I stayed at the Lavender Lanna Hotel. It is in a different area than I stayed previously and very near the moat around the old city. Many tuk-tuk drivers only knew it by the previous hotel name I Tokyo. I found it to be a convenient point to walk around the old city. I especially enjoyed the Sunday Walking Street. It is also a short ride to the vibrant Night Bazaar area. I found it to be a good central location and also liked that it was near a large shopping mall with Farang restaurants and movies.
Although the hotel room was a bit dark, it was comfortable. The bed was more comfortable than most, had a nice size bathroom, small couch, nice flat screen TV and was quiet with a nice view of the city. The staff was helpful and still learning. They provide free nightly shuttles to the other bars. The hotel also has a massage spa and nice pool area where the massage boys hung out.
The hotel breakfast was basic with an ok selection of eggs (fried and scrambled with both cold), a few Thai dishes, fried rice and plain rice, toast, and fruit.
I thought that one guy who was EXTREMELY helpful to me and normally around the entrance or front desk was the manager. He would ask me where I wanted to go, give me information or suggestions, talk to the staff to help me, arrange for the shuttle, and was just very helpful. Then I learned he was a Tuk-Tuk driver that had worked at reception at a BKK hotel. I think he should be the manager as I never met the real manager but this guy did the job just fine and better than most. He was very personable.
THE BARS
Please note that my preference is for muscular athletic guys and my comments are based accordingly.
On my first night I had a drink in the downstairs Power Boys Go Go club and saw many nice boys although they were not to my preference. They had reasonable drink prices, not pushy, and had an excellent show which I found to be better than the other places I visited in CM and also from a dancing and singing POV, better than any show I have seen in BKK.
I then took the free shuttle to the Circle Pub which was not far away. The layout or perhaps where they seated me was not great for viewing. The show as just ok, nothing special. The 10-12 boys paraded by a bit too quickly, most with shirts on and wee various types. The boys had small name tags. I offed a well-built Burmese boy and we had a good time. There were some good looking guys here.
The next night I walked to the New My Way which is not far from the hotel. Again, I found the club just ok. The 12-15 boys had numbers and the club had reasonably priced drinks. The show was a bit better than Circle Pub and was entertaining. The Captain was helpful. I chose a tall guy to sit with me and had a decent conversation (in Thai) but did not off him. They did have the boys on stage a bit longer so I could at least get a better idea about them. They had a decent variety.
I also visited the newly opened Adams Apple. It was poorly designed for visibility as some seats are set back in so the side wall blocks your view. I guess it may be good or bad depending what you plan to do in your seat. Drinks were reasonably priced at 160 baht which seemed to be the same at each club. The club had about 20 boys and a much better variety than the other clubs and a few more muscular guys than the other clubs. There was absolutely no pushiness on either drinks or offs. There were also more farangs at this bar than the others and at 10 PM all the wall seats were taken. Similar to the other clubs in CM, the boys circulate rather quickly. They had numbers. I did not off anyone but if I had stayed longer in CM, I would have come back to this club to off and would go to the Powers Boys to enjoy the show.
I did not visit any of the massage places but there are many available. I tried the massage at the hotel and chose from 12-15 guys. Most were smaller twinky types. I had the 1 ┬╜ hours massage with minimum tip of 700 baht. My guy was very pleasant, decent massage, and took very good care of me including a final scrub in the shower. It was very convenient as we just walked back to my room after I selected him.
I tried a variety of restaurants including MiguelтАЩs for Mexican, and then near the night bazaar the large German restaurant and Dukes. I tried several different meals at Dukes and was very happy with each of them.
Overall I found CM a very different atmosphere from BKK. It is much more subdued and they appeared to be more used to handling Thai customers than Farangs. They were not the least bit pushy, but instead seemed to be at the other end with me having to get their attention if I wanted something or someone.
Next time I will try visiting the massage places and revisit the bars I liked.
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