Jomtien Complex

[lexusgs]

Last night was feeling like a low key night out. Took a couple guys I know out for a few drinks to Jomtien Complex. Seems the place has added a few bars recently( Or maybe I ain't looked that much before lol) Had a few beers in Festival Bar next to Dick's Cafe. Nice choice of drink and some decent guys on offer. Drinks around 70 bht. Moved on to another bar around the corner called
X Boys if I remember correctly. A few decent guys in there also. 2/3 from Lao. Gannymede bar was pretty full of customers as was Question Mark or is it two faces?? Had some great food at
the East West Tapas Restaurant which I believe was the Old Pagoda place. Great service and moderate prices. Very busy place last night with a good atmosphere. Some attractive waiters too
as I got a phone number or two. Seems like Jomtien Complex would be a good alternative to the likes Sunee if your get bored of going to the same place night after night :bounce:

[frequentflier]

Totally agree,I have become a fan of Jomtien complex,seems to have everything going for it at the moment..

[lukylok]

Speaking of Jomtien Complex. I always stay there when in Pattaya.
And I agree, it is getting better and better.

Out of curiosity, I'd like to know the origin of the complex, was it built as a whole, with a gay intent ?
And why is that building looking like a devastated bombed site in the middle ? Never been achieved ?
A few shops try to make a living in the ground floor, it looks like a new boy bar should open soon, from the work I see, ...

I am sure a few old hands know !

[Neal]

I am not 100% sure but I think the probem over there was an original renovation of the area and then the road construction got in the way for years and devastated the minal income the area was getting. Then much of the renovation stopped as there was almost virtually no income. Now that the road work is almost 100% finished there will certainly be a revitalization of that are again.

[mahjongguy]

The "bombed-out building" was to be the parking garage with a shopping mall on the 2nd floor. The planned mall (and much of the rest of the complex) was a victim of the 1997 financial crisis.

For a long time any business that provided food/bev/entertainment was offered a lease at very attractive rates (though go-go bars were not / are not allowed). This seemingly-good idea caused a lot of bars to open which really weren't well-funded or operated, and one by one they failed.

Several years ago work was begun to modify the ground level and next floor, reportedly for a supermarket. The escalator was removed and a corner chunk of the building was demolished. That effort came to a sudden stop, the building looks worse than ever, and hopes were dashed.

Now the excellent Ganymede operations have brought a lot of new patrons to Jomtien Complex, and a lot of hope for the future. The area gets better all the time, and it helps that the bar closing time is now in alignment with the South Pattaya bars at 1am.

[PeterUK]

Out of curiosity, I'd like to know the origin of the complex, was it built as a whole, with a gay intent ?


It seemed to have been built with no intent at all when I used to walk through its deserted streets on the way to the beach in the 1990s. It was like a ghost town for years. It only started to be occupied in the last ten years or so and just evolved as a predominantly gay area - I doubt very much whether there was any plan to it.

[francois]

. Moved on to another bar around the corner called
X Boys if I remember correctly. A few decent guys in there also. 2/3 from Lao.
the East West Tapas Restaurant which I believe was the Old Pagoda place. Great service and moderate prices. Very busy place last night with a good atmosphere. Some attractive waiters too
:

Actually it is X Men in Jomtien not to be confused with X Boys in Boyztown area. And yes, Tapas is a good restaurant not to be missed. Great service and waiters and prices and good food.

[jinks]

The best addition, made several years ago was The Venue. (http://www.thevenuejomtien.com/)

Darrel and Ray committed to the area and IMHO caused others to follow.
It's a shame that Monty left, he adds to any area's draw.

[donald1]

Just returned from 16 glorious days in Thailand, a majority of them spent at The Ganymede in Jomtiem Complex. I have to say
I guess I am one of those peculiar farangs that doesn't frequent beer bars, show bars and boy bars. With that said I was
totally entertained by the Complex, beach and a few choice restaurants in the area like Deli-zza a short walk down the beach.
Ganymede is a treasure. The room prices are very reasonable for what you get and with free entrance to the Sauna on the first floor for
all room guests its almost a steal. Not to mention the new cafe and bar area and free wifi anywhere on the property and in your room.
Probably the best wifi I have found in Thailand so far. Ward has done a great job in turning the place around and I will stay no other place
in my future visits.

