Decided on Jomtien but need some opinions

[paborn]

Before anyone yells at me, I have searched the forum, read trip advisor and each blog, even looked at youtube videos.

I have decided to base myself in Jomtien for my next visit and have narrowed it to Agate, Venue or Poseiden. Can the forum give me some opinios or views of the three places - in short, where would you stay?

[Moses]

IMHO:

Agate: classical Thai hotel, close to European 4-stars, very gay-friendly.
Venue: classical gay-hotel, European 3-stars
Poseidon: less "gay" than Venue but still gay-hotel, at past was more "luxury" than Venue but still 3-stars, I didn't visit it over 5 years, and don't know if it is still has some "posh" flavor.

By my taste: is better to live on the beach - I mean in "the first line" hotels (Tui's, Avalon, Rabbit resort, BB House, 3 of 4 have pools) since I daily spend more time there than in J-Complex. I prefer to watch sunsets and sea, instead of hot and empty (most time of the day) soi.

[paborn]

Thanks Moses I appreciate the breakdown. Funny how peo[le differ; I've been to the Carribean island of Dominican Republic more than 100 times over thirty years and have only once been to the beach. I'm a total city person!

[Manforallseasons]

Personally I do not like the Complex because the large percent of fem twinks workng there are not my cup of tea however, considering the current rather dismal state of Sunee and Boystown I would agree it is the best place to stay.

[scottish-guy]

.. I've been to the Carribean island of Dominican Republic more than 100 times..

I picked up an extremely dark skinned boy from the DR in Arcos Bar in Torremolinos maybe 20 years ago - in my ignorance I asked if it was in Africa :D - he was not amused "Africa? No - they are BLACK" he protested! So was he near enough

:D

[latintopxxx]

....oh dear there you go again displaying your utter ignorance ....

[arsenal]

:yes: ...and again and again...

[paborn]

....oh dear there you go again displaying your utter ignorance ....

well, having admitted that I have never been to Jomtien what would you expect my state of knowledge to be? I was not "born full formed from the mind of Zeus." I have to learn and seek guidance, it's a pity you can't help. Perhaps your never had the funds to patronize a hotel - guest houses only?

[paborn]

:yes: ...and again and again...

I'm not sure how I've provoked you. I had thought you reasonable.

[paborn]

I picked up an extremely dark skinned boy from the DR in Arcos Bar in Torremolinos maybe 20 years ago - in my ignorance I asked if it was in Africa :D - he was not amused "Africa? No - they are BLACK" he protested! So was he near enough

:D
After several invasions from Haiti with rape and pillage the population of the DR has changed to mulatto and the datred of Dominicans for Haitians is intense. You hit a sore spot indeed.

[arsenal]

Paborn. Latin was talking to Scottish Guy and I was agreeing with him regarding his casually racist post. One of many actually. You'll see over time.

[Up2U]

Agate, Poseidon and Venue in that order. The Agate simply has more amenities.

[Kenny]

Before anyone yells at me, I have searched the forum, read trip advisor and each blog, even looked at youtube videos.

I have decided to base myself in Jomtien for my next visit and have narrowed it to Agate, Venue or Poseiden. Can the forum give me some opinios or views of the three places - in short, where would you stay?

Hi Paborn,

I have stayed at both the Agate and the Poseidon on recent trips and agree with Moses assessment, though I would rate the Poseidon a bit higher.
The Agate is very good, nice pools, gay friendly. Standard rooms are a bit on the small side and the clientele is mixed, ie. not exclusively gay. I had no problem bringing guests back to my room.
The Poseidon is a very nice hotel. If you can get one of the Junior Suites I would recommend it. The extra room is a great comfort when entertaining. Great restaurant. The pool is quite small and enclosed (intimate?).
I have not stayed in the Venue so won't comment.
I suggest you book a couple of days in the Agate and use your downtime to explore other hotel options. It is easy to move and there is plenty of room availability. Then you can check out the room options and avail of the very good "walk in" rates available.

[scottish-guy]

I'm not sure how I've provoked you. I had thought you reasonable.

