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Acqua Hotel, Executive Deluxe http://www.acquahotelpattaya.com/index.php Overview: Now that I've been here a couple of nights, I really like this hotel. The room, the staff, the amenities are all quite good. But, there is an associated cost with that. At 2600b, this is also the most expensive room I've stayed at in Pattaya. My normal rooms are in the 1000b-1500b range. However, since I am making a short trip, the expense has been worthwhile to me. Location: It's easier to say the hotel is on Soi Honey / Soi 11, but it's actually on Second Rd-Soi 10. Access on Soi Honey is via the Honey Body Massage parking lot. If you were to draw a box from the beach to Third Road, and from Pattaya Tai (south) to Pattaya Klang (central), the hotel would be pretty well centered. Easy access to almost anywhere in Central Pattaya via Baht Bus, and when I walked to Walking Street, it only took a few minutes. Soi Honey is a sort of specialist area for 'sexy massage', so while it's fine for solo or adventurous couples, I personally would not consider it a family friendly location. There are better areas to stay if you're on holiday with the family. Room: For the hotels I stay in, I'd call the Executive Deluxe room 'spacious'. For someone who ends up spending a fair amount of time actually in the room, I found it a very comfortable room. I don't think I'd have enjoyed the standard room, and at 2200b, even as nice as the hotel is, it would not be worth it to me. 2600b for the bigger room was entirely worth it to me, though sadly, my holiday budget won't allow me to enjoy this level of luxury all that often. As has been mentioned in other reviews, besides the two free waters, a free juice, Coke, Sprite, and soda water are also included. A large size hot water pot comes with the room for making your own coffee or tea. The bathroom includes a solo glass walled shower stall, and there is a seperate bathtub with a huge window to the outside world. Not being much of a handsome man, I kept the window shade closed. I'm sure there were people in the InTown Hotel directly across the alleyway who appreciated the consideration. While the room is a no smoking / no vaping room, there is an outside balcony with a table and single chair. The sign on the inside door labels it as a smoking area. I found the room to be amazingly quiet for Pattaya. The Exec Deluxe room is on the far end from the elevator, and there is a stairwell across the hallway from the room, meaning foot traffic by your door is almost non-existant. The head of the bed is on the external wall, so you have the full length of the room, plus the bathroom (with closable door) to isolate you from the next room. About the only sounds are normal daytime noises, and since the hotel is really on Soi 10, a deadend Soi, there's not a lot of daytime noise either. One bonus to the Exec Suite, due in part to the extra floor space, there's a big comfortable "man chair" in front of the large flat screen TV. The TV has easily accessible USB and HDMI ports in case you bring your own programming on a USB stick, or some HDMI TV device. The pillow-top cushion on the foot stool is removable (can easily go on the floor in front of the chair). Your imagination can wander about the possibilities of that. I normally just use the data plan on my phone for any internet needs, but this time I connected to the hotel wifi for my laptop. I did not run a speed test on the connection, but it was plenty fast to torrent a US television show in a reasonably short time, and play my online computer game. Normal web browsing was equally responsive. Cleanliness: Absolutely spotless. It's a brand new, just opened hotel. Everything is sparkling clean and shiny new. Facilities: There are two buildings to the Acqua Hotel, and sadly they are not connected by a sky bridge. The West Building (Second Road side) has the restaurant, fitness room, sauna, sun deck, swimming pool, and bar. Room numbers for the West wing start with "1" and even number rooms are on the north side. The East Building (Soi Buakhao side) is where the rooftop lounge, Internet Cafe, and off street scooter parking are. Room numbers in the East wing start with "2". If you have a room on the East side, you'll probably find yourself walking across to the West building at least for breakfast if not for all the other facilities that are all in the West side. Breakfast: So far, this hotel has the best breakfast buffet I've been to in Pattaya. There's a good selection of but Thai and Western breakfast selections. There is a chef doing fresh cooked eggs to order. As a special treat, rather than the typical coffee urn, or pot, there was a single serving coffee machine. Latte, cappucino, Americano, hot chocolate are all just a button push away. Customer Service: Staff were all very attentive and efficient. I even got recognised and welcomed from all my stays at their sister hotel. Cost: The Executive Deluxe is 2600b, the Standard is 2200b. I was told the current promotion is 10% off for over three nights, and 15% off for over seven nights. Breakfast for two is included in the cost of the room. Overview: I really like this hotel. While I can easily afford it, and wouldn't think twice about a similar cost in an American hotel (with