Flamingo Hotel - recent review? Other options.

[anonone]

Hey everyone.
Trying to sort out lodging for a couple of brief stays in Pattaya in January. These are just a couple of party nights each, nestled among other travel plans, so not really keen on renting a condo...which is probably for the best as our normal place looks well and truly booked.

Anyone with recent experience at Flamingo? I really like the location (from numerous stays at Mosaik) but wonder how the rooms and service have been. I know there is not an elevator, which is not a deal breaker for us. Seems rooms are available for the nights needed, but hesitant to book without knowing a bit more about the place.

Also wondering about any of the small places in Sunee. Eldorado seems like a great location, but I can't find any good info. Anyone stay there and can give some opinion?

I think Don Plaza (Elephant) was reported being remodeled? At any rate, it is not showing up in searches on agoda, etc.

Thanks for any opinions.

[lonelywombat]

I had an unplanned visit in 2013 , found it difficult to get a place and was recommended to stay at the south end of Mosaik, T B Mansions
Previously there had been a restaurant downstairs

It is still called T B Mansions and here is Nickys link There is no active link The restaurant has gone.
http://www.nickysgaypattaya.com/gay-pat ... t/hotel-dn (http://www.nickysgaypattaya.com/gay-pattaya/daynight/hotel-dn)
Tel: 038 724 188
20/63-64 Soi Day-Night
South Pattaya Road
South Pattaya

The Colonial in Sunee is surprising value, but is frequent booked by those who have returned
http://www.colonialpattaya.com/

[anonone]

Thanks Wombat.
I know exactly where TB Mansions is located...walked past it many times while staying at Mosaik and heading to Sunee.

Did you stay there? How were the rooms / beds? Any impressions of the place would help.

And thanks for posting the link for the Colonial. I had not realized they had one up and running.
I have sent off an email asking about availability. We stayed at Baan Dak Mai many times and always enjoyed the owners company...

[Halfhansum]

I had 2 weeks at the Flamingo in September, and was quite satisfied with the room .
The furnishings were a bit worn , but the Aircon was good, Wi-Fi was good, and it got cleaned every day ..
Location was great, and for the price, I would stay there again ..

I did spot a Gecko going off under the wardrobe though ...Lol .

[anonone]

Halfhansum: Thank you very much for the report on your recent Flamingo visit. Sounds just fine to me, gecko included. LOL
If there is nothing available at the couple of places I have inquires into, I will just book Flamingo and be done.
I really like the area and should be fine for a couple of days.

How was the bed? :)

[lonelywombat]

I moved out of Flamingo as I like to sleep with windows open at night. Was shocked to see people on the balcony moving along after I was in bed. That made me nervous. I closed the windows but the security was not greatly improved.
Secondly the reception area is closed at night Confusion when I came home early and a girl was waiting with my room key. Not sure how long she was going to stay
after trying to chat with her.
Rooms very basic and cleaned daily.
I looked for something a little safer.

[anonone]

I moved out of Flamingo as I like to sleep with windows open at night. Was shocked to see people on the balcony moving along after I was in bed. That made me nervous. I closed the windows but the security was not greatly improved.
Secondly the reception area is closed at night Confusion when I came home early and a girl was waiting with my room key. Not sure how long she was going to stay
after trying to chat with her.
Rooms very basic and cleaned daily.
I looked for something a little safer.

I am not sure what you mean by this. You had people on the balcony of your room? From pictures on the internet, that doesn't seem quite right as the balcony is separate for each room.

And then you came home early but reception is closed at night...but a girl was waiting with your room key?

Maybe it is just me, but I am not following you at all.

[Halfhansum]

I dont follow it either ..My room had a Balcony, but it was only attached to my room , no one could acess it from the next room .
And i was given an electronic tab to open the front doors when the reception was closed ..
And the bed was fine for me by the way, despite being over-ocupied at times ... Lol

[anonone]

ok thanks. Glad I was not the only one not following wombat's post.

Sounds like we would be fine at Flamingo if the other plans fall through.

Had no one stayed at El Dorado? Seems like a pretty good option in Sunee if the rooms and service are OK...

[cdnmatt]

I did spot a Gecko going off under the wardrobe though ...Lol .

No worries, the geckos are good guys. They eat all the spiders and bugs. The only creature that comes into the house the dogs are willing to chase after is the geckos, which sucks, because that's the only creature I like because they eat the other ones. Get a cockroach or spider or something in here, and the dogs could care less, and leave me to take care of it. :)

Only problem with the geckos is they tend to leave huge shits all over the place, but they're small enough to be easily swept up.

Anyway, I've stayed at Flamingo before. Years ago though, so my review doesn't count, but it was a nice room, friendly owner, and definitely no complaints. I prefer Mosaik just across the street, but Flamingo was quite nice as well.