Ah well Paborn - when it comes to Arsenal, that’s where you're going wrong.

As for LatintopXXX - well what kind of person is it that, after one has already admitted making a mistake over where DR is, then attacks you for making the mistake?

[arsenal]

Scottish Guy wrote.
"Ah well Paborn - when it comes to Arsenal, that’s where you're going wrong."

Absolutely. I can't even spell reezunabel. Doesn't alter the casual racism.

[latintopxxx]

oh scotty u r compounding your level of ignorance...so he told u he was from the DR and u still thought he was from Africa??? LOL Clearly u were not educated in scotland as Im told it has (had!) an excellent educational system, some even say a whole deal better than England who actually pays for the whole thing.

[arsenal]

Naughty Latin.

[scottish-guy]

OMFG - I have already said twice (I volunteered it, nobody pointed it out) that I got the location of DR wrong and he’s still banging on?

Talk about desperate

[paborn]

Paborn. Latin was talking to Scottish Guy and I was agreeing with him regarding his casually racist post. One of many actually. You'll see over time.

It may be my age, but I do get confused with reading the responses. God, I wish we would stay on topic in the threads. Thanks

[paborn]

I just read the thread again. Lord, we do wonder off topic don't we? Oh well, thanks to the three who gave me info. The Poseiden restaurant is a draw but nothing stops me from eating there. My issue with Agate is, perhaps, silly. I love to spend time each day reading. The room chairs in Agate seem to be bean bags and I have a vision of having to roll out of my chair like a pregnant woman and go on my kneesto reach something to assist as I drag myself up. It's not a pretty picture.
Anyone have anything else they can add?
By the way Latin, I did not mean to get in between you and another. When you wrote "ignorance" I , improperly, jumped to the conclusion that I was, once more, being accused of not doing any research before asking. My apologies for that. That said, do you have a favorite hotel in Jomtien?

[frequentfliers]

I have stayed in all three.I stayed at the Agate in March and enjoyed it but it is not gay.Nice staff,breakfast is good if you get there early as it is a buffet.Also it is by far the most expensive of the three.Poseidon is very good..Staff very friendly and great restaurant.The Venue is a nice place to stay but if you are going to bed early it might be a bit noisy with the shows running late.Pool is very very small,plunge pool.I suppose you get what you pay for.Enjoy regardless.

[Smiles]

I see The Venue is on your list. I've stayed there many times and always enjoyed it. Very comfortable rooms, excellent washroom, and the upper rooms on the backside have balconies.
However, I believe you wrote somewhere that you are not 100% mobile, and that might be an issue for you at the Venue. There is a lift there, but on two occasions over the years it has be down for repairs for parts of the day. If that happens there is a very narrow -- almost dangerous if you've been drinking -- spiral staircase to maneuver in.
For me the noise issue from the show is no problem. Most folks staying would be out carousing in the Complex anyway, or -- heaven forbid -- watching the show ... it ain't my cuppa tea! Book the highest room for the least noise.
Prices are very inticing in the off season.

Heard nothing but good regarding the Agate, though I've never stayed there.
Ditto for Poseidon. A good friend of mine swears by it, and has been staying there for what seems like forever.
ALL of the hotels mentioned are literally just a few steps from Thai-Guy-Central.

[MiniMee]

I just read the thread again. Lord, we do wonder off topic don't we?

Agreed. We sometimes wander off topic too.

[paborn]

Thanks so much. This is the sort of response that makes this forum an invaluable knowledge base.

[latintopxxx]

i used to stay at tui a lot until tui broke up with his french lover and they split the restaurant downstairs into 2 and as I used to love chatting with both it just got too awkward. now i dont have a fav. Ive even stayed in walking street...now that was an experience...my room was opposite a hetero gogo/beerbar...think I lost my hearing for about 2 weeks.

[aot871]

2 points i stayed in the poseidon last month ,lovely hotel but found the mattress very hard,standard, rooms about the same size as the Agate but the agate has 2 good size swimming pools and the mattress better , atleast for me

[paborn]

Thank you/ I'm looking for next January and the Poseiden prices seem to be twice the cost of either the Venture or the Agate. No comments here seem to make that a resonable price difference. Did you book directly with the hotel or use a booking site?

