Sorry guys. I neglected this journal the last day or so in order to get some things resolved.



I changed hotels. At first, I went to the APEX which was 600 baht a night. I got into the room and noticed how quiet it was which was a plus. However, the bed was not just stiff, but hard and the room was basically a dump. I could not imagine living in it for 10 days. This room might be good for some, but I had to raise my hands in surrender. I did not want my memories to be filled with this rockhard bed and the old army blanket that was draped over it.



I stayed in the room about 15 minutes before I went right back down to the desk to inform them that I was leaving. I immediately got on the baht bus and went right to the Secrets Hotel.

I am impressed with the Secrets Hotel. They were upfront with me at the desk saying they had cheaper rooms on their 2nd floor, but it was noisy and people had moved out of the rooms in the past as a result. The Diana Inn was not so honest with me and did not lay that out upfront. So I went with the 4th floor rooms.

The Secrets Hotel is well worth it.









This room at Secrets is 1st rate for a room under 1000 baht. Its now about midnight and Walking Street is going wild. I honestly do not hear any noise in their "Superior" rooms on the 4th floor. The room comes with my favorite 3rd world air conditioning system...the one all you Angeles City lovers have come accustomed too. It even has a "powerful" button where it turns the entire A/C unit up to turbo mode.

I realized it was the 4th and so I wanted to get a girl early for long time. You see, there will be no action tomorrow if I did not set it up today. I had a few staked out, but then I got myself into a little accident. I scaped my elbow. It would not have been bad, but I will admit that I am on some blood thinners. There was blood all over the place. I walked 7 blocks to my hotel. All along the way people were looking at me in horror. There was blood all over my arm. I shook my head, just a scrape.

When I went into the hotel, it was funny, there was some guy yelling at me to go into the pharmacy to get some bandages. I held up my hand, I can handle this. I have been injured before and this wasn't bad.

I got myself cleaned up and had to wait a bit for it to clot which took a lot longer then the usual time.

By the time I got back out to the clubs, all of the prime meat was taken. There were still lots of women, but each one had something obviously wrong with them. I even went into the dressing room to see if there were any hiding back there.

Well, I did my best with what I had to work with and so I picked up this one who seemed ok to me. It was just a short time and in a little bit I will go back out to look for more.

Maybe some of you younger fellows can do better then this. I just got what I could get.

Photos: Stripes 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91

I had more to say, but I am going to keep this short. In my next entry, I will have a few trip notes for you.

I am going to wait a bit and head out tonight to see what I can find. Wish me luck.

This girl is very cute and has a nice smile.

Just thought I might come back to throw in some trip notes and more pictures.

I have discovered a few more things about Pattaya such as the concept of "base price". Ultimately, any price quoted to you is going to be a base price. However, no one will ever explain it to you up front that it is just a base price they quoted. In my area of the world, this technique is called the "Bait and Switch". If you did this where I live, people would get insulted as its simply not right.

For example, there is a restaurant in Pattaya called the 99 Baht All You Can Eat which is discussed in the following thread:

http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43658

Now with a name like that, one would think you just sit down, throw down a 100 baht bill and eat all you can throw down. This is not so. You have to buy at least 1 drink for 45 baht. If you need more drinks, thats another 45 baht. Then there are other items they try to sell you there which are additional. You could very well walk out of the 99 baht all you can eat spending at least 300 baht.

In regards to the ladies, when you take a woman "long time" then its expected you also pay for their food. Its expected they raid the mini-bar. The mini-bar expense I have found in the past to add 10-20% to the final bill of the hotel. etc...

All around Pattaya, I have found the final price of goods and services to be sometimes way above the initial quoted price.

The best solution I have found is to simply take the women short-time and be upfront with them that you don't want to pay for anything else while you are with them. If you are taking them long-time, then they will find a way to make it more expensive for you and to the point where you could have taken two short-time girls for less money then the price of them long-time.

Here are some additional pictures from tonight. I am done for now and everything is closed tomorrow. This might be a good thing as I need a little time to recharge...

Photos: Polka Dot 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

I told you I had checked out the room at Secrets personally and the rooms looked nice (although I did not stay there). I appreciate your review though. It is valuable information for the rest of us.

These girls are beautiful. Don't know why you are dissing them and saying this was the best I could do. The girls I choose have a slightly different look, but that is just personal preference.

I have never had a girl raid my minibar without permission. Several have asked me and I said "ok." But it was up to me.

You are right about the add ons. Every tourist trip I have gone on in LOS have had add ons.

