Hoot Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 How do you find a Guest House or Hotel for your next trip? I find looking for suitable accommodation in Pattaya to be a frustrating experience. I use reviews and recommendations on the forums to help me narrow down my choices. However they don't seem to be as prolific as they once were. Sites like TripAdvisor are useless to me - unless I know exactly what places I'm looking at and have 30 minutes to read each places review. But then they still don't list the basics - does it have wifi, pool, gym, restaurant, etc...plus they don't mention pertinent information we need such as joiner fee. Yes, easy enough for me to send an email, but that's just another added step. Guest Houses are the hardest to find info on. I think there are so darn many of them, yet you can't find any info, much less how to book. Seems the only option is actually know about the place in advance on get a recommendation from a friend. I'm currently looking for info on guest houses and I feel like the only information I can find is by sifting through pages of trip reports and post across multiple forums (not a bad job - but I get easily distracted.) Is there a better way??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenW Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I'm lazy. I just go on any forum related to Asia, find their accommodation thread, and see what SiamSam recommends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 How do you find a Guest House or Hotel for your next trip? Is there a better way??? Hey Hoot, I'm glad you asked that! Ladyboy Review's major project for May is an expanded Hotel section. Bumblebee and I have been brainstorming and your post has given me a few ideas. We are thinking of collating this info into a user friendly standardized format. You mention wifi, joiner fee and a few other etceteras. So guys, what are the other etceteras that are important to you? In the next couple of days we will also be rolling out our affiliation with Agoda. Our request is that if you are using Agoda to book a hotel, that you use our links. That way we get a small commission but the rate to you is exactly the same as if you googled Agoda. But the real value for our Members in the Hotel section will be info regarding hard to find Guesthouses that have little or no internet presence. We want to figure out how to provide this info in the most user friendly format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth007 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Hotel accomodation is for sure the most important thing that you have to arrange when your planning your vacation...... Not only is this your safe haven but here you will in general spend most of your vacation time , so it must meet all your demands..... To come back to ppdog question i think if the hotel is ladyboy friendly is the most important question for us all and second joinerfee.. But these two points you will not get a clear answer form the hotel it self even if you send them a E@mail , been there done that... I personaly realize this also that`s why i have in the phillippines section a separate hotel corner which i am going to expand soon with info abouth guesthouse , appartments and condo`s and if there is enough interest backpacking and couchsurfing. The big advantage that you have if you get your info from such review is that all what you read there come from persons that have been there them self so it will be always accurate.... Abouth Agoda ( ppdog ) , i am a point base member there , if i book through LBR will i still get my discount point and accumulate member point for futher discount on other bookings i am planning to make ??? Greetz , stealth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Abouth Agoda ( ppdog ) , i am a point base member there , if i book through LBR will i still get my discount point and accumulate member point for futher discount on other bookings i am planning to make ??? Yes. You accumulate Agoda Member Points using our links. I've used Agoda quite a bit and have gotten lots of discounts and free rooms because of my Points. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EyeMahk Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Guest Houses are the hardest to find info on. I think there are so darn many of them, yet you can't find any info, much less how to book. Seems the only option is actually know about the place in advance on get a recommendation from a friend. I'm currently looking for info on guest houses and I feel like the only information I can find is by sifting through pages of trip reports and post across multiple forums (not a bad job - but I get easily distracted.) Is there a better way??? Yes, there is. If you plan on coming back to Pattaya time after time after time, then on one trip, make it a point to visit 3 guest houses per day until you find one or two that are acceptable to YOU. What pdogg likes and what I like may be far different. I am a location, location, location guy. I can't be bothered with staying on Soi Buakaeo as I don't feel like going all the way back there after snatching up something from the Coconut Bar. So I find a guest house between Beach Rd and 2nd Rd, or along 2nd road. There are many to choose from, and no, not all are dumps with loud AC and crappy TVs. Do the legwork to find a perfect one for you. Always have a backup. For booking them, if you speak Thai, it is no problem, just call them. Otherwise, find an EST (English Speaking Thai) to make the call for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Excellent point EyeMahk. I agree with you 100%. You turned me on to @Home and I stayed there many times, happily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 Yes, there is. If you plan on coming back to Pattaya time after time after time, then on one trip, make it a point to visit 3 guest houses per day until you find one or two that are acceptable to YOU. What pdogg likes and what I like may be far different. I am a location, location, location guy. I can't be bothered with staying on Soi Buakaeo as I don't feel like going all the way back there after snatching up something from the Coconut Bar. So I find a guest house between Beach Rd and 2nd Rd, or along 2nd road. There are many to choose from, and no, not all are dumps with loud AC and crappy TVs. Do the legwork to find a perfect one for you. Always have a backup. For booking them, if you speak Thai, it is no problem, just call them. Otherwise, find an EST (English Speaking Thai) to make the call for you. I concur, that was what I was alluding to when I mentioned knowing about a place in advance. I'm guessing a lot of return visitors have a Rolodex filled with there favorite places to stay and some backups. I know I'm that way with hotels - but I often like to stay in new places I haven't tried before as well based on reviews and recommendations. I intend to do the legwork for guest houses the next time in town...however my options for this trip have come up a bit limited as this is the first time I've decided to go the guest house route. Ladyboy Review's major project for May is an expanded Hotel section. Good to hear, I think that will be a nice addition to the forum. Let's get going on the Guest House section...I got a trip to plan my good man - chop chop (just teasing ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Good to hear, I think that will be a nice addition to the