The Bondi Hotel in Jomtien

[Smiles]

" ... Bondi Hotel Jomtien ****
413/24-28 Jomtien Complex, Thrappaya Rd, Jomtien, 038-303-799, email. 15 smart studio style apartments, all newly refurbished with en-suite bathrooms, separate bedrooms and lounge areas, cable TV, safes and air conditioning. Smart terrace bar on the premises is open Daily from noon to 1am and their coffee shop serves light meals and snacks. Rates start at B$800/night including tax. ... "
Very much agree with this blurb from LMTU regarding the Bondi Hotel.
Really good value for money (our 2 room suite ~ just left ~ was 950 baht) and a pleasant place to stay in Jomtien.
The owner/manager (Colin) a very friendly guy with an infectious and sincere smile for evey occurence (including the 30-second electricity blackouts which occur like clockwork around 6PM (don't be in the shower then as it will go from hot to freezing in seconds & those with sensitive tickers will expire).
A nice buch of boys as serving staff (offs?? Not sure, didn't ask) downstairs in the bar/restaurant/karaoke/pool hall/bullshitting area. Breakfast not included but acroos the road is the KonTiki Restaurant... a bit of a broken-down appearence but terrific & cheap breakfasts (the rice soup is incredibly tasty, and this Thai lady knows the ins & outs of just-right scrambled eggs ... usually totally fucked up in Thailand). For a taste treat, walk down Jomtien Rd a block or two to the Continental Restaurant and grab a whole mess of their apple strudel (called apple croissant): the lemony icing is heavenly in combo with a generous inside cooked apple filling. Worth the drive from Pattaya.

The room we occupied consisted of a large living room separated by nearly-blacked-out sliding glass doors through which one can watch one's boyfriend do a striptease when the dim lights inside are turned on. The whole arrangement is pulled off with stark white-walled minimalism accentuated by 3 or 4 original pieces of bright-coloured abstract art. A realy pleasant ambience in my books. The only issue (and a small one) is that the bedroom is the only air-conned room . . . the air machine is not quite up to cooling the 2 rooms so we usually left the sliding doors closed and used only the overhead fan & open windows to cool the living room: That was only marginally effective in the 39 degree heat while we were in Jomtien.

Finally met a few guys from the Board . . . Mr John Botting is a dear and refused to take a punch at me for differing opinions over the years. Mr Rainwalker slyly grabbed the bill while my back was turned and will be compensated some other time in the future, but nice to visit for an hour with a fellow canuck. Mr Dale embraced Suphot like a long lost love after being snuck up upon (he had taken one of Phot's guided tours through Isaan last November) and I also was glad to see that one of the beloved's customers had come back alive!

The Bondi Hotel, Jomtien: well recommended

Cheers ...

DELETED

[jolyjacktar]

Might give this Hotel a try out somtime. Sounds a better proposition than Boyzzzz town ripo joints. And within 2 minutes walk to Jomptien beach.

[Jetsam]

Thanks for the review Smiles, I will be there in 2,5 weeks for a 3 week stay :geek:


A nice buch of boys as serving staff (offs?? Not sure, didn't ask)

will let you know later :clown:


The owner/manager (Colin) a very friendly guy with an infectious and sincere smile for evey occurence (including the 30-second electricity blackouts which occur like clockwork around 6PM (don't be in the shower then as it will go from hot to freezing in seconds & those with sensitive tickers will expire).

And very quick with responding on emails too.
For sure I won't take a shower at 6PM , I hate when it's 8 cm cold :confused3:

Hi, Smiles,

Sounds like a great place to stay and that you're having fun. Didn't stay there but I can answer your question regarding the availability of staff for offs as a definite Yes.

I'm leaving for the airport on my way to Thailand in a couple of hours so if I make it to Jomtien maybe I'll stay at the Bondi. The Poseidon (where I stayed last time) at the other end of the soi is terrific but the price somewhat more dear.

Cheers.

Smiles, How do you compare it to Howards, for which you also gave a good review? Based on your review (and others) I have booked one of the Larger rooms at Howards in June. I have stayed at Poseidon before and was very happy, but I find Jomtien too quiet at night and prefer to stay uptown and only come down to Jomtien to go to the beach during the day.

I must concur that the folks at the Bondi do an excellent job -- great value for money, and such a charming place to stay!

I know you didn't ask me about my opinion JakeNasty of Howards compaired to the Bondi, but i'll give it anyway.

