Baan dok mai

[Terry4]

I had been staying at the Baan Dok Mai Hotel just near Tukcom, for about every trip up until about 2016 when their Wifi continually let me down, it was about this time too it was under new ownership bought by a young Aussie guy Chris.

 

Chris purchased it from Warwick a former bar owner in Sunee.

 

Chris was a lovely guy , polite helpful etc but had no hotel management experience, he had been a delivery driver in his previous life and wanted to be with his girlfriend living the life in Thailand.

 

I did feel for Chris because he was a young guy trying to make something of something he didnt know about.

 

I decided by 2017 to stay in Jomtien complex from there on however I always wanted eventually to go back to the Baan Dok Mai because of its locality and low price ,however I just heard it was sold a few months ago and now a Thai couple run it ,

 

To me if you are looking for a low price room even with a sunny balcony with great location just near Tukcom you cant go past BDM, rooms are from a low 700 baht a night .

 

I have also seen quite a few of you over the years stay there.

[vinapu]

I think it's ChristianPFC's favorite place to stay in Pattaya

[Terry4]

Yes i believe i have saw him there over the years.

A few others too from the boards.

 

Im not sure how the BDM guesthouse is nowadays but under its forner owner Warwick is was quite good and had the coffee shop downstairs.

 

When Warwick sold it in about 2015 or so,abd i heard at a offer he couldnt refuse, Chris the new owner sub leased out the downstairs cafe and the new subleasee made the downstairs into a phone shop, all was left was the door to the upstairs rooms.

 

I really wanted to support Chris the new owner but constant WiFi problems, no cleaning etc etc

 

I think that was his first mistake, I really felt sorry for Chris though as he was young guy trying to do business in a tough market and like all young guys tried to do it the easy way and you just cant do that in business.

[Guest]

I stayed at Baan Dok Mai once and thought it was way over rated.

 

Everything in the room was very worn & even the bed sheets had been cut and sewn with the worn bits moved to the outside and a big seam up the middle.     Despite being worn, at least they cleaned it properly.

 

The shower would blow a fuse every time I turned the water up to a reasonable temperature.

 

Then the side entrance which had to be used at night was a very shabby introduction to the premises for any visitor.  

 

The year after that I went to the Flamingo, which was much better.  

[vinapu]

 

 

Everything in the room was very worn & even the bed sheets had been cut and sewn with the worn bits moved to the outside and a big seam up the middle.     Despite being worn, at least they cleaned it properly.

 

The shower would blow a fuse every time I turned the water up to a reasonable temperature.

 

Then the side entrance which had to be used at night was a very shabby introduction to the premises for any visitor.  

 

 

unfortunately but logically those are problems associated with low room rates - not enough money for maintenance. 

That was problem with Om Yim , went to disrepair and it's now just hostel.

 

I always wonder how Malaysia Hotel does it, charging economy but maintaining it properly? Perhaps size and economy of scale helps.

[Travellerdave]

Warwick went on to operate The Colonial Bar at the entrance to Sunee, but I don’t think that was successful because it closed fairly quickly.

[halfhansum]

I stayed at the BDM once, and was kept awake all night by a Booming Karaoke across the Soi ..

[Guest]

unfortunately but logically those are problems associated with low room rates - not enough money for maintenance. 

That was problem with Om Yim , went to disrepair and it's now just hostel.

 

I always wonder how Malaysia Hotel does it, charging economy but maintaining it properly? Perhaps size and economy of scale helps.

 

If I remember properly, Baan Dok Mai was charging me over 1000 a night & there were better options in that price bracket.    Perhaps people had a favourable impression of it as Warwick was (& not doubt remains) a thoroughly nice bloke.

 

For example, the normal rooms in the Flamingo were about 800 and the corner suite was about 1200.   The rooms style was dated, but everything worked, nothing was worn and they cleaned it properly. 

