Need Advise - Phuket

[SlaveDriver]

Hello Everyone !

Though I have been to Thailand many times, but have never been to Phuket. I am planning to spend about 10 days there during my next trip and need your advise guys :

1. Mid-level ($50-60 per night) hotel close to gay nightlife. Hotel with swimming pool and sea front would be nice.

2. Hotel should not have joiner fees and must be gay friendly and secured.

3. Clean and good service (I call 3 star hotels with 5 star service).

4. Popular gay bars, pubs and discos (names please)

5. Is late January - early February a good time viz weather, tourist traffic, and local Thai tourist.

Any other advise you guys may have for me.

Really appreciate you guys for the inputs.

Have fun arty

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[Rush, Yet Again]

By Phuket I assume you mean Patong Beach which is where the majority of the gay bars are. Look at a map - the bars (Paradise Complex) are not near the beach so you canтАЩt have a hotel close to both. The time you are planning on going is fine, some showers in the afternoon usually but generally sunny. You might check when the Pride celebration is in 2014, itтАЩs usually around early Feb. so that could be worth rearranging your schedule for.

My Way (gogo bar) and Boat Club (dance club) are two popular places, both in Paradise. The others along those sois tend to come and go but itтАЩs a small area so itтАЩs easy to navigate and find a place to your liking.

On my last visit I stayed at the newly renovated Best Western (of all places) which fits your budget. It was spacious, clean, offered great service, and had a real nice pool - with bar - that the majority of rooms face. Walkable to the bars, a bit further out but still an okay stroll to the beach. IтАЩve heard that the Royal Paradise, which sits at the back of Paradise no longer charges a joiner fee, but though it too fits your budget it caters to the tour bus crowd and strives to be a 3 star hotel with little success.

Kun12 will fill you in on all the reasons you shouldnтАЩt visit Phuket. Soon, IтАЩm sure.

[atri1666]

I am just here in the Paradise Complex. Very quiet. Every place i visited i was the only customer. Weather is still fine. Arrived tuesday afternoon. Send me PM if you have questions.

[rincondog]

The end of January, early February is still high season in Phuket. Weather is good and many tourists. I doubt if you can find a sea front place at that time for $50-60. The Paradise complex is where all the gay bars are located. Kiss bar seems to be the most popular recently. Boat Bar is busy later like for the 2am show and then dancing until close. It is pretty easy to see which bars are the busiest since all are within the same area. If you just want to sit for a drink Time bar or Sundowner, next to each other are good bars.

Phuket gay pride is held the latter part of April and will be the same in 2014.

[SlaveDriver]

Thanks very positive and professional helpful tips. Thank you guys. More suggestions welcome

Let us party arty

[Beachlover]

Haven't stepped foot in Patong for a good couple of years so some of this may be a bit out of date, but I'll do a quick brain dump as I've stayed in so many of the hotels around that area...

1. Location is important in Patong as public transport options are so shit there. Tuk tuks rip you off charging minimum 150 or is it 250 baht (?) for even a 5 min ride. So whatever you do, don't pick a location far away from the areas you want to frequent. Unless you're going to hire a bike or something.

2. Contrary to what's said above, you CAN have a hotel close to both the gay bars AND the beach (5-min walk to both) if you stay in that middle section of Patong Beach... I'll list a few hotels in this area below.

3. For your budget and priorities, I would recommend Poppa Palace. It's right in the middle, between the beach and the bars and probably the "cleanest", most newly constructed and best value in my opinion. For under 2,000 baht I would recommend this (can't remember their rates exactly but think it's in that region). No beach/sea views though.

4. Birdcage Guesthouse is also near Poppa and right in the middle between the bars and the beach. It's also much cheaper but shittier. I think you can get rooms under 1,000 baht there.