Howards I found quite decent. The room was large enough, the bed firm and large (maybe queen), cable tv, good air con, lift if needed, not so good view (backs of buildings), quiet, downstairs small bar area, good locale for Sunee and short walk to Boyztown, price was 650 baht when I stayed last year. The only problem, as I saw it, was that the boys always grabbed me as I walked in or out with the 'where you going'? and 'Where you been'? questions along with statements that they will come to my room. I also had to suffer late night knocks on the door and telephone calls from the boys downstairs asking to come to my room. It put me off so much that I moved out earlier than planned, I was charged two extra nights for moving out early.

Bondi I found good too. The room was larger than Howards and had the addition of coffee table seating area, cable tv, room split in two with one part air con and one part fan cooled, view of open land onto building development, double bed, quiet, downstairs large bar area with many boys all friendly and not overly pushy, live music in the singalong easy listening stylee, a few bars in the immediate local (no gogo) and a short 10/20 baht bus ride into Pattaya. The boys can be 'offed' but I think I have learnt my lesson about offing boys from where you stay, for me it never works out as the boy either keeps asking you when he will see you again or gets pissed off that you bring someone else back. The Bondi has a bar entrance and direct entrance to the rooms on the first floor. Price was 950 baht when I stayed.

I have also stayed in Two Faces in Jomtien. The two different rooms I have stayed in at Two Faces were both of decent size, the larger one had breakfast table and chairs plus coffee table chairs and sofa, the smalller room had just coffee table and chairs but did have a nice little balcony, both rooms have cable, large queen four poster beds, good air con, ceiling and stand fans, coffee making facility, sinks, crockery, were quiet and faced open land leading to building development, some boys in the downstairs bar who are friendly and can be 'offed'. The bar is less busy than the Bondi but is welcoming. Two Faces also has a bar entrance and ist floor entrance to all rooms. I paid 650 baht due to long stay and the regular price is 850 baht, although this may now be cheaper in the low season.


My preference of the above places is probably Two Faces. Howards is nice enough but I don't want the boy hassle. Bondi is also nice enough, although the room I had was large it was sparsely filled, the coffee table was a little dwarfed in the large room. Two Faces is a very decent price for a well decorated, well furnished and hassle free holiday room.

But, as they say here, it's up to you!

[elephantspike]

Thanks for the update, Smiles.

I have deleted two posts from two members on this thread that were just the beginning of a flame-war that had nothing to do with the topic of this thread.

[Smiles]

Thanks for the update, Smiles.

I have deleted two posts from two members on this thread that were just the beginning of a flame-war that had nothing to do with the topic of this thread.
What!!?? And no opportunity to read the dumb prick(s)' flame? Thanks for spoiling the fun :blackeye:

As for the question above at Howards ... the only room I can speak of is the very large "penthouse" on the top floor. It's quite large (actually larger than the suite at Bondi) but all one big room with large 'hong nam (yi)' (the Bondi's bathroms are smallish). I enjoyed Howards, though I agree with the pushy reception every time I walked through the reception/bar area. That might be agreeable and rather quaint to Thailand newbies, but it gets old after awhile and makes it rather more difficult to put on a happy face when one is accosted by one of the hotel's staff. After going into "ignore" mode 2 or 3 times they left me in peace after that, and I could relax and enjoy the hotel. A small price to pay for the location to the action.

Overall, for me the choice would be Bondi everytime, but if you like the Pattaya (and Sunnee) scene then Howards is a good choice.

Cheers ...

PS . . .

I've copied here a PM I received regarding the Bondi Hotel from a member and my answer. (XXXX'ed out the names). The correspondance is self-explanatory, but I thought it might be something to keep in mind if you are a light sleeper:


Re: Bondi
XXXXXXX wrote:
Hi Smiles, I will be in Bondi XXXXXX for my first time. Ive booked a Standard suite which i think is the middle size. What i need to know is whats the noise factor like for sleeping and do they supply good Coffee making kit for the rooms or should i bring my own Travel kettle and cups?
Im only there for 10 nights but if i like i will make the visits more often. I normaly stay in town at the Ambience
Regards
XXXXXX. ( aka XXXXXX )

Hi XXXXX,
We were in the room directly above the bar on the 2nd floor. It was noisy until the bar closed but to be perfectly frank we rather enjoyed it! Both Suphot and I are quite easy sleepers and fall off quickly whatever the hell is going on elsewhere. But I know that's not everyone, so I would suggest you ask for a room either on the 3rd or 4th floor, or if on the 1st floor you'd want it further away from the directly over the bar.

