Orchid Guesthouse Jomtien Beach, Pattaya

[Dani69]

Any reports on "Orchid Guesthouse Jomtien Beach, Pattaya" All appreciated. Thanks.

[TrongpaiExpat]

I have heard that it's nice but I have never been able to secure a booking. Last two times I tried I did not even get a response.

I am the owner of orchid guesthouse & can assure you all enquiries by telephone or e/mail are answered imediatley.Majority of my customers back in some cases for 3 months.I can assure you of a very clean & freindley atmosphere at all times.Look at my guestbook on web site.www.orchid-guesthouse-pattaya.com
Mike Curtis.
0890152119.

[Marsilius]

I can't help thinking that a little humility in your response might have helped, Mike...

TrongpaiExpat is a well known contributor here and it might have been better to say something along the lines of "I'm terribly sorry to hear that you had difficulty making contact. Perhaps you could let me know when that happened so that I can investigate whether our procedures didn't match our usual high standards. Please get in touch with me direct - here is my phone number - so that we can sort it out and help you in the future."

Instead, your immediately rather touchy response - with no offer to investigate and its "no, he's wrong and simply cannot be telling the truth" tone - doesn't exactly communicate to your potential customers the ideal of the relaxed, welcoming, thoughtful and helpful host that one would like to meet on arrival at one's accommodation! I hope this is not symptomatic of your promised "freindly [sic.] atmosphere"? Would we get an equally abrupt and disbelieving response if, for instance, we dared to report that our room hadn't been cleaned that day?

[TrongpaiExpat]

OK, clarifying a little. First two time I tried to book via E mail I got a prompt response but you had no rooms for the dates I wanted. Then there was two other inquiries by E mail that I did not receive a response. Sorry, I don't have exact dates (quite some time ago) and I see you have three e mails listed, I don't know which one I used.

It's looks like a very nice place and several friends recommend it highly and have told me to give it a try. Not sure I am welcome now.

Ultimately the customer forms his own opinion about the standard of customer service.

Of course, if the guesthouse in question ALWAYS replies to e-mails, by definition there must be some infallible process in place to monitor the replies to ensure they have been made.

[TrongpaiExpat]

9 times out of 10 the problem with e mails that are not received is that they go to the junk mail filter. Otherwise depending on the mail service you get a failure to deliver notice. I find e mails that I want every now and then in my junk folder. With hotmail if the address is in your safe list or address book it comes through otherwise there's always a risk of ending up with all the Viagra and penis enlargement adds in the junk folder.

Hotels that have a web based booking form incorporated into the hotel web page are probably more reliable.

[Marsilius]

Looking at my response above, maybe I was a little harsh.

It's just that so many farang business operators in Thailand act as though they are doing us customers a service and that we should be grateful whatever the standard is. I guess it's partly because so many of them have no proper business background or training before they arrive in Thailand and they then decide to open up their enterprise as a sort of "hobby" to keep them busy or even just to generate a small extra income to allow them to experience Thailand's (male) "delights" all year round. Some training in modern standards of customer service is urgently required!

[Dani69]

I contact the above guesthouse and have recieved quick and helpfull replies via EMAIL and have booked a month there so will post after my stay in Nov/Dec.

OK, clarifying a little. First two time I tried to book via E mail I got a prompt response but you had no rooms for the dates I wanted. Then there was two other inquiries by E mail that I did not receive a response. Sorry, I don't have exact dates (quite some time ago) and I see you have three e mails listed, I don't know which one I used.

It's looks like a very nice place and several friends recommend it highly and have told me to give it a try. Not sure I am welcome now.
You will always be welcome.None of us are perfect.Please try again.

Looking at my response above, maybe I was a little harsh.

No, the comments were very fair, considering you were referring to a post that stated "ALL" e-mails are replied to "IMMEDIATELY" & was strongly implying the customer complaint could not be correct.

However, this does look like a good accommodation option from the website. No doubt some other members have tried it?

Looking at my response above, maybe I was a little harsh.

No, the comments were very fair, considering you were referring to a post that stated "ALL" e-mails are replied to "IMMEDIATELY" & was strongly implying the customer complaint could not be correct.

However, this does look like a good accommodation option from the website. No doubt some members have tried it?

[donald1]

Within the last 3 weeks I have sent 4 emails and all four were answered by the following day in a kind and very informative way. (even answering those silly little questions we think of now and then) I have booked for 8 days starting July 1, I will report live from the guesthouse as they have wifi which is what I was looking for, plus the added bonus of a nice big jacuzzi and walking distance to the beach.
V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N. sweet

I have booked for a month from the end of June - all my e-mails where replied to promptly and in a friendly manner. It will be my first time staying there but was recommended by fellow gay travellers when I was last in Pattaya.

[krobbie]

The other night I contacted Mike at Orchid Guesthouse, as I have some special needs to consider when I travel. By the morning I had a very welcoming and informative email from him and will certainly consider Orchid when next in Pattaya.

Cheers
krobbie

Looking at my response above, maybe I was a little harsh.