There is now an "atmosphere" you can actually feel when you enter the area. For me there is no need for Sunnee Plaza or Boystown.
The Baht goes very far in this complex.

just my 2 cents.

[jinks]

All the Ganymede is lacking for us old decrepit cripples is a lift !

A lift?

All you "decrepit cripples" will be going upwards soon enough!

Except for those who will be descending, of couse.


:evil4:

[gregvc]

coming in April. Is the sauna in Jomtien Complex a real sauna (where you can enjoy meeting others like Sansuk, Babylon) or just an add on for a massage shop purchase?

[newalaan]

Seems like Jomtien Complex would be a good alternative to the likes Sunee if your get bored of going to the same place night after night
Couldn't agree more. It was an excellent alternative for me on my recent visit to Pattaya. I went to Jomtien Beach a few afternoons which is not something i normally do when in Pattaya, but the sea breeze was a nice way to keep cool in the extreme heat. After the beach I dropped in by Bondi for a chilled beer and strolled along to Dicks Cafe for a lite bite and again this soi has a nice early evening breeze. Also had a drink at Festival bar one of the nights and caught up with the former Solid, Bkk mamasan who works there now. Also some nice waiting staff. But mostly enjoyed the bar complex up from The Venue. Question Mark, Two Faces, Dolce Vita and L&N as well as Ganymede.

Between these bars there was plenty of very cute, nice waiting staff very keen to chat and interact. One night i spent a while at L&N who have snooker/pool tables and had some fun and a few games of pool with the waiters there. The next night Dolce Vita had a brithday party for the german owner and quite a number of his friends turned up during the evening,there was music all evening with a show in the form of the arrival during the evening of dressed up queens mincing around in over-the-top costumes, very entertaining as they took themselves ever so seriously! Another night I sat at Question Mark with a couple of very cute, (one stunning) waiters and enjoyed yet another Dolce Vita party night (can't remember the theme), this time they had a stage with live singer to backing music singing western hits and classics as well as some well known Thai songs, then we (the customers in the bars around Dolce Vita) were treated to a 30 minute show by dancers from one of the showbar troupes, and very good it was too. Question Mark was quite full and it is a big outdoor bar, also Two faces and L&N had a good amount of customers while Dolce Vita was as packed as it was two nights before for the birthday party. Easily as enjoyable as the host/beerbars of Sunee and more enjoyable than Boyztown on the nights i visited.


There is now an "atmosphere" you can actually feel when you enter the area. For me there is no need for Sunnee Plaza or Boystown.
I agree there is a very nice atmosphere there, but I would never disregard Sunee and Boyztown for Jomtien exclusively, but the four evenings i spent in Jomtien Complex i really enjoyed, even staying on one night at the Ganymede karaoke till 2am. It was nice for a change from the sunee and boyztown areas.


The best addition, made several years ago was The Venue.
I enjoyed the area without setting foot inside The Venue, there is plenty of accomodation all round Jomtien if you need it, and The Venue would only be a boost for those who particularly like the show bar music and shows, of which I am not a great fan, so for me The Venue would not be classified the 'best' addition, but i'm sure for many others it might be.

The overall laid back enjoyable aspect of Jomtien is definitely down to the great attitude and non-pushy demenour of the staff in the bars there. There are a few gems of guys in the cluster of bars as mentioned above and Ganymede. I dont know if February is particularly busier than the rest of the year but there were plenty of customers in all the bars from 6-9pm as was the time I was there each evening, except the karaoke night which i stayed till 2am.

Also no problem with Songtaews coming back to south pattaya at any time of night, even at 2am, Ok you have to squeeze into the songtaews along with 13 or so Russians getting there from south pattaya, as the Songtaews do not depart south pattaya with less than 12 on board, most demanding 12 seated and two standing at the rear before they would take off. To be honest it only takes 10 minutes on the songtaew and if it picks up a bit of speed there is a nice breeze as you drive along.

