Guest friendly hotels - a clarification

[whitespider - RIP]

As this issue has arisen quite a lot recently, especially with regard to LK The Empress, LK Renaissance and The Marriott, I thought I would just clarify something.

 

If you send an EMAIL to a hotel asking for their policy on guests and 2nd guests you will almost certainly, I actually say 100% of the time, receive their standard response i.e. "company policy". the reason is simple - they have no choice really.

 

I have only ever seen one "official" response from a hotel stating NO fees and that came from the Dusit D2 Barracuda although there would probably be others.

 

The REALITY is (often) very different. For example the three hotels mentioned I have never had to pay for 2nd guests - despite their official company policy stating that they would.

 

Check around the PA hotels forum (see link below) and you can usually find the "real" answers.

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/forum/126-hotels-accommodations-in-pattaya/

 

To those who DO send emails asking this question I would suggest you take the replies with a large pinch of salt in many cases.

 

Obviously SOME hotels do charge for guests and 2nd guests but i would urge people to pay more attention to real reviews on the forum rather than company policy standard email replies.

 

Please post if you know different as I can only speak from personal experience

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

Speaking personally, I have never been asked re a joiner fee:  Nova Gold / @Mind / PBR / Centara / Amari Spa / LK Ren / LK Empress / China Garden

[whitespider - RIP]

Speaking personally, I have never been asked re a joiner fee:  Nova Gold / @Mind / PBR / Centara / Amari Spa / LK Ren / LK Empress / China Garden

 

Neither have I and I have stayed in over 50 hotels here.

 

The bottom line is "most" staff and managers in Pattaya understand Pattaya and what makes it tick. Backroom or head office staff are less likely to do so and will always toe the company line regardless anyway as they are told do do so.

[Perthie]

The other issue for new travellers is to ensure that they book a room for double occupancy.

 

Most hotels will gladly let you book a room as a solo traveller, charging in some cases a fraction more for two occupants.  If you make the mistake of booking a room as a single, then you leave the door open for the hotel to charge you whenever you bring a 'guest' back to your room.

 

Book double occupancy, and you've already paid for the first guest you bring back each night.  Whether the hotel will charge for bringing back more than one guest depends not only on policy but also on the mood of the girl behind the front desk that night.......

 

Cheers

 

Perthie

[sinbad5]

The other issue for new travellers is to ensure that they book a room for double occupancy.

 

Most hotels will gladly let you book a room as a solo traveller, charging in some cases a fraction more for two occupants.  If you make the mistake of booking a room as a single, then you leave the door open for the hotel to charge you whenever you bring a 'guest' back to your room.

 

Book double occupancy, and you've already paid for the first guest you bring back each night.  Whether the hotel will charge for bringing back more than one guest depends not only on policy but also on the mood of the girl behind the front desk that night.......

 

Cheers

 

Perthie

 

Indeed they do. Sabai Group's Agoda deals almost always have a single or dual occupancy rate, for example. One time, I was looking at two side by side and (not seeing the little images of one human and two humans) dived on the cheap rate. When I realised, I had to cancel and rebook for two.

[whitespider - RIP]

The other issue for new travellers is to ensure that they book a room for double occupancy.

 

Most hotels will gladly let you book a room as a solo traveller, charging in some cases a fraction more for two occupants.  If you make the mