Guest Astrrro Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Any ideas for a Chiang Mai Hotel? Walking distance to bar area. Simple and not to expensive? How about an inexpensive hotel for just one night in Bangkok (makes a hard man humble B) )? Quote
Guest MonkeySee Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Any ideas for a Chiang Mai Hotel? Walking distance to bar area. Simple and not to expensive? How about an inexpensive hotel for just one night in Bangkok (makes a hard man humble B) )? Many cheap backpacker hotels around Ko San Road. If you want a single bed in a little windowless room and fan with toilet down the hall, you can get the room for about 250 baht. There are some nice rooms in the 800 baht range with swimming pool and air conditioning in the area. Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Thanks! But it doesn't have to be a super cheap hotel. Just a hotel that won't break the bank and will pound on the door so a plane isn't missed. I could stay near the airport and then take a cab into town. Quote
atri1666 Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 In Chiang Mai i mostly stayed very cheap in the novotel ( i liked the breakfast and lunch buffet). Around 5 min. walk to the most gaybars . They offer free shuttle to the nightmarket and very cheap airporttransfer. No problems with guests. Tuktuk to gaysauna i paid 60 baht. In the night back from gaybars in the market area around 80 baht. When i arrived with plane there was always a quick transfer to the hotel ( around 10-15 min.) Quote
Guest Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 PJ's Place is great! It is not near the night market but a short Tuk Tuk away. It is within walking distance of the gogo bars and several massage parlors as well as the main sauna. I have stayed there many times and always loved it. The owners are amazing and the place is very clean easy to access. No problems with overnight guests. http://www.pjs-place.com/ Quote
KhorTose Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Any ideas for a Chiang Mai Hotel? Walking distance to bar area. Simple and not to expensive? How about an inexpensive hotel for just one night in Bangkok (makes a hard man humble B) )? Astrrro, there are two gay areas in Chiang Mai. One is around the Novotel and the other is at the night market. Most of the boys around the Novotel are straight shan boys, but that is the go-go area, the night market has both gay boys and young shan boys in host bars (two close but seperate areas in night market). I can give the name of two places that are cheaper then the Novotel. One is come-on-place which is located near a nice little park but you would have to tuk-tuk or rent a motorbike. http://www.comeonplace.net/comeon_index.php The other is the seven-suns guest house which is very basic and used to be very reasonable. They also provide airport pick-up and you can walk to night market. http://www.sevensuns.net/home.php The best places to stay are at PJs guest house or the Lotus. The lotus and PJs are the about the same price as the Novotel. Both are gay, and ran by gays. PJ's is on the red bus line and easy to get to town or to the gay areas around Novotel, a and Lotus is in the same area as Novotel. If you can PM with exactly what you plan to do and what you are looking for I can give more precise advise, as to bars, discos, lodgings, and locations. Quote
Guest gay_grampa Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Thanks! But it doesn't have to be a super cheap hotel. Just a hotel that won't break the bank and will pound on the door so a plane isn't missed. I could stay near the airport and then take a cab into town. In Bangkok I suggest the Malaysia Hotel. Price is about 780/night and it's close to Rama 1V Road and the turning to the expressway and the airport. The Malaysia is the place that the hotel snobs love to hate - especially when they've never stayed there! The rooms are OK and were refurbished about 3 years ago. All have en-suite bathroom, cable TV, mini bar etc. The hotel has a small swimmimg pool and a cheap but good 24 hour coffee shop that attracts plenty of boys throughout the day and night. If you want to go to the gay areas in Bangkok from the hotel then it's a 40 Baht taxi ride to Silom and Suriwong. Quote
llz Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 I always found transportation at night in Chiang Mai a little bit difficult so I would advise to stay close to one of the two areas, and preferably in the Chang Phuak area : finding transportation late at night is easier from the Night Bazaar than from Chang Phuak. Unfortunately there are not many options in the Chang Phuak area as most tourists do not know this place (this is another good reason to go there ...). In the cheap range you have the Chang Phuak Hotel - about 400 THB a night I think. Novotel - now called Mercure - is for me the best option although I hate spending more than 1000 THB a night in Thailand. For a little bit more than this price (without breakfeast), you will get a nice room, a pool with very few people and a generally good atmosphere - no objection to you bringing a boy for the night - more than one could be a problem however. Mercure is within walking distance to most places in the area - beware of the ubiqutous motor bikes at dusk when going to the Ratchada Cafe and New My Way area... Quote
atri1666 Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 I made a test booking at agoda and now mercure novotel you can get between 24 till 34 us-dollar for one night. There was always an amazing big bed in the room - no problem with 2 or 3 boys together. For the same price i can book here with breakfast but agoda not offer breakfast in the price. Some door or bell boys have been gay and very helpful. Many times they deal the price with tuktuk for me. Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 Thanks for all the ideas guys! Come-On is quite a name! Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted February 28, 2009 Posted February 28, 2009 Wound up in the Raming Lodge and am quite pleased with the room and would recommend to those not on a cheap charlie budget. A big comfortable bed, a nice bathroom, and very nice floors! In the deluxe rooms you get free wifi, free airport transfers, free daily fruit basket, and free minibar which I've never seen before. All this feels good. But the rooms are the same as the superior rooms,just on a different floor, so u gotta do the math. I'm moving to a superior room tomorrow. Third party websites such as Agoda are cheaper than the Raming site. I asked the manager if instead of changing a room and booking through Agoda, could I just pay cash at the Agoda rate. Could not so I did it on Agoda. Now u would think that the hotel would have made more money if I were to pay directly the same price I'm paying with a middleman. But this has happened to me before at other hotels in Thailand too. I don't really like middlemen because after u book u may find out about joiner fees etc. So if one has lots of time before their holiday it's best to email a hotel and ask if they have joiner fees if one books thru a 3rd party website. If they give the right answer then book through a third party. On a different note, I don't like that I'm moving to a room that doesn't have free wifi on the day the GT contest ends as it looks strange that I won't be posting for awhile. I'll rejoin u guys in about 10 days. Quote
KhorTose Posted February 28, 2009 Posted February 28, 2009 I've never known anyone who has stayed there. When you get back in contact I really would like to know how you liked it. One thing there are four internet houses in five blocks of you, so hope that is soon. Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted February 28, 2009 Posted February 28, 2009 Still in the deluxe room tonight. I like it there very much! The room is quite comfortable; I doubt anyone would hate it. And the staff is very friendly too. Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted March 1, 2009 Posted March 1, 2009 Looking at the reviews on Trip Advisor some posters comment that the rooms are dark. This is true. There's not lots of natural sunlight. However I like dark rooms if everything else is OK. Although gay friendly, most of the other guests are not single male travellers. First impressions count. The driver was easy to find at the airport, was friendly, and drove safely. Check in was smooth and the porter showed me how the AC and safe works. Another guy sorted out the internet access quickly for me. Having been on three different flights that day it was great to have a soothing room with lots of free stuff in the fridge including 6 bottles of water. OK, there's 7 /11 close enough, and but it was nice. I'd definitely stay there again unless I'm taking the cheap charlie route. Quote
Guest MonkeySee Posted March 1, 2009 Posted March 1, 2009 I asked the manager if instead of changing a room and booking through Agoda, could I just pay cash at the Agoda rate. Could not so I did it on Agoda. Now u would think that the hotel would have made more money if I were to pay directly the same price I'm paying with a middleman. But this has happened to me before at other hotels in Thailand too. The same is true at the Pinnacle Hotel. Cheaper to book through Jimmy rather at the front desk. I do not understand it, but that is the way business is done. Probably has something to do with volume. Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted March 2, 2009 Posted March 2, 2009 Well, I'm in the superior Room now but my old wifi password still works for now. The Superior Rooms are same same as the Deluxe. The difference is the extras such as free airport transfer. free minibar, robe, etc. For Bangkok I've decided to stay at an airport hotel so as not to miss an early morning flight. Not just the distance, but I figure that airport hotels specialize in waking up passangers so that they don't miss flights and I have a non-refundable ticket. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted March 2, 2009 Posted March 2, 2009 Looking at the reviews on Trip Advisor some posters comment that the rooms are dark I have walked past Raming Lodge many times and popped in once to have a look. It's certainly a great location, but because the wings are so close together, it did look pretty dark. I wonder if you notice any noise coming from other rooms? Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted March 2, 2009 Posted March 2, 2009 Two different rooms and haven't heard any noise whatsoever from adjacent rooms. Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted March 7, 2009 Posted March 7, 2009 Raming Lodge: No noise whatsoever but both rooms were end rooms with only one neighbor on the same floor. Not the type of hotel where you'll want to look out the windows but otherwise extremely nice. The breakfast buffet is not very tasty, but unlimited juice and coffe and u can't screw up toast. Just as well that I don't pig out in the morning. Unless I'm going for 300 baht a night cheap charlie accomodation, it's where I'll stay on my next trip. I was very pleased with the room. I was also pleased with the staff and management. They are obviously concerned with the hapiness of their guests and that should pay off in repeat business. I recommend that one books through Agoda and get a Superior Room for about 1100 baht. This does not come with free wifi though. Hotel wifi is expenisve if not getting it for free in the Deluxe Room but some internet cafes are quite inexpenisve. If booking any hotel thru a 3rd partry website, I always email the hotel direct and get what their joiner fee policy is in writing if one books thru the 3rd party website. Quote