 

As for the Om Yim, that was OK for years and at the end, the problems were probably down to poor management.  Some of the stuff not working was just simple plumbing.   If they run a small scale hotel, they should either learn to do basic maintenance themselves or find a cheap plumber.     I do all my own plumbing & almost any idiot can learn to do the basics.

 

As for scale, well the Nantra Silom is of an adequate size and is, I believe, part of a small chain.  Considering style & location, this would be the almost perfect budget hotel.   However, I thought the cleanliness was very marginal and notice reviews for cleanliness are deteriorating. 

I expect this is again mismanagement.   They send cleaners around the rooms, so they just need to kick ass and make sure the cleaning is done properly. 

 

Due to that reason alone, I'm booking the Baan Silom Soi 3 instead.   Slightly worse location, but larger rooms that get cleaned properly & this time it is only about 100 baht a night more.

 

 

Warwick went on to operate The Colonial Bar at the entrance to Sunee, but I don’t think that was successful because it closed fairly quickly.

I imagine any hotel on that soi would need some fairly effective soundproofing.    Like double glazing with 10mm thick laminated panes & possibly countermeasures for the walls as well.

 

Incidentally, what is the current situation with The Flamingo ?     They seem to have shut their website & ceased all marketing on the main booking sites.    Yet they still had some customers when I was there last year.    I doubt it would be full.

[vinapu]

 

Due to that reason alone, I'm booking the Baan Silom Soi 3 instead.   Slightly worse location, but larger rooms that get cleaned properly & this time it is only about 100 baht a night more.

 

 

thank you for introducing me to Baan Silom, I stay there in June and was very happy. While room was not that spacious, was furnished nicely and enormous  bathroom more than made for it. In fact wardrobe and safety deposit box is there , bit unusual concept but  I was impressed anyways.

 

One must be careful not to leave anything of value in the luggage as theoretically whoever is inside has an unsupervised access to it.

 

You mentioned somewhere that some boys were complaining about the distance but is not really that far from Silom, perhaps 5 minutes walk to mouth of soi Tawan. So all in all great value for money, world will see me staying there again, that's  sure thing.

[ChristianPFC]

...however I just heard it was sold a few months ago and now a Thai couple run it ,

 

To me if you are looking for a low price room even with a sunny balcony with great location just near Tukcom you cant go past BDM, rooms are from a low 700 baht a night.

 

It is now run by an Irishman (?) and his Thai girlfriend (?). At least it was when I stayed there in June and August.

 

Walk-in price 600 (low season) or 700 (high season), but online can be booked from 500.

[Guest]

thank you for introducing me to Baan Silom, I stay there in June and was very happy. While room was not that spacious, was furnished nicely and enormous  bathroom more than made for it. In fact wardrobe and safety deposit box is there , bit unusual concept but  I was impressed anyways.

 

One must be careful not to leave anything of value in the luggage as theoretically whoever is inside has an unsupervised access to it.

 

I've stayed in several rooms in the Baan Silom and have not yet encountered the wardrobe & safe in the bathroom.

 

The safe in the bathroom could work quite well, since any time I need to lock anything in the safe, I can discretely go to the bathroom.   That's much easier than the more common layout, when I'm waiting for him to go to the bathroom to discretely use a safe in the bedroom. 

 

I'm less keen on the wardrobe idea.

[vinapu]

I've stayed in several rooms in the Baan Silom and have not yet encountered the wardrobe & safe in the bathroom.

 

it must be one set of rooms in the corner , mine was classified as ;' deluxe king bed '

[Terry4]

It is now run by an Irishman (?) and his Thai girlfriend (?). At least it was when I stayed there in June and August.

 

Walk-in price 600 (low season) or 700 (high season), but online can be booked from 500.

What is it like now Christian?

 

I must say I did like Chris the Aussie guy who owned it before, he worked hard but unfortunately he finished the cafe downstairs and I think thats where many of his problems started.