No coffee making equipment in our suite ... the bigger & more expensive suites may have, but I don't know that for sure.
The Bondi is located in the Homtien Complex which seems to me to be about 70% gay bars ... though they are Host Bars, not GoGo bars. You can get a Baht Bus to Pattaya directly on Jomtien Rd every 5 minutes or so ... no problem at all to get into Pattaya whatsoever.

Have a great time!!
Dave [Smiles]

Smiles, I have reserved one of the larger rooms too.. I will be with the BF, so I'm assuming the Freelancers would leave us alone and I would be quite unhappy to receive late night "knocks" on the door or phone calls. Where you with your beloved when there? and they still pestered you?

[piston10]

The posts giving a very positive view of the Bondi Hotel raise for me some interesting questions, mainly about how different our expectations are and how differently we see things. I stayed there for 3 nights a few weeks ago and at one point was thinking of writing a post pointing out the ways in which I found it unsatisfactory. I decided not to do so, but these views have made me change my mind.

First of all, the descriptions given of the rooms seem to me fairly accurate and I try to keep in mind that the 950 baht they charge is very reasonable. My response to the huge anti-room to the bedroom was, however, very different. A huge bare space with a kitchen sink and a fridge, no daylight except what came through the glass partition to the bedroom, a settee and a coffee table and a use of terrible green paint. It felt like the waiting room at a provincial station and I couldn't see that it could be comfortably or pleasantly used for any social or recreational purpose. A huge wasted space, in fact.

In one corner is a bathroom that Smiles describes as 'smallish'. It isn't, it's minute. I'm only a wisp of a thing, but it was too small for me to move in properly. You open the door and can get in to use the washbasin and the toilet, but you have to sit on the toilet and close the door to free the entrance to the shower. There is no supply of hot or warm water to the washbasin - just a cold tap.

When I went into the bedroom the first thing I noticed was that the frames of the windows had come away from the brickwork and daylight was showing through nearly all the way round - in other words, the room was not mosquito-proof. Since the room overlooked a piece of waste ground and I am very prone to nasty mosquito bites, I asked about this. Of course, nothing could be done, so at night I drenched tissues with repellant and stuffed up all the many wide cracks. Whether there were any mosquitoes about I don't know, but I have to admit that I did not get bitten.

It was, though, the safety aspect that worried me most. When the bar closes at night metal shutters come down round the outside and at the top of the only staircase into the hotel corridors a door is closed and padlocked. The hotel rooms and corridors are effectively sealed off. This door and the shutters are not opened until the first staff arrive at about 9.30. When I arrived I was given a key for entrance after 2 a.m., but was not told clearly where this entrance was. I suppose I didn't ask the questions I should have asked because I knew I would not be out after that time; and it did not occur to me that this entrance, wherever it was, would be the way out as well. However, I did wake up fairly early in the morning and simply could not escape. It took me nearly three-quarters of an hour to discover the deceptive window panel on the first (Thai, second) floor that you had to push sideways to get out on to a walkway in the complex. This, of course, turned out to be the window (not a door) for entrance, with a keyhole on the outside.

My first thought was, What would have happened in the case of a fire? In panic circumstances one's chance of finding that window would have been slim. I then realised that there was no notice about fire procedures on the back of the room door; just something about latest times for leaving the room, etc. It may be harsh to say this, but I suspect there were no instructions about what to do in the case of fire because any attempt to write them would have highlighted the very real fire hazard - the fact that there was only one staircase linking the three floors, and any fire blocking your access to that staircase or the sliding window would have meant jumping for it. If your room was on the third or fourth floor, especially, it seems to me you would be in danger. I further have the suspicion that during the night there is nobody on the premises. The owner may, in fact live next door, but my knocking on the locked, unmarked doors at the ends of the corridors of each floor produced no response when I tried to get out on the first morning.

I know that fires don't often happen in hotels - and am very aware that in this hotel there is hardly any furniture or materials that could, in fact, be set fire to! Still, it is not a situation that I am prepared to accept.

In favour of the hotel I recognise that it is quiet (after the bar closes), very clean, that rooms are serviced daily with fresh bed-linen and towels, and that everyone is friendly - especially the the 10-15 'waiters' hanging around downstairs. (No knocks on the door at night, by the way!) And the price counts for something, doesn't it?