[lonelywombat]

I dont follow it either ..My room had a Balcony, but it was only attached to my room , no one could acess it from the next room .
And i was given an electronic tab to open the front doors when the reception was closed ..
And the bed was fine for me by the way, despite being over-ocupied at times ... Lol

Was your room with a balcony on the first or second floor. Mine was on the first floor.
[attachment=0:1vbc7v5k]flamingo 2.jpg[/attachment:1vbc7v5k]

[anonone]

Ah, now I get it. That is a better picture to show that one floor has a shared balcony that you can walk the length of, while another floor has individual balconies.

[Halfhansum]

Yes, i guess i must have been on the second floor ..
The strange thing is, i dont remember passing any access to the first floor on the way up the stairs ..Lol .

[goji]

I stayed at the Flamingo several times, although the most recent was almost 2 years ago now.

The rooms are slightly dated, but a lot better than some other places around this price point. Also everything worked, they were cleaned PROPERLY with nice clean white bedding and I was happy to stay on several successive visits. Good for the money.

Once you have checked in, you get a room key and an electronic thing to open the door. So keep your keys and let yourself in when returning.

Never had a problem with any one else on my balcony, but I stayed on the first floor.

I only stopped using it as my friends were staying elsewhere.

[Smiles]

ok thanks. Glad I was not the only one not following wombat's post.
Huge numbers on this board and about a dozen others have experienced the same thing. But point that out to Lonely and he tends to get a bit, er, 'Wombatish" of demeanor.

However, in the last case I agree with him. His photo of Flamingo clearly shows the 1st floor balcony to be more like an outdoor hallway than separate balconies.
The 2nd floor has regular, private balconies. The 3rd floor on the other hand seems to be totally incongruous with the lower achitecture (an add-on I presume) ... but it also seems to be non-balconized.

Now, all I hope is that Lonely took a photo of the correct building. Getting that wrong would be quite normally Wombat-like.

[francois]

Now, all I hope is that Lonely took a photo of the correct building. Getting that wrong would be quite normally Wombat-like.

The sign on the building, hanging over the entrance reads "Flamingo Hotel".

[goji]

His photo of Flamingo clearly shows the 1st floor balcony to be more like an outdoor hallway than separate balconies.
The 2nd floor has regular, private balconies. The 3rd floor on the other hand seems to be totally incongruous with the lower achitecture (an add-on I presume) ... but it also seems to be non-balconized.
I have stayed on the first floor several times, in the end room to the right of the column visible on the right. The base of the pillar is so large that it would be necessary to climb over it to get from one balcony to the next. That is not secure, however it prevents most civilised people from walking on their neighbours balcony. I've never encountered such a problem.

[newalaan2]

Sounds like we would be fine at Flamingo if the other plans fall through. Had no one stayed at El Dorado? Seems like a pretty good option in Sunee if the rooms and service are OK...
Like others here I have no very recent experience with Flamingo, last stay was a year or two ago when Baan Dok Mai was full for a short 2 night stay. Found the rooms almost exactly as they were when I used to stay at Flamingo regularly, same bathrooms with wet-room style shower, but new/updated d├йcor with flat screen tv and new bedding added, key fob to gain entrance and nice enough staff, we enjoyed our nights there ok.

If near sunee is acceptable,and although haven't stayed there myself yet, I did get good reports about Colonial rooms from guys staying there at the time of my visit.

Just to note that if you don't find what you want I'm fairly sure Mosaik rents rooms for short stays on 'hotel' basis, i.e. inclusive of electric/water and room cleaning, with daily rate. If that is still available there it might give you an opportunity to try out their new beds for a short stay.

[Smiles]

Now, all I hope is that Lonely took a photo of the correct building. Getting that wrong would be quite normally Wombat-like.The sign on the building, hanging over the entrance reads "Flamingo Hotel".

B-) :-s Indeed I noticed the sign [though you must admit it is blindingly blurry]. However sign or no sign, that salient fact has absolutely no bearing on whether you-know-who gets his hotels right or wrong. This dynamic has been proven correct over 15-plus years of posting history.

[cdnmatt]

If it helps anyone, one hotel I can recommend is Sanya Apartments (http://www.sanya-apartments.com/).

Kim and myself stayed there for quite a while, and I enjoyed it at least. Rooms are huge, sliding glass doors to separate the kitchen, living room, and bedroom areas which is great if you have company and one of you wants to be up at 2am while the other wants to sleep. Full kitchen if you like to cook food, full mini bar, good A/C, and all around nice place for cheap. I think it was only about 700 baht/night + electric.

Good location, just across the street from Friendship Market basically, on the corner of Soi Bua Khao (is that right name?). It is a lady host bar though, but obviously, they don't have a problem with da gays. Some of the farangs there might I guess, but they're easily ignored. I never had an issue with Kim being there though.

If stairs are an issue for you though, then ignore this place, as you will have to go up anywhere from 1 - 4 flights of stairs to get to your room. Other small issue is, I think it's Tuesdays and Fridays they have that market in that area, so starting about 7am you have morlam music blasting as loud as could be. Aside from that, great place.