It's just that so many farang business operators in Thailand act as though they are doing us customers a service and that we should be grateful whatever the standard is. I guess it's partly because so many of them have no proper business background or training before they arrive in Thailand and they then decide to open up their enterprise as a sort of "hobby" to keep them busy or even just to generate a small extra income to allow them to experience Thailand's (male) "delights" all year round. Some training in modern standards of customer service is urgently required!
I am a new member here having just been informed of this website, and have been browsing the many interesting threads and comments.
I had been a fequent visitor to Thailand since 1990,and upon retirement decide to relocate here, bought a property just to the north of pattaya in a rural setting. If I want to visit Pattaya or Jontiem for a few days I always stay at the Orchid guest house if there is a room available. I cannot speak too highly of both te facilities, service and friendly helpful attitude of both Mike and his partner Chan , the cleanliness is excellent, both cannot be more helpful and it shows inthe many repeat bookings from clients who return year after year.
Mike is a very experienced hotel manager and before moving to Thailand had his own hotel in Blackpool for many yearswhich was also very succesful and highly popular. He has brought that expertise into running his small guesthouse offering a service and facilities which pus to shame many of the larger hotels which charge double the daily rates for mediocre service and substandard rooms.
I think not only were your comments harsh but pedantic. Had Mike replied 'all received e mails are replied to' then he would have been correct. To make such an issue of what could be a coloquial error causes not only damage to a persons reputation and possible harm to his business, but also distress to a hardworking and dedicated hotelier . Quite clearly 'not your problem' you just ' fire the gun' without wondering about 'collateral damage'.
As to the comments about Management training (in Customer service) , I would agree many bar owners both gay and str8, do come to Thailand and open a bar to fulfill a dream or ambition, however no amount of Management training can equip the farang for dealing with the corruption, petty bureaucracy, and thai staff attitude to working, which they are forced to deal with on a day to day basis. It is a brave person who embarks on that particular journey and only the strongest and the hardest survive. Modern management techniques as pontificated in UK and other parts of the western world, which have produced so many experts, applied here in Thailand to running a small bar would fail at the first hurdle. To most Thai working in a bar,' kindness is often interpreted as weakness to be exploited in full', this applies to both owners and customers. A bar owner unless having a work permit is not allowed to work in his own bar, but has to rely on a thai manager. Where a farang does have a work permit or closely supervises his business, customer service is usually pretty good.

[donald1]

Well guys I am here and have been here for 3 nights as recommended by my earlier post looking for wifi.
The Orchid guesthouse has proven to be a veritable treasure amongst the many other places I have stayed at in Pattaya. (this being my 15'th trip to Thailand, i speak with abit of experience.) The rooms are great size with balconies and the small jacuzzi/pool is perfect after a day at the beach. The wifi is the best I have EVER experienced in a hotel / guesthouse setting. A major plus for anyone needing to keep intouch with the outside world. I luckily still have 5 nights left and hopefully will be back soon as time permits and I guarantee you, while in Pattaya I will stay no other place..(unless they are booked.)

[Dani69]

Good to hear such a positive post above , makes me look forward to my trip even more, just wish i did not have to wait until Nov to visit jomtien, at least i will have the month of Oct in p├аttaya to party then relax in Nov.

[pennyboy]

Nice positive comments about the owner. Pity he did not know how to run a bar. Used to sit alone and try to get some unsuspecting passer by to listen to his tale of woe and malicous gossip

[Smiles]

The Guestbook at the Orchid website is open for all to read: << http://www.orchid-guesthouse-pattaya.com/guest-book/ >>. All pleasant, gushing commentary . . . a Mr. WILLIAM O MALEY Says: thanks them so much for " ... letting me stay at the Orchid ... "(!!??)

Not sure if I really would enjoy the (seemingly) claustrophobic atmosphere at the Orchid, or any guesthouse-style place for that matter, which is in essence just a large private home.
But that's me. God knows, the comments in the Guestbook attest that a certain group of folks just love the 'home-away-from-home' atmosphere. Frankly, for myself, the last thing I want in a hotel in a exotic foreign country, on holidays, on adventure, is that it should remind me of 'home'.

[TrongpaiExpat]

The Venue might be just the place for you. It's about as far from a home-away-from-home as you can get. It's almost like going to a dentist office, all chrome, tile and clean as a whistle. The only think missing is that horrid drill sound. Well, there's the owner that sings with the aid of a karaoke machine. Some claim he can't carry a tune in a number 3 wash bucket but I found his vocalizations quite melodious.

I like Two Faces. Something soothing about cats lounging in the bar under a bird in a cage.

[pyro]

I have sent several emails to the Orchid Guesthouse and even sent a pm on here to pattayalad who says he is the owner, but I have not had a reply. Either they are not checking and responding to emails, or valid customer inquires are going into a spam folder that is not being checked at all before deleted. I really wanted to stay there on my next stay, but if I can't get a response, I will simply have to stay somewhere else.

[pyro]

Just an update, The Guesthouse did reply to me by phone, apparently they had replied via email but for some reason I was not receiving them. The reply to my work email seemed to work, but my yahoo email doesn't seem to be cooperating. I am booked in and looking forward to my stay.