Where the gays are

[bucknaway]

A lot of people are not too happy that hotels in gay areas are advertising outside of the gay community and are happy to accept non-gay as well as gay customers. I am wondering just how many of us only stay at gay hotels? When I first came to Pattaya I was happy to stay at a hotel in boyztown but now on my return visits I find staying at boyztown to be out of the question and I prefer to stay at places that don't fly a gay flag.

I am wondering just where the rest of you come down on this issue.

[jimnbkk]

I'm of an age that I dont really care if it's a gay place or not. In Thailand, if I have a Thai boy with me, I will walk in and register the both of us, and the hotels never seem to care. I almost never pick up strays any more so when I walk in it's with somebody. If the hotel ever made a big deal of it, I'd just go someplace else. fuggum

[Neal]

I don't care whether a place is gay or straight. I care about the services and facilities of a hotel. I usually find that a straight or whoever walks in hotel is far more cleaner and has quality facilities rather than an exclusively gay one. Shall I say many or most hotels I check into don't care who I bring in either. I am not offended by joiners fees just as long as they treat myself and my guest respectfully. When in Bangkok I stay at the Shangri-la with my boys and no extra fees. They treat my guests with respect and have told me that my guest is their guest. The rooms are 6 star and so are their many restaurants, pools and facilities.
So what? You have to take a taxi to Soi 4 area.

[Rob33]

Wot Jmnbkk said however Im not necessarily "of an age" for this, I've simply never chosen accommodation based on its gayness. I don't see the point at all. If you are visiting a place as a gay or gay couple why would one want to be surrounded by other gay foreigners doing the same? This is also unnecessarily restricting.

Only in LA USA do I do this as West Hollywood is also my favourite place to be when Im there and I like the particular B&B.

Having said this I've never ever been turned down or refused accommodation when travelling with my partner anywhere.
Should it happen I might change my mind of course.

Has anyone been turned down, told to leave?
I shouldn't think many hotels in the world have a policy in this regard.

Most booking is done on the internet anyway so they would actually have to throw you out the lobby on arrival.

[Neal]

Open a new thread for wanting to know if people are turned down Rob. Don't switch the topic.

[ceejay]

I could have done with an "Other" option, because it depends on where I am. That's partly because hotels are not that important a part of the package to me. If my main aim on a holiday was to experience a luxury hotel I could stay at home and do it. If I find a place that suits I tend to stick with it and that has resulted in my only ever staying in places in Pattaya and Bangkok that are well-known to members of this board, because the first trip or two I did seek out gay establishments. I say "well known to members of this board" because
In Bangkok it has been either the Tarntawan or the Rose. Neither of these is exclusively gay, although they both have a strong gay customer base.
In Pattaya its been the Ambiance or Baan Dok Mai. The Ambiance was the first hotel I stayed in in Thailand and it was once exclusively gay, but not any more. I no longer stay there, not because it is mixed but because of a bad stay a few years ago. Baan Dok Mai is the closest to exclusively gay that I currently stay in, and even there has a proportion of mixed customers.
Outside of Bangkok and Pattaya I'm not scouring the town looking for gogo bars anyway (if you want to spend your time in gogos and host bars, why leave Bangkok or Pattaya?) and so
Chiang Mai - I've only spent a brief stay there, and that quite a long time after I started visiting Thailand. I ended up staying in the Come On Place which is listed on some gay websites but that wasn't the reason I chose it. It's as a result of a built-in bias. went to the gay message boards for recommendations, so of course I ended up in a "gay" place. Actually, I was looking for a budget priced reasonable quality guesthouse in Central CM and that's all it was.
The Isaan. When I'm there, it's to visit one of their festivals. I choose a hotel based only on my needs for that. Actually, there are few, or no, "gay" hotels there in the sense of having a rainbow flag hung outside. That's partly because it's just not an issue there - I think that in the large majority of hotels there, if you asked the receptionist about joiners they'd just think you were weird (as in why is this ting tong farang asking a hotel receptionist who he can have sex with?")
Cambodia - There are "gay branded" hotels and resorts and, when I visited, I didn't stay in them. Too expensive for what they offer.
Laos - you are never going to find a gay hotel there because anywhere that advertised itself as such would be closed down by the police the next day. There's no issue at all with foreign gay couples checking in to hotels. some hotels may have an issue with Lao visitors to guests' rooms and the boards may be helpful in avoiding these, but I got the impression it's mostly "don't ask, don't tell" in Laos.