[lonelywombat]

The sign on the building, hanging over the entrance reads "Flamingo Hotel".

Now, all I hope is that Lonely took a photo of the correct building. Getting that wrong would be quite normally Wombat-like.
This dynamic has been proven correct over 15-plus years of posting history.

Smiles high again on drugs still,again. Must be a boring place up there.
Photo was from their website.

I checked out the sanya-apartments I thought it would be a nightmare with those staircases and that traffic.

[latintopxxx]

...nice to see that the bitchiness still takes prime spot....

[gaymandenmark]

Photo was from their website.
.

I could not find their webside, do you have a link?

[cdnmatt]

I checked out the sanya-apartments I thought it would be a nightmare with those staircases and that traffic.

Traffic there isn't a problem, but yeah, if stairs are an issue then you wouldn't want to stay there. Nonetheless, it was one of my favorite places to stay. Then again, it is more of a serviced apartment with things like full kitchen, so if you're looking for more of a hotel, then it's probably not for you.

Another I can recommend is just across the street from Sanya. At the beginning of Soi Bua Khao, on your left hand side. Can't remember what it's called -- Forest Inn, Forest House, something like that. Great rooms, good price, 24x7 security, etc.

Another is if you just go down Soi Bua Khao a little ways, just past that Swedish restaurant on your right hand side is a good place. No idea what it's called, but rooms were huge, very cheap at I think 600/night. Plus it had a full bath tub, which is somewhat rare in Thailand, and some soapy fun while being stuck in the tub with your boy special is always a good way to end the night. :) No security though, so if you rely on staff to check the guys ID or anything, not a place for you. You just get one of the keychains to wave in front of a sensor to get in at night, and no staff in sight, which I actually prefer personally. I hate staff watching me come and go, perking their head up to get a glimpse of my bags and see what I bought, etc. I much prefer just to come and go as I please.

[lonelywombat]

This is the website

https://www.facebook.com/FlamingoHotelPattaya/

[christianpfc]

Only problem with the geckos is they tend to leave huge shits all over the place, but they're small enough to be easily swept up.
My experience is rather different: small shits (about 1 by 5 mm), difficult to remove (have to wipe with wet paper).
But I rather have gecko than ants, cockroaches or spiders in my room.

[Halfhansum]

Yes, I realise that the Geckos are good guys, but they can be a bit alarming when you are not used to sleeping with a lizard .. Lol
I remember one time, out in the sticks, I spotted a small one coming out of a curtain pelmet, and thought to myself, ah, he is only small, I can cope with that.
A few minuet's later, a huge fucker shot out from behind the curtain, and eat the little one ...Lol

[bkkmfj2648]

ciao Anonone,

I stayed at the Eldorado during my July 2015 stay in Pattaya.
It has a great location and the only rooms that were acceptable to me were on the top floor - basic rooms - good air conditioning, good shower and good bed.
However, there were NO geckos - so you might be disappointed - but then there were also NO cockroaches, ants, bugs, or spiders....just lots of guys visiting my bed....hahahaha...

here is the link to my trip report - yes long winded - just control f and search for the word Eldorado

july-2015-trip-report-chiang-mai-and-other-places-later-t33580-15.html (http://sawatdeenetwork.com/forum/july-2015-trip-report-chiang-mai-and-other-places-later-t33580-15.html)

cheers,
m.

[anonone]

ciao Anonone,

I stayed at the Eldorado during my July 2015 stay in Pattaya.
It has a great location and the only rooms that were acceptable to me were on the top floor - basic rooms - good air conditioning, good shower and good bed.
However, there were NO geckos - so you might be disappointed - but then there were also NO cockroaches, ants, bugs, or spiders....just lots of guys visiting my bed....hahahaha...

here is the link to my trip report - yes long winded - just control f and search for the word Eldorado

july-2015-trip-report-chiang-mai-and-other-places-later-t33580-15.html (http://sawatdeenetwork.com/forum/july-2015-trip-report-chiang-mai-and-other-places-later-t33580-15.html)

cheers,
m.

Hi M.
Thanks so much for the link to your report. Not at all long-winded. I found myself re-reading the bulk of it, truth be told.

I had forgotten that you were at Eldorado. Seems like a fine place to hang my hat for a couple of days.

grazie mille.
Anon.

[oldfarang]

Probably not helpful;

I stayed at Flamingo once, Dutch (or Belgium) owner if I remember correctly.
Over priced, bad service, but that was 11 years ago.

I heard it was closed for a while(a few years ago) and maybe sold.
If sold and now new owners, well, forget this posts.

BTW, the restaurant below, was great and cheap.
Is it still good? I mean I have opened another topic for Pattaya good and cheap food reviews (http://sawatdeenetwork.com/forum/nice-and-cheap-food-pattaya-t34572.html)