[christianpfc]

I went to Themae sauna (Ganymede complex) in january. It is a real sauna, considerably smaller than Sansuk, but it has sauna, pool, cabins, no labyrinth, a bar, an area where you can sit and watch porn. I was there on a weekday afternoon, there were few other customers, for a while I had the entire area for myself (apart from the staff).

more here: http://www.nickysgaypattaya.com/gay-pattaya/themae/

[donald1]

All the Ganymede is lacking for us old decrepit cripples is a lift !

There is a lift in the new section. I stayed in the new section the first 3 days then moved over to the other section and the 2 sets of stairs
were very tollerable especially with the nice a/c waiting for me in the room.

The Sauna section is the real deal on a small scale. I saw many guys (Thai & Farang) going in while I was on the laptop at one of the tables near the entrance. It's all there for the taking.

My regular beach-front guest house having been fully booked this past week, I was eager to try out Ganymede. I was less impressed than some of the other commenters in this thread.

The hotel, mind you, is extremely well planned, lovely in its modern clean design, and the room I got was rather nice, if a bit overpriced. But.... there was something lacking - some "intangible" asset that differentiates one nice place from another.

There was just no charm, no warmth, no feeling of being welcome there. (And it's not like the place was too busy to give me some sort of attention... I did not actually see anyone else staying there!)

It's a pity. I tried so much to like the place - and I ALWAYS go into a new place wanting to really like it. But this one did not happen. At all.

(And I was surprised to see in a previous post something about free access to Thermae... if that is true, the staff at Ganymede is keeping it a secret from their guests!)

Bottom line: I will not be going back.

[newalaan]

There was just no charm, no warmth, no feeling of being welcome there. (And it's not like the place was too busy to give me some sort of attention... I did not actually see anyone else staying there!)It's a pity. I tried so much to like the place - and I ALWAYS go into a new place wanting to really like it. But this one did not happen. At all. I feel the same about a new place, i always try to like it and it is so disappointing when that experience turns out to be a bit of a negative as yours was. There are a couple of words i find apply to many of the staff in Thai businesses esp the bars, restaurants and hotels.......they are apathy and complacency. So many suffer from this. Sometimes there is an inherent laziness with staff. How many times do you visit a bar, restaurant or hotel where the staff spend as much time talking amongst themselves and looking at their mobiles as they do taking care of the valuable customers.

Your decision not to return is deserved if a place does not do all they can to make your stay enjoyable. With all the competition for business and the difficult trading environment staff should be on their toes, but unfortunately in Thailand many of the staff simply don't 'get it' in terms of understanding customer satisfaction. A great many of the service industry rely on tips to make up a good wage, however so many of them take it for granted nowadays that there will be a Bt20 note left in the folder, while in many instances doing virtually nothing to earn it.

Two Patong guesthouses are a good examples of a comparison in attitude, a couple of times in the past I stayed at Rendezvous, the French owner had a 'couldn't care less' approach unless you were French, and it rubbed off on his staff, whom you felt you were interupting their private time to ask for something. I gave it a second chance just to see if it was a 'one off' but it wasn't so have never gone back. On my last visit I stayed at Sundowners in Patong. It was my first stay there, but the staff were excellent. Offering help and going out of their way to make sure my stay was enjoyable. Simple things, like acknowledging your existance when you passed, and on opening a bottle of whisky in the lounge as soon as I appeared someone would be over in an instant to ask if i was staying for a drink first and if i wanted ice, and mixers. The manager/mamasan had his eyes everywhere to make sure no customers were left waiting for drinks or their bar tabs.

I contributed a post in this thread mentioning Ganymede and while I enjoyed my visit to their bar-lounge and Karaoke I wasn't staying there so couldn't tell the overall vibe of the place. On saying that, when i did visit the karaoke there was a table of 4 employees sitting outside on the terrace eating/drinking/chatting they must have seen me go in, as i looked about outside a bit first, but none came over to give any info, you got the feeling they just couldn't be bothered, i had to wander around inside before I found a member of staff interested enough to offer some service, however the waiter who did that and the DJ were first class in their attention during our time there.

[luvthai-2]

I like the idea of a condo in Jomtiem Comples and very much liked the one I had that had a private entrance into the unit. Now it seems most are being incorporated into a multi unit place with just one entrance thru a check in desk. With the private entrance in a unit one could go out onto the deck and make use of chairs and tables there and enjoy the mornings or cooler evenings.