Here is one thing I noticed about the Secrets Hotel which is unlike others. The room has 6 seperate overheard halogen style lights (not those energy saving light bulbs). There is also another seperate lamp over the bed for a total of 7 lights. The halogens have a dimmer switch for mood lighting.

The walls are also a light color which bounces the light nicely. Photographers and amateur porn producers will love this room.

On a side note about the Diana Inn, I passed by an open storage closet on my way out. The closet had large bags of rice in it sitting next to household chemicals. The chemicals and food are stored in the same closet. That put the nail in the coffin for me and the Diana Inn. For obvious reasons, you dont store food next to harsh chemicals.

One thing about these go-go girls, don't know if you've noticed this yet, but many girls won't smile at you or even look at you, if you make eye contact many times they look away.


This isn't a problem from my experiences so for, they're waiting for you to pick them, once you call the girl down and buy her a drink their attitude changes very quick.

If you haven't tried it go for it, every girl I've pulled down for a drink even one's that never would make eye contact were very warm and friendly once I bought them a drink. And were awesome in the room.

These girls don't throw themselves all over guys like the filipina's do, myself, I like this much better, I can sit have a drink and enjoy the dancing without being hassled.

By the way, what happened with the Biilabong Hotel, or whatever the name is, I thought you got a good price to stay there ???

After you posted about the hotel I found some reviews on another site which claimed the rooms were decent enough for the money.

I just decided to go with the original plan after tossing around several options. I figured I tried out that section of town and so now I will try over on Walking Street.

The Billabong is a nice budget hotel and its Australian owner I know is on-site which is a big plus. I understand the owner of the Secrets Hotel is also on-site (not sure if he is Australian). If the owner is not on-site, then no one seems to care and they won't understand you. Service then goes downhill.

Last night, the owner of Secrets was at the place and it was amazing what service everyone was giving. Everyone was running around in coordination and attitudes were positive.

I am thinking the bargirls do not smile for another reason. The dentalwork here is of a very low quality. I've been turned off quite a few times by the dentalwork.

One of the women opened up a bottle with her teeth. I then tried to explain how bad that was and she didnt seem to care.

Thanks for the Secrets room pictures and mention of the lighting quality. Might have swung me to reserve for my first two nights.
For nights three and four for my birthday partying, I am going a funky route and have this room on order think of some multi-girl parties:
http://www.swissfood.net/HotelSuite.htm
(and yeah, I read some mixed old reviews, but recent ones of this room are good)

I have no problems with the Secrets Hotel. As long as you get a room on the top floor, then you should have no problems. The staff admitted the rooms right above the bar have some sound issues.

Here is a picture of the halogen lights. The Hotel Royal Amsterdam only has one of these halogens in the ceiling above the bed.

The only complaint I have with the Secrets is the shower is only reasonably warm. Its not hot. This is not such a problem because anywhere I have gone outside of the United States has this issue. The water is not cold and a reasonable shower can be taken. Its just not blazing hot which I am used to in the US.

"I scaped my elbow. It would not have been bad, but I will admit that I am on some blood thinners."

I sympathize with your plight. I take coumadin as well. I have always suspected that the combination of the unfamiliar diet combined with excessive alcohol consumption greatly affected my INR level. I have been tempted to find a medical facility in Pattaya to do a Protime test but I have never actually followed through.

"They were upfront with me at the desk saying they had cheaper rooms on their 2nd floor, but it was noisy and people had moved out of the rooms in the past as a result."

I am one the guests who moved out of Secrets due to the noise on the 2nd floor. I have stayed there twice now, both times on the second floor. The first time the noise didn't bother me but the last time it was unbearable. Go figure. I still think the hotel is a bargain given the room quality and the location.

I agree with Jurgen, there is no need to apologize for your choice of girls. Everyone's tastes are different but in my opinion, the quality has gone steadily up as your trip has progressed.

BTW, I wanted to say thanks for persevering and continuing to post your trip journal in spite of all the flack you have received. I personally cannot relate to an extreme budget conscious Pattaya trip but I will be the last one to tell someone else how to enjoy their vacation. Your posts have been very entertaining and even somewhat informative to me. I look forward to each new installment. Keep up the good work.

H1

Since you are on the 4th floor, is there an elevator or do you have to walk up 3 flights of stairs?

I haven't been back to Pattaya in about 2 years but I have had great experiences with my accommodations over the course of 4 years. You will have to google for the latest pricing but I can recommend each of these places. I switched because I wanted to experience different areas of South Pattaya.

LK Metropole
Sanya Apartments
Metro Apartments
Pasadena Inn

I would try Secrets or Sanya II on a future trip.

No elavator, it's walking