[frequent]

It may be my age, but I do get confused with reading the responses. God, I wish we would stay on topic in the threads. ThanksIt's not your age, but the natural entropy of threads in a Forum such as this

[aot871]

Thank you/ I'm looking for next January and the Poseiden prices seem to be twice the cost of either the Venture or the Agate. No comments here seem to make that a resonable price difference. Did you book directly with the hotel or use a booking site?

I sent e-mail to hotel giving my dates and asking for a price

[Oliver2]

Do the same with Agate, quickly, as a comparison. Its prices via Reception are very competitive. Better than Agoda's for example. It's not in the same soi as the host bars and Venue and so is likely to be quieter....yet only 60m away.
For what it's worth, I found the Complex much busier than Boyztown a couple of weeks ago but singularly unattractive. And if you prefer Thai food in Thailand, only Dick's Cafe enticed us more than once.

[francois]

It's not your age, but the natural entropy of threads in a Forum such as this

Disagree, frequent. Many of this forum's members delight in going off topic, time after time.

[frequent]

Disagree, frequent. Many of this forum's members delight in going off topic, time after time.Your evidence for "delight" is ... ?

[Smiles]

Your evidence for "delight" is ... ?Quit while you're ahead dude, you are gradually becoming quite anal ... (though for some this board that could be characterized as a positive, E.G. AsDaRa).

[arsenal]

You beat me to it Smiles. Frequent wakes up in the morning and spends his day bouncing around here combing through every members post * looking for a single word to pick up on, highlight and troll.

* Not me. I'm on his ignore list and it's heartily recommended.

[frequent]

Quit while you're ahead dude, you are gradually becoming quite anal ... (though for some this board that could be characterized as a positive, E.G. AsDaRa).It was a rhetorical question, Smiles, intended to point up that francois merely has a bee in his bonnet and is not to be taken seriously

[francois]

It was a rhetorical question, Smiles, intended to point up that francois merely has a bee in his bonnet and is not to be taken seriously

Oh, you mean people take anything you post as serious? :mad:

Apologies to paborn, for further contributing to "off topic" posts.

[paborn]

no problem, I just sent a note to Heiko to book the Poseidin in January, ther're almost full. Jomtien seems to be doing much better than Boy's Town. I weighed everything that I could and decided that the restaraunt is s big factor especialy since breakfast looked good. Also, the quiet end of the complex suited me. I'm just surprised that they only had two rooms left in mid Jnuary. I know it's high season but that seems a high rate of long advance booking, speaks well of the loyalty of it's clientel. I eliminated Agate as I prefer to give my dollars to Gay establishments.

[Faranglaw]

It's not your age, but the natural entropy of threads in a Forum such as this

It doesn't seem to happen on gaythailand.com. A lot of bitchiness here.

http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=viewNewContent&search_app=forums

[frequent]

It doesn't seem to happen on gaythailand.com. A lot of bitchiness here.There seems to be an obvious solution then

[AsDaRa]

This is strange: looks like you can't book the Poseidon hotel anymore via hotels.com and booking.com.
Try for example a date in October, give Poseidon, Pattaya as search option (you see then in the drop down box the full name of the hotel). but when you then click search the result list doesn't have it.

Looks like Poseidon is removed as option. Also when I look at my recent bookings on hotels.com, it says for the dates that I stayed there: 'hotel name not available'. Very strange.

[paborn]

I found the same on other sites except that it cam back as no availability. Perhaps they have enough regulars and such a good rep that they can afford not to pay fees to the sites. When I booked for next January they had only two rooms left.