5. Closer to the bars is the Royal Paradise Hotel. It's right above the gay bars but it'll be a longer (10 mins?) walk to the beach. The hotel is very very old and rooms range from decrepit to recently renovated. The only plus side is you'll have a nice view from your room, thanks to the elevation (just make sure you book a room in the tower wing). I think you can get rooms for around 2,000 baht here but can't remember.

6. If you really want to be beachfront and need to stick to that 2,000 baht budget then Patong Bay Garden may be your best bet. Only a couple of the rooms are beach front (the rest are facing the pool or have no view) but the hotel is right on the beach and you have a pool overlooking the beach. Downside is while it probably used to be a decent mid-market hotel, it's now very old and decrepit. The rooms are really dark (poor natural light) and just barely ok. You pay a premium for shit rooms because it's on the beachfront. I think the cheaper rooms should fall under your 2,000 baht budget. It's a 10-min walk to the gay bars.

7. If you're happy to up your budget, I would recommend La Flora. Probably the only decent hotel in that area! It's a really nice little boutique resort right on the beachfront. Rooms are fairly small but really nice, overlooking a long pool and the resort has direct beach access. Quite newly built so fairly modern design. The bigger rooms/suites overlook the beach and some come with your own little private pool. But it's pricey... I think it was 6,000+ baht for rooms and 9,000+ baht for suites when I stayed there.

8. I recall there's also the KN Guesthouse which is also low priced but I can't recommend as I haven't stayed there as I have the ones above. Same goes for this place called the Safari Beach Guesthouse or something, which is right on the beach. I recall checking it out but never stayed there.

9. Walking between the beach and the gay bars, be prepared to use the small alleys, instead of the main roads. Main roads mean you have walk a bigger loop.

Not going to get everything on your wishlist on a 2,000 baht/night budget so you'll have to pick and prioritise what's important to you.

Personally, nothing about Patong attracts me anymore. It's crowded, accommodation is either sub-standard, poor value or poorly located and I tend to want to be in a quiet and out of the way place when getting away to beach resorts now... Much nicer resorts to be had elsewhere in Phuket but it will mean being far away from the bars for you and public transport/taxi availability is shite so if that's important, you may be better off staying in Patong.

Be aware, the whole island feeds on tourists via a LOT of rip off price fixing and price gouging. You might come away with an unpleasant feeling...

P.S. SlaveDriver, are you BadBoyBilly? You crack me up. :happy7:

[SlaveDriver]

BeachLover,I like your very descriptive and professional inputs. They are very valuable. Thanks a million.

Would you like to give me some inputs about Cheng Mai as an alternate destination or any other gay places?

Keep well and stay safe

[paulfort]

Last time I stayed at Aquarius apartments - virtually in the middle of the Paradise area, totally gay, OK small indoor pool with sauna, I took an "Apartment suite" which I think is within your budget, very clean, spacious and well furnished - the beach is about a five or ten minute walk. I have also stayed at Club one Severn, it is a really friendly place with a nice garden and pool, though the rooms are not that large and not relay very "luxurious", it is also a fair way from the Paradise gay area and taxis in Patong always seem a lot more expensive than Bangkok or Pattaya.

In general a lot of Patong can be more expensive than say Pattaya, certainly taxis and any water sports can be a rip off, but the sea is a lot cleaner - the gay area is also a fair bit smaller, I find My Way and the Boat Bar are about the best, but now I tend to go to Pattaya more now - hope this helps you a bit!

[jinks]

A small no frills hotel is the hostal puerta del sol phuket.

It is a short walk from the Paradise Complex. Clean and Spanish run.

Own key, no night staff when I stayed. Gay owned with mixed clients.

http://www.hostalpuertadelsolphuket.com

.

[Manforallseasons]

On another thread another poster who is there now has sad he is alone in the bars, I have been before I strongly suggest that you don't go, the airport taxi Mafia is an ongoing rip off and the likely hood of meeting a guy at the moment is slim, most things ae expensive and hardly worthily, if you are a masochist you might enjoy in.