If I have been unfair, I am quite happy to take on board other opinions. I don't want to knock the Bondi and I have to admit I feel a bit of a prissy, up-market old queen in making these comments. (Poor thing, she doesn't like green paint!) Anyway, make of them what you will.

[Smiles]

Dear Piston,
I think a very fair and quiet description of the hotel under your own personal terms of reference (notwithstanding the double post :blackeye: ). As far as I can see the collective info in this thread gives everyone a good overall picture of the Bondi . . . and all can make up their own minds in light of their own comfort zones.

~ I also got slightly confused as to the directions for after-hours entry ... but took 5 minutes to figure it out, not 45. Most folks I think would be in between these 2 time frames.

~ Fire exits never enter my mind in ANY hotel, so you're one up on me in the worry-factor. I fret much more about getting across Jomtien Rd in one piece, or encountering stinging jelly fish in the sea.

~ A couple of mozzies entered the room in 5 days ... not stinging once, but dive bombing my ear a few times, to be swatted dead by the Beloved who was watching over me. Frankly, I enjoyed the ability to have some fresh air in the rooms.

~ Bathrooms (as mentioned) were small/tiny/miniscule but all the better to get closer to the old man while in the shower. The lighting being less than bright over the mirror was my main complaint.

~ The view out the back is, as you say, less than inspired. but the sun shone in so intently from that direction all day that we shut the big blue curtains and left them that way for the duration.

For myself, I'd still recommend The Bondi ... and you are quite correct, the very reasonable price plays a proper part in the decision.


Cheers ...

[bing]

I think Punya is neat fellow at Howards. He is very hands on and you will enjoy your stay. Gee Whiz guys as I walk down any soi or visit any bar and guys offer to go with me, I smile and move on. There are a few guys at Howards, look them over and if not want to be with them, just smile an move on. This is not a big problem guys. From reading above it sounded like you could not get a good nights sleep with all the young men trying to entice you. It is not that aggressive. But then I have visited over the years and may be a bit assertive about what I will accept. If you want to stay at Howads, you make a reservation, and ask to be picked up at the airport and give flight information, Puyna will have his Taxi guy pick you up and take you back for 1500 baht and that includes tip and tolls. Your room will be clean and should you like some company, it is available. Guys this is not an IQ test. Howards is good place to stay and is only one minute from all the action of Sunee. Oh well my Guinness and Bud are getting warm,( Black and Tan for all the Irish guys) must return to important things. You all who read this have a great day.------ On my next trip I plan to scope out the Bondi experience and do hope to eat at that Enchanted Hut. But I have not stayed at the Bondi, but have walked by it. I'll pass on my observations in a few months.

[jolyjacktar]

Bing you gotta be a yank if you think Guinness and Bud is a Black and Tan. Bud is like drinking water mate. No self respecting irishman would touch the muck. As for Howards, I suppose theres aways a market for the cheapo accom. But i wouldnt touch the place in a million years. YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM.

Dear jolyjacktarfrom hull etc et al

Can u tell me why i cant get a cold beer in Pattaya - i know u r a pom and drink warm beer but i would really like ur opinion onthis important topic

[bing]

So sorry you flunked the IQ test. You seem to have forgotten the maxim, "concerning taste there is no dispute" It is like the other one, " beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Your taste buds are not the only litmus test for what tastes good. Am USA but both parents were born in Ireland and do consider myself as a son of Erin. If a Bud does not cut your thirst, that's OK, but please look up the amount of Bud produced and enjoyed each year. Easy to find information on the www. Perhaps if you try the mixture of a Bud and Guinness, you just might like the taste. I have also enjoyed the Guinness over Harp and on occasion over a variety of other beers. Perhaps I might invite you to expand your horizons and try some new tastes.

[jolyjacktar]

Firstly mr me 4 thai. Us poms of the Merchant marines love a good swig from the bottle, be it rum or whisky. So beer is not that big a deal be it cold or warm. I do like a pint of mild and bitter now and then.
Bing! To me Beer should be of a dark colour and taste bitterish. Not the colour of piss water with a taste to match. OH OH OH OH also how many times have i heard from yanks " my relations are of Irish descent so im Half Irish" I think nearly every yank from the northern states think there Irish.
16 MEN ON A DEAD KATOYS NIPPLE, YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM. ME ARTYS

16 MEN ON A DEAD KATOYS NIPPLE, YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM. ME ARTYS

Captain Squabbles, surely.