionally run. The 150 rooms and suites are huge, permanently refurbished, extremely clean, with a very elegant decoration mixing mahogany with nicely designed fabrics. It will approximately cost you THB 1,800 (circa USD 50) per night, only ! TAI-PAN also means, even for outsiders, the best buffet lunch in the whole area; and one of the cheapest, where great food will cost you approximately less than THB 200 (USD 5,5). This is the only buffet lunch animated by a pianist ! Of course there is a swimming pool, but also a ‘Fitness Center’ with brand new tools for an efficient work-out, a sauna , aerobics, and a traditional massage parlour (by very gifted & diplomed staff; for hawky-panky ‘oil massage’, just try Soi Cow Boy !). Whenever you would like to travel to Singapore, Vientiane or Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), the same group of hotels owns some nice properties in the three capital cities / you may book from here for the most reasonable rate. Warmly recommended. TAI-PAN
: 25, Sukhumvit Soi 23, Bangkok 10110
SOL TWIN TOWERS (****): We discovered with pleasure this new luxurious hotel, with 700 large guest rooms and suites attractively decorated and top comfortable. All the electronic amenities can be remote-controled from your bed ! The welcome in the lobby is very friendly, with traditional Siamese music and charming hostesses. There are also a good coffee shop haunted by talkative Spanish and South American guests (the hotel is a JV between Spain and Colombia), and gourmet restaurants: including the reputed FU MARN LAU (specialized in Chaw Chow and Cantonese cuisine). The SOL TWIN TOWERS offers the best valued top luxurious Presidential Suite in town (approximately $600 per night), and a very relaxing massage parlour we kindly invite you to try at least once during your stay. This is an hotel GRUPO SOL. SOL TWIN
TOWERS: 88, New Rama IV Rd, Rong Muang, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330
BAIYOKE SUITE (****): Like or not the impressive architecture of this sky-scrapper, the BAIYOKE is extremely popular among tourists from all over the world. Why? Because this is a cheap, comfortable, and family oriented hotel, with huge and recently refurbished suites they charge for the price of a reclusive room anywhere else in Bangkok. There is a pool (too small for so many guests), a massage parlour, and a very good restaurant on the top floor of this43 storey building: there you will get the cheapest and highest "panoramic dinner" in town. This is a BEST-WESTERN hotel. BAIYOKE
SUITE: 130 Rajprarop Rd, Phayathai,Bangkok 10400,
WOODLANDS
INN (***): This first
class budget hotel located in the heart of downtown Bangkok will fulfil
the requirement of our budget minded readers, looking for Established in 1995, the WOODLANDS INN is a first class budget hotel, consisting of 75 very comfortable rooms. There are actually two categories of accommodation. The Deluxe and the Economy rooms: the first category is still very much affordable, with VIP Rooms for approximately USD 25 per night, and single for USD 15. A double would cost USD 18 only. Economy rooms are about USD 10/12,5: depending if you take single or double. Which is extremely cheap in Bangkok: moreover in this area. All room rates are net, and include American breakfast. The WOODLANDS INN offers very good value for money packages, which would make the stay even more affordable. All major credit cards are accepted. Four star facilities are available: like IDD telephone in the room. Guests can also send and receive facsimile, surf the Internet, or use the round the clock room service (few budget hotels would offer such a convenience). There is also a cheap laundry and dry cleaning, baby sitter, hotel taxi and tours in and out of Bangkok with the hotel taxi or a larger van. The airport pick up and send-off service is very convenient: both for who comes to Bangkok for the first time, and for the busy businessmen who like to stay in this quiet hotel with a family atmosphere. Everybody will enjoy the warm and friendly service of the South Indian management team: with proficient Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, Urdu, Thai and English speaking trained staff. The hotel is a favourite for the
Indian businessmen, very much involved in trade with Thailand. Tourists
from all around the world like to mix with them at The Woodlands Indian
Restaurant: very popular in town, it has various Indian and Thai dishes
to satisfy all tastes. Including vegetarian meals. Lunch set menu starts
at THB 60 and dinner at THB 100: which makes approximately USD 1.5/2.5,
only!
WOODLANDS
INN: 1158/5-7 Charoen Krung 32 Road, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
SAMUI:
We found LE CHABLIS a perfect first class though cheap favourite lodging in Samui. Not only for its comfort; but also for all those facilities offered to the guests for a most affordable price. Its Thai restaurant, intimate and friendly, is reputed all over Chaweng beach area. This is also the place to enjoy European snacks -including some French meal- with a glass of fine wine. If you don't drink their beloved Chablis, let's try some chilled and not expensive Australian wine. Some are quite palatable, and suit well the tropical weather. LE CHABLIS is considered the place for wine on the island: it has its private Wine Bar. Moreover, the hotel offers a very suitable new service offering package and tailor made tours: elephant trekking, swimming at Na Muang waterfalls or untouched Anghtong National Reserve islands, scuba diving, jet skis, para sailing, or visits to monkeys working picking coconuts ... everything can be organised a most serious and money saving way by the friendly hotel staff. Good value for money rates vary according to the season. A 1 room apartment would cost between THB 1,190 and 2,190 per night. A large 2 rooms apartment is about THB 2,190-4,290. Including taxes and breakfast. Special rate is applicable for long stays. Transfer from / to airport (10 minutes from the hotel) is free of charge. Warmly recommended.