forum. Let's get going on the Guest House section... We're trying to figure out the most user friendly format. There will probably be one thread per region (such as Bangkok Hotels and Guesthouses or Cambodia Hotels and Guesthouses) that is a Master List in which each hotel has only one post (though perhaps 3 reviews from the same person). That would seem like a handy reference guide. We'll have the section running by the end of the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixon cox Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 If you plan on coming back to Pattaya time after time after time, then on one trip, make it a point to visit 3 guest houses per day until you find one or two that are acceptable to YOU. What pdogg likes and what I like may be far different. I agree. Initially guys need to read and use comments and recommendations from others to get started. After that it's up to you to carry-out your own ground-work when in-country. It would be extremely rare (read: impossible) for anyone to find their ultimate hotel or guesthouse that's suits them in all aspects on their very first trip. To be honest it would be ridiculous to even expect to be able to do that. The thing is not to commit to any unknown (untested by you) place for too long until you've stayed there and are sure you like it enough. Even for guys who've been coming for years and have found a place that suits them in (almost) every aspect there still exists new or yet to be discovered places which may have them changing their preferred residence in the future. These things are always being refined and to do that it takes a bit of effort by yourself and of course recommendations from friends can make good pointers too. But over-recommending a place may find you out of luck when you return yourself as they're full. The very best places are often by word of mouth, not overly advertised on forums. Selfish perhaps, but self-focus plays a part in many aspects of life. I've been coming to SEAsia for many years and during those times I've gradually being answering all of my own questions and filling in the blanks I had about living here long term. How much money do I need? ~ Where is the best place to stay? ~ Which and where are the best bars etc. etc.. So much subjectivity which only I can truly answer for myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 Interesting that so far, the responses fall into two camps - One side - that It'd be valuable resource to have a section on Hotel/Guest House Recos and the other side "F@#K you Hoot, you've been coming here long enough, you should of planned ahead on you're last trip two years ago for something you didn't know you'd need." Perfect. Like dealing with a two party Government. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 We're trying to figure out the most user friendly format. That will surely be a challenge, especially in a forum style format. Very easy for stuff to get lost in dozens of pages of comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixon cox Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 "F@#K you Hoot, you've been coming here long enough, you should of planned ahead on you're last trip two years ago for something you didn't know you'd need." You know us (me) enough to know you'll get an honest response Excluding PDogg of course, who's nice to everybody, but blimey you should be there in person when he blows off forum-steam in private... turn that AC on full blast! .. phew! Without knowing your own personal budget, location preference and/or hotel requirements etc. it's impossible to focus in on what might be a good place to start which we think would suit you best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 That will surely be a challenge, especially in a forum style format. Very easy for stuff to get lost in dozens of pages of comments. The solution we're toying with are some read-only threads where the mods copy and paste the original review from another thread. So these master read only threads won't have comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 but blimey you should be there in person when he blows off forum-steam in private... turn that AC on full blast! .. phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 You know us (me) enough to know you'll get an honest response Excluding PDogg of course, who's nice to everybody, but blimey you should be there in person when he blows off forum-steam in private... turn that AC on full blast! .. phew! Without knowing your own personal budget, location preference and/or hotel requirements etc. it's impossible to focus in on what might be a good place to start which we think would suit you best. Oh I knew what I was getting myself into . That last post was just a bit of my sarcastic humor. I agree with and understand pretty much every thing you posted. I wasn't really looking for any specific Guest House recommendations, it was an open ended question looking for a better way to search for guest houses - I don't think one could argue that isn't a better way. The answers were spot on for the question I posed. I was a bit surprised that feet on the street seems to be the best way to find guest houses. I would have thought someone might have capitalized on that niche at some point - like a dedicated website. Though I can certainly understand why guys would be reticent to recommend a place they like (or see it recommended by others) publicly, as they could quickly find they can no longer book a room there when they want it. It's a tough enough problem when a hotel becomes popular, much less a guest house with so few rooms. I believe Bumble Bee had that issue at his old favorite. I saw he recommended it recently somewhere on the forum, but only because he had a new place to call home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixon cox Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I believe Bumble Bee had that issue at his old favorite. I saw he recommended it recently somewhere on the forum, but only because he had a new place to call home. Exactly, like a hand-me-down of sorts It's different when sat sharing a beer with a guy you know of course, as is the case for numerous things, but openly on the forums for the masses to see you need to keep some things closer to your chest. Having said all that the idea of an accommodation section would be a very useful one, not only hotels but other places like guesthouses etc., that do not have so much of internet presence. Often just having somewhere solid for the first few nights of a trip is enough to get anyone started without commitment, one could always extend the stay or use the shoe-leather routine to find something more preferred, if necessary. But of course seasonal availability plays a big part in the planning too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Our plan is to roll out the Thailand Hotel section first. Should be done in a few days. Is their value in a standardized review format? Now we're not going to force anyone to use a standardized format but should we encourage it? I would think there would be certain yes/no multiple choice or fill in the blanks questioned. Followed by Additional Comments. Then Photos. Posters could cut and paste our template if they choose. So is this the road to take and if so, what should teh template look like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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