phuket patong

[outlander5]

Hi All

looking for a recent update on hotels that are guest(LB) friendly have a pool and are walking distance(10 min) to the action but far enough away!! first time to Phuket so any help is much appreciated!! I've read all past post and have an idea on some places like safari beach resort (noisy) cocounut village(old musty) but most post are a little outdated!! want to keep it under $100 us a night!! coming in early april!! thanks!!

[Rockheart]

In November when i went there I was trying to find a Ladyboy Friendly hotel with a decent pool. I really like to find a good pool as I love to swim laps after breakfast.
The majority of pools in Thailand are kind of small for laps so it is often hit and miss. This was the reason i picked the Coconut village resort since their pool looked good in the pictures but when we got there it was really quite small. The upstairs rooms at Coconut village are quite nice and not musty at all. Just the rooms on the ground floor seem musty, probably from the Tsunami. I assume may find this problem in several places as there does not seem to be tons of new construction in central Patong.

Now i am looking at a couple places that may fit the bill.
The best looking one is the R Mar Resort and Spa. It is guest friendly and has no joiner fee, plus it has a huge pool and looks pretty nice over all.
http://www.agoda.com/r-mar-resort-an...phuket-th.html

There is also the Duangjitt Resort and Spa. This place looks pretty high end with a huge pool and nice facilities.
They are guest friendly but seem to charge a $1000 baht joiner fee.
http://www.agoda.com/duangjitt-resor...phuket-th.html

Both places are close to the action but not too close.
The prices in April look good, when i look in November when I am going it is quite high.
Price always get better as it gets closer. The managers panic and start giving deals when they aren't full.

I was considering the Holiday Inn resort as it is supposed to be awesome with a great pool. However from what I can find it seem not to be guest friendly.
They are very oriented towards children and families so this may be why. However I have stayed at Holiday Inns in Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai and all are ladyboy friendly. Phuket is a little more mainstream tourists so they may have different policies.

My recommendation is to stay away from the Hard Rock hotel as they have a rock band playing in front of the hotel until 1:30am. It is great to hear if you are just walking around but it is really loud and right beside all the rooms, i can see it getting very annoying. I noticed reviews of nearby hotels that some people complained about the noise from the Hard Rock hotel. The Merlin hotel across the street I believe is guest friendly and has a big pool but it could be noisy.

Hope that helps some. There really isn't alot of recent information about ladyboy friendly hotels on any sites it seems. However the ladyboys scene in Phuket has taken a hit since Soi Crocodile closed.

[outlander5]

Thanks Crag!! yeah its looking like coconut village resort is the one!!!!!! A big pool isn't important just the fact there is a pool with a bar is a big factor!! The stagger back from the center of town is longer but the price at coconut village is insanely low right now and I've dealt with the mildew smell you get from places that have been hit with storm surges like Daytona beach in '04 a year after Francis & Ivan hit I don't think it ever goes away without bulldozing the whole place!!

[Rockheart]

Coconut resort is cheap for sure. It is about 15 minute walk to Bangla. Tootsies ladyboy massage is quite close. Just ask for an upstairs room, my friend moved up to one and they were very fresh and clean with nice balcony. The shower in my main floor room had a strong sulphur smell, I am not sure if this is common in Phuket, as they may use well water. The main floor rooms only have a sliding glass door with shitty locks in addition to being musty. Upstairs rooms have real doors.

[outlander5]

One question Crag do you convert all cdn funds to thai or reload at an atm??

[Rockheart]

One question Crag do you convert all cdn funds to thai or reload at an atm??

I never exchange my money before I leave as the exchange rate is always better in Thailand.

Personally I tend to carry a couple bank cards and credit cards then take most of my money out as I go.
Often one of my bank or credit cards gets frozen when I am in Thailand, so I take several cards.
I can always transfer money around online using interact email transfers etc.
It has been pointed out to me on some other threads here that there is a $5 charge on international withdrawls from Canadian banks.
This is in addition to the several dollars they charge you at the Thai ATM also.

I have exchanged large amounts of cash upon arrival before but I never feel good about having a bunch of cash around.
Other people think this is the only way is to have all your cash in the safe, it certainly will save you money over a trip compared to ATMs.

Maybe a combination of both would be good.