LE
CHABLIS: 119/22 Moo 2, Tambon Bophut, Chaweng Beach Road, 84320 Koh
Samui
CHOLCHAN
PATTAYA RESORT (****): Away from the noisy, crowded and therefore
polluted North Pattaya area, but still part of the most More than 50% of the 540 rooms and suites are "Seaview": huge, light, comfortable, designed with good taste and simplicity, they are all equipped with minibar and cable TV. Very beautiful landscaped swimming pool, and well-equipped fitness club: this is all complimentary, except sauna and massages. Guests dont use that much the beach, though it is cleaned up every hour, with a water reported to be much clearer than in South Pattaya (never swim in South Pattaya, by the way !). The brand new property still need many years to be spoiled by both time and severe tropical weather: contrary to many hotels all around, everything here remains immaculate, cleaner than the cleanest Swiss clinic. Like in its Bangkok sister hotel the Bangkok Palace, the service is anticipating, smiling, and actually friendly. We found here the real Thai hospitality. There is a complimentary transfer, by air-conditioned shuttle bus, between this Paradise and the Hell of South Pattaya: the contrast is amazing. Though standard rates are about
THB3000 (USD90) per night, cost may be reduced by 50% -at least !- if guests
book on a package. This is one of the most popular hotels in the district,
and advanced booking is kindly suggested.
CHOLCHAN
PATTAYA RESORT: 19 Moo 1,
Tambon Nagulea, Amphur Banglamung, Pattaya, Chonburi 20150
PINEWOOD
CONDO HOTEL (****): Located in the entertaining heart of Pattaya,
this is one of the most The family oriented PINEWOOD CONDO HOTEL offers 102 very comfortable rooms and suites, generously sized from 48 up to 110 sq.m From the intimate standard rooms till the two-room studios or the great three-room Penthouse -one of the most luxurious in Pattaya, with private sauna and Jacuzzi- accommodation meets the highest expectation. Designed in a lovely Thai concept, with a generous use of tropical wood furniture and nice fabrics, all rooms are fully equipped with cable TV, IDD telephone and, we found it clever for long stay, a very useful kitchenette with refrigerator and cooking facilities. The pool is superb. Very tropical, indeed, and large enough for a pleasant swim after a good sauna. Breakfast is served in such a great environment: at the poolside restaurant, which is also an extremely romantic place for dinner prepared according to international standards of a four star hotel. Whose who prefer to eat in the intimacy of their room can buy goods at the Minimart: without even leaving the hotel. Among the multiple facilities of the PINEWOOD CONDO HOTEL are a laundry, a reliable baby-sitting service, and a well fitted business-centre with secretarial assistance and internet facilities. There is a parking, and a shuttle service to and from Bangkok and U-Tapao Airports. Last but not least, rates are very attractive. The PINEWOOD CONDO HOTEL is a member of NEO Corporation Singapore. A very lovely place to enjoy Pattaya. PINEWOOD
CONDO HOTEL: 78/3 Moo 9, Second Road, 20260 Pattaya
|
World
Trade Center, in the working heart of downtown, with such a well trained
staff kneeling to serve you a drink, and with its 650 comfortable rooms
and suites, the four star BANGKOK PALACE HOTEL should be one of the most
expensive hotels in Bangkok.
we
discovered this boutique hotel on a lucky day. Hidden in a quiet courtyard
off Surawong Road, standing beside a beautiful Thai massage pavillion,
the TARNTAWAN PLACE is an extremely pleasant 67 deluxe rooms and
8 suites boutique hotel with New Zealand/Swiss management who provides
their guests with a very clever mixture of western know how and Thai flexibility.
Which means that this is the place, indeed, for both tourists and businessmen
looking for a warm and extremely good value hospitality, a couple of minutes
walk to international banks, major companies, shopping centres and airline
offices.
enjoyable
in the Sukhumvit area, and still one of the most quiet. The hotel stays
in an elegant residential lane, a few meters away from the nicest shopping
arcades in Thailand.
a
great 
provides
most pleasing 
famous
resort in all SE Asia, the former Mercure Pattaya tends to be one of the
very best value four star hotel in town. This is also the most family oriented,
and the one of the most friendly indeed.
popular
hotels in town. With the Pattaya Bay sand beach, best shopping, restaurants
and cafes accessible by a short walk, this is the perfect place to drop
one's luggage.
