I've booked the flight!

[Kenny]

Greetings.

I have jumped in and booked my flight - Eva Air LHR-BKK return (£603) - for late November and aim to stay for 30 days in Pattaya (return 27th December),

In the past, I have stayed at the Venue in JC, but as I am staying rather longer this time I would welcome a few pointers in respect of the following queries/ requests for advice and, in so doing, apologise if this is advice that has been liberally dispensed in the past. Please PM if more convenient.

1. I am seeking good value accommodation in the Jomtien or south Pattaya areas with good communal facilities (pool/cafe/wi-fi/laundry etc) as I intend to spend my afternoons on some writing projects. This could be either a hotel or rented apartment and would have to be 'open' to 'joiners' and very gay-friendly. I'm looking for more, on this forthcoming visit, than just a place to rest my head in the evening. Mosaik, I liked in the past for the purpose of sleeping and eh, short time adventures, but it would not suit me this time.

PG

I hope you have a great holiday on your return, PG, I have a few comments to make on the hotel v. apartment question.

By way of background, I stayed in hotels on my early visits to Thailand, including The Agate and the Poseidon in the Jomtien Complex, which were excellent.

As the duration of my visits grew to around 30 days on average, I began to find the hotels a bit small, in terms of room size, balconies, pools etc. and decided to look into the apartment option.

On my last hotel stay, about four years ago, I booked into the Agate for five days and spent the afternoons visiting the nearby condominia. These each had agents on the ground floor who were happy to show me available rooms, discuss prices etc.

On that occasion I moved from the Agate to a studio in View Talay 7. On later visits I stayed mostly in View Talay 2 (A and B). After making the move to an apartment, I never went back to the hotel option.

For a long holiday stay of thirty days or more, I think an apartment is a better option. You get more space and comfort, a greater sense of independence and privacy, a bigger pool area for exercise and you are still within a short walk of the action at the Jomtien Complex. They are also much less expensive.

On the question of joiners, I have never experienced any problem in this regard. If a joiner accompanies me back to my condominium, the security guard never comments. If I invite a joiner to come over the security guard will take his ID and give him a visitor's pass at reception and return it when he leaves. Again, this has never presented a problem.

The apartment option is not for everyone, however I hope you will try it out for yourself on this or a future visit.

[poshglasgow]

I hope you have a great holiday on your return, PG, I have a few comments to make on the hotel v. apartment question.

By way of background, I stayed in hotels on my early visits to Thailand, including The Agate and the Poseidon in the Jomtien Complex, which were excellent.

As the duration of my visits grew to around 30 days on average, I began to find the hotels a bit small, in terms of room size, balconies, pools etc. and decided to look into the apartment option.

On my last hotel stay, about four years ago, I booked into the Agate for five days and spent the afternoons visiting the nearby condominia. These each had agents on the ground floor who were happy to show me available rooms, discuss prices etc.

On that occasion I moved from the Agate to a studio in View Talay 7. On later visits I stayed mostly in View Talay 2 (A and B). After making the move to an apartment, I never went back to the hotel option.

For a long holiday stay of thirty days or more, I think an apartment is a better option. You get more space and comfort, a greater sense of independence and privacy, a bigger pool area for exercise and you are still within a short walk of the action at the Jomtien Complex. They are also much less expensive.

On the question of joiners, I have never experienced any problem in this regard. If a joiner accompanies me back to my condominium, the security guard never comments. If I invite a joiner to come over the security guard will take his ID and give him a visitor's pass at reception and return it when he leaves. Again, this has never presented a problem.

The apartment option is not for everyone, however I hope you will try it out for yourself on this or a future visit.

Thank you very much Kenny,

Much food for thought here.

PG