[Oliver2]

The "no rooms available" on the booking agencies' websites can be misleading. I was trying to book rooms at the Amora Thapae in Chiang Mai two weeks ago and every agency was declaring that they had no rooms left. I began looking at other possibilities Suddenly, rooms became available, admittedly at a slightly higher prices, and I booked without difficulty. I'm no expert on this but agencies seem to be able to "buy" extra rooms when demand increases.
Of course, Amora Thapae is huge and Poseidon small so this may not apply there.
I suggest Paborn checks out the Agate website and tries booking direct with them. Only two years old, gay-friendly and competitively -priced. P. loves it, more than any of the many other Thai hotels we've tried.

[Tintin]

The Agate has all amenities and is certainly gay-friendly. Breakfast consisted of a nice buffet when I was there last December with a lot of fresh fruits etc. A cute boy prepared the egg dishes according to your orders. Only downside was the quality of the coffee, but this has to be expected in Thailand. And just around the corner you have Dick's Café with its Nespresso machine.

[poshglasgow]

Thanks Moses I appreciate the breakdown. Funny how peo[le differ; I've been to the Carribean island of Dominican Republic more than 100 times over thirty years and have only once been to the beach. I'm a total city person!

I can recommend The Venue.Take care on the stairs though! In-house cabaret show too.

[poshglasgow]

The Agate has all amenities and is certainly gay-friendly. Breakfast consisted of a nice buffet when I was there last December with a lot of fresh fruits etc. A cute boy prepared the egg dishes according to your orders. Only downside was the quality of the coffee, but this has to be expected in Thailand. And just around the corner you have Dick's Café with its Nespresso machine.

Agree with Titin's recommendation re: Dick's cafe. Very charming waiter in the morning and their omelettes were very good.

[paborn]

Actually, I look forward to Dick's. It was a very favored spot in Bangkok. My next trip is January, I hope they reopen by then.

[Nirish guy]

Actually, I look forward to Dick's. It was a very favored spot in Bangkok. My next trip is January, I hope they reopen by then.

Likewise - Dicks is one of my fav silly pleasures, their milkshakes are consistently great ( I hate when you find a place tat does great milkshake and then you go back and its not, Dicks never has this problem and whether in Bkk or Pattaya branch their milkshakes are always yummy ! My only problem usually is getting across to the waiter if alone that "YES, I do want TWO - and both to come at once" as normally the first one gets demolished in seconds and the second is there to enjoy whilst watching the view around me at my leisure.

Likewise I do love their cheese and ham toasties and cubby chicken wings as they are just plain and simple but tasty and again consistent in quality and delivery - sometimes when I've had enough of Thailand and Thai food for the day nothing beats a cheese and ham toasty to get my going again :)

Re Dicks in Bkk - ARE they opening again ? I thought sadly that that was then closing full stop ? I hope not though ?

[frequent]

My only problem usually is getting across to the waiter if alone that "YES, I do want TWO - and both to come at once" Sounds like sexual harassment to me

[Nirish guy]

Actually sounds more like a conversation I'd could well have with a mamasan more like perhaps :)

[paborn]

Re Dicks in Bkk - ARE they opening again ? I thought sadly that that was then closing full stop ? I hope not though ?[/QUOTE]

I believe their announcement had it that they were planning to reopen at a new location. Much of the speculation I've read is that they are waiting to see if a new gay area emerges with the closure of Soi Twilight.

[Nirish guy]

Re Dicks in Bkk - ARE they opening again ? I thought sadly that that was then closing full stop ? I hope not though ?

I believe their announcement had it that they were planning to reopen at a new location. Much of the speculation I've read is that they are waiting to see if a new gay area emerges with the closure of Soi Twilight.[/QUOTE]

So, that's a probable no from them then by the sounds of it - what a shame ! ;-(

[bkkguy]

Much of the speculation I've read is that they are waiting to see if a new gay area emerges with the closure of Soi Twilight

I just can't imagine them squeezing in somewhere between Pink Panther and ScrewBoys in Patpong 2 somehow!

bkkguy

[paborn]

I would very much like to see Dick's Bangkok back and successful. However, I agree with BKKguy. One of the things I loved about the old location was to go for dinner or drink and get to scruntinize the lads as they came to work. Eye candy and less of a need to go in and out of bars to see what on offer; let alone the cost of drinks if you sit down. Dick's was good food with a view!