half the quality), staying here will probably only be a special treat. For big rooms, I prefer the layout of Acqua over 247. For standard rooms, I'd stick with 247. It's a shame not to be able to get the Acqua breakfast with a 247 stay. That would really be the best of both. If you're closely watching your holiday budget, and you only use the room to sleep, this may not be the right place. But if you're the type to say 'screw it, I'm on holiday', or you spend some time relaxing in the room, this place is definately a treat. Not thinking about the room rate, this place is easily my most enjoyable stay so far in Pattaya. Facilities 360 Photos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/M8CYinvkkHUnh1ul2 (and a surprise to me, an included "selfie".) Room 360 Photos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/mILkDhHPYHE6UCOh1 From the parking area of Honey Body massage, the parking lot signage, and Hotel main lobby. The view from my breakfast table. Thankfully the food is far superior to the view. :-) The bonus chair in the Executive Deluxe. Directly in front of that chair is a large flat screen TV, and the cushion on the foot stool is removable. All sorts of thoughts popped into my head when I first viewed the room. 555

247 Boutique, Superior Room http://www.247boutiquehotelpattaya.com/ Overview: Nice hotel, right in the middle of Soi Honey. Special claim to fame (to me) is the glass-walled shower, big enough for two. The bonus is that if you're worried about what is happening in the room while you shower, the walls are glass, so you can watch the room ~and~ shower at the same time. :-) Location: Immediately east of Honey Body Massage on Soi Honey, directly across the street from Honey Inn and The Hive Restaurant. Off street parking for a small number of cars and motorcycles/scooters is available. Soi Honey is a sort of specialist area for 'sexy massage', so while it's fine for solo or adventurous couples, I personally would not consider it a family friendly location. There are better areas to stay if you're on holiday with the family. Room: This is specifically about the "middle" room, directly in front of the elevator when you get off of it. It is unique in that three walls are hallway walls and the fourth wall is an exterior wall. None of the walls are shared with another hotel room. Top floors the room would be 606 or 706, lower floors it would be 208, 308, 408, or 508. There is no balcony access, so my guess is that they are all non-smoking. Some have two twin beds, and some have the two twins pushed together to make a big king. One advantage of this standard room over the others is that the floor plan allows for a lot more open floor space. The sacrifice is that the closet space is reduced. With this room, you can sit on the sofa and not have your knees on the bed. Unfortunately, you will probably have to look at your suitcase on top of the minibar counter area. For me, it's a compromise I can live with to get the open floor space and the feeling of a little bit more spaciousness. Two waters are provided daily, but the mini bar items are all pay as you consume. Unlike the Acqua, none of the fridge items are free. There's a wall mounted flat screen TV, with an easy to access USB, and a more challenging to access HDMI so bringing your own tv programming is doable. I normally just use the data plan on my phone for any internet needs, but this time I connected to the hotel wifi for my laptop. I did not run a speed test on the connection, but it was plenty fast to torrent a US television show in a reasonably short time, and play my online computer game. Normal web browsing was equally responsive. Cleanliness: Clean and tidy, there were no issues. Facilities: There is a saltwater rooftop pool, and small exercise facility. Room service for food is available from 10 AM to 8:30 PM. Breakfast: While it's not up to its sister hotel Acqua standards, it's also not as expensive. There is a reasonable breakfast buffet available across the street in The Hive Restaurant. Hours are 7-11 AM. Customer Service: Staff were all very attentive and efficient. I had an issue with my air conditioning unit and got to test out the service staff. Maintenance was knocking on the door shortly after I reported the issue, and the problem was quickly resolved. Cost: The cost for a superior room (the standard room) is around 1200b. A little bit more if you want breakfast included, and a little bit less if you don't want to include breakfast. There's no extra charge if you invite over a single extra guest, but I think (though not certain) that they do charge a bit more if you are having two guests come visit you. Overview: I really like this hotel. I like the glass shower, and that there is ample room for two in the shower. Hotel rooms are in general small, or if not small, quite expensive. The transparent walls of the bathroom area allow for an extra feeling of spaciousness, even if it's not really there. Room 360 Photos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/QwFEnrrdHUkCLs8Y9 Entry sign Driveway to the right, right next to Honey Body Massage The view out the windows. The rooms are in a vertical stack directly over the parking entrance. The bars are a couple of feet away from the windows, it's not actually a jail cell. :-)