Holiday Inn Pattaya Joiner Fee...

[snapper]

Booked into the new Holiday Inn on Beach Road next to Amari. Impressive 375 room hotel with good size rooms. Got a rate of 1999 baht plus taxes. Now the downside. First 2 nights I took back LB's no problem , 3rd night they asked for 2000 baht joiner fee. Negotiated it down to 1000. Had a word with the manager the next morning as got nowhere. It;s the hotel policy for the safety of the guests, was his reasoning. They had only been open a week so I guess they thought, here's another way of making money. Just checked out and moved to Vista on Soi 4, recommended by Mardhi. No joiner fee. The other bummer with the Holiday Inn was 650 baht a day internet. So strike this one off your list

[Guest]

I wonder if all their 2000 baht joiner fees to unsuspecting customers will cover lost bookings from repeat p4p guests.

Thanks for the warning Snapper, hopefully the forum will avoid these greedy bastards and patronise LB friendly hotels on their future stays.

[tomscam]

That's definitely not a customer friendly attitude on behalf of the Hotel. We are seen as walking ATM's by hotels like this and they don't deserve our patronage.

I've only ever stayed at hotels recommended by BM's here and always enjoyed my stay and never had any problems. Inn Pataya I'll be staying at the Penthouse Hotel and I'm eagerly anticipating my arrival!

[jprc2]

(snapper @ Oct. 13 2009,11:34) The other bummer with the Holiday Inn was 650 baht a day internet.

WHAT !!!   650 baht a day !!??

This is insane!!!

I can understand the policy for joiners: they prefer registered guest (2 names on the room), and they certainly target families. Yes... some normal people like also to be in hotels without having to say to their children why the madam looks like daddy...

but 650 b(day
It is 19500/month

5 6 0   US DOLLARS A MONTH FOR INTERNET !!!!

Ah! yes, i get it. It is for protecting the children from accessing porno sites...

[Snick]

Gee and I thought I was getting ripped off when the Novotel Phuket wanted to charge me 450/day

[Bicycle Pump]

(tomscam @ Oct. 13 2009,18:03) I'll be staying at the Penthouse Hotel and...

I love The Penthouse Hotel... They have redefined the word 'Gaudy!'

[Guest]

(tomscam @ Oct. 13 2009,18:03) That's definitely not a customer friendly attitude on behalf of the Hotel. We are seen as walking ATM's by hotels like this and they don't deserve our patronage.

I've only ever stayed at hotels recommended by BM's here and always enjoyed my stay and never had any problems. Inn Pataya I'll be staying at the Penthouse Hotel and I'm eagerly anticipating my arrival!

Don't know if it has changed since i was last there but it needs a refurb in an urgent sort of way.

Last time i stayed it was great had a threesome every night, me a ladyboy and a roach.. the roachs loved it they got a free show.

But all joking apart in it's day it was great but now it is too expensive (there is far better value for the price in most areas of pattaya), run down and just plain tired.

All that said have a great time

[JaiDee]

Don't forget Holiday Inn's have traditionally been family-oriented hotels in the states; they may want to keep that tradition even though they are opening a branch in sex tourist heaven [or hell, depending on your view]. Maybe they are hoping for those ex-commie families and couples to fill it up?

  Internet should be free, fuck it's 2009.  Joiner fee; I thought only Pooket did that shit?

    Another place to avoid; the Hard Rock hotel, same as HI a famous name who feels they can play by their rules even when they open a branch in Thailand.  My friend was staying there once @ 3400 a night for a VERY average room with 2 little kids sized beds, for sure the biggest rip-off ever and this was in 2006!  But the real kicker;  he says to me 'come swim in the pool here, it's awesome' and so I did.....as I was reclining on a chair next to him and putting on my Ipod, some white-suited bee-atch comes over and asks me for 500 baht.... my friend says "he's OK, I am a guest here and he is just visiting me'' and showed his key ....  she says "yes, and for him to do that and to use our pool it will be 500 baht please''.

  Of course I grabbed my shit and left within seconds;  like I am going to give that craphole 500 baht to use their fucking pool? I think they have a joiner fee as well.

   Thanks for the tip, it's yet one more reason to never return to a city which offers nothing of interest for me.

[Snick]

The Mariott in Pattaya used to let guests use the pool for free, and I heard they've started charging.
HR rooms are very small.

[rxpharm]

My friend who works at Grand Business Inn has told me the 5 star hotels are still hurting a great deal, - business has not recovered much since last year's plunge.

It seems the joiner fee is a side effect of desperate times. Interesting though she told me the medium and low end hotels are have picked up quite a lot. Seems like the low end tourists are on the way back, so hopefully this high season may actually be ok.

[PigDogg]

Think it's always a good idea to email a hotel and get in writing what their joiner policy is.

Especially before booking on a non-refundable third party website.

[Ivor Biggun]

The high end hotels in Phuket charge exorbitant joiner fees as well to discourage extra guests of any gender- they just don't want the P4P scene on parade there. For the manager in this case to say B1000 makes things safer is pretty bone. If they ran it as a 'safety deposit' and returned it that could be deemed more acceptable. Don't forget P4P is not the only group being catered for- both Patts and Phuket are becoming increasingly family destinations and this is reflected by the hotel's policies

A far better idea is the ID card at reception thing - that does make sense. I remember staying in Opey a few years ago and they called up from reception to check all was OK before they would return Annie from Stringfellow's ID.

[JaiDee]

(Ivor Biggun @ Oct. 15 2009,22:42) The high end hotels in Phuket charge exorbitant joiner fees

One of the few drawbacks to hanging around in Patrong IMO

Even the mid-range places charge a fee; it's annoying.

  I used to stay at Patong Villa on beach road quite often; the room was 1500 with a 300 Joiner fee....   I'd tell 'em ''why not just charge me 1800 so I don't have to go through this hassle every night?'' It's embarassing and humiliating, with the help always eyeballing your guest and making rude faces, etc...... grrrr.


    It would suck for the guys who like Pattaya if this becomes common there as well.

[kahuna]

(tomscam @ Oct. 13 2009,18:03) That's definitely not a customer friendly attitude on behalf of the Hotel. We are seen as walking ATM's by hotels like this and they don't deserve our patronage.

My guess is perhaps they don't want P4P walking ATMs as customers...
Or at the very least only those with lots of bucks to waste...

[petesie]

I always check out if any "Guest" policy that a hotel has...........and I always book for 2 people in my room...........this sometimes gets me off the hook when the joiners fee is brought up...................

The Siam Bayshore in Patts charges 700 a day for internet...............aargh!



This is ridiculous in 2009...............they surely must realise that web usage is an agenda item when choosing a hotel these days...................guess all we can do is vote with our feet.......................