[pong]

agree with mr daboss- it seems to me a simple explanation; in TH you need a lady used to cleaning and knows how to to keep the house in pico-bello state. A male-only house leads to the same scenes as the worst of student housing (there are even programs on that here on TV- the cleanliness inspectors). As can also easily be seen i many of those massage-places, f.e. in BodyClub/BKK.

[atri1666]

I dont't care whether a place is gay or straight. I care about the services and facilities of a hotel. I usually find that a straight or whoever walks in hotel is far more cleaner and has quality facilities rather than an exclusively gay one. Shall I say many or most hotels I check into don't care who I bring in either. I am not offended by joiners fees just as long as they treat myself and my guest respectfully. When in Bangkok I stay at the Shangri-la with my boys and no extra fees. They treat my guests with respect and have told me that my guest is their guest. The rooms are 6 star and so are their many restaurants, pools and facilities.
So what? You have to take a taxi to Soi 4 area.

Same me. Agree 100%.

[joe552]

I too agree with DaBoss - except for the part about staying at the Shangri-La - out of my price range I'm afraid. :occasion9:

[Neal]

I too agree with DaBoss - except for the part about staying at the Shangri-La - out of my price range I'm afraid. :occasion9:

Since I purchased this board and a very low season, and I recently retired and USA economy has required a cut in my allowance and of course medical bills over 1 million baht so far, I can't stay at the Shangri-la either and I love them and miss them all. Been staying there over 10 years. I considered it my second home.

:crybaby: :crybaby:

[joe552]

Ah stop, Neal - you'll have me in tears in a minute. :crybaby:

[Neal]

Well then why are you and so many others not becomig Golden Members and helping me out?

[joe552]

sorry, my money is all tied up at the moment - tied up in a sock under my mattress :occasion9:

I'll give you mine when I'm over there, Neal.

[Neal]

I don't really care if you do and don't I willl get by. Maybe I won't eat for 3 days like another poster said happened to him when times were bad. can afford to lose a couple hundred kilos anyway. Right scottish? :tongue3:

I don't really care if you do and don't I willl get by. Maybe I won't eat for 3 days like another poster said happened to him when times were bad. can afford to lose a couple hundred kilos anyway. Right scottish? :tongue3:

I'm still using Imperial measures sweetie - how many kilos in a ton?

:alc:

[joe552]

I find it interesting, given the other thread on "reviving" Boyz Town, that the majority here don't seem to care if a hotel is "gay" or not.

Interesting, yes - but this thread/poll is about hotel accomodation only whereas BT comprises much more than that.

It's unlikely that one would sit holding hands and kissing one's 20/30 year younger Thai bf in a non-gay hotel lobby, or indulge in some harmless horseplay with the hotel bar staff - but it's conceivable that you might do that sitting in a BT beer/host bar like Panorama or Oscars.
Now, if 2 hotels in the area are attracting str8 clients into Soi 3 one might conceivably feel a wee bit restricted, no?

But to get back to the topic - Although I have stayed in them in various countries, I don't particularly like "gay" hotels - which tend to be smaller, I prefer the relative anonymity of a larger "gay friendly" hotel.

:hello2:

[joe552]

agreed.

[Wesley]

I prefer a gay only place to stay if I am there to chase guys, gay friendly will do if there are no other options. I hate those smirks you get from straight guys especially, not so much with Girls like they seem to understand it better. But I keep my mouth shut unless they start it but I have dragon queen breath if they start it.

[anonone]

In Thailand, I stay only at hotels that market themselves as gay.

Hotels are a real bargain in Thailand, so I am not about finding the best deal possible. When on the prowl and butter-flying around, the added security of a monitored front desk is important to me. Now with the BF and many other friends having been made, the monitored desk is not as key, which opens up places like baan dak Mai and Mosaic.

In regard to Boyztown, I have never stayed at hotel in that area. Just does not seem there is much going on during the day over there. Day night has a lot more options for street activity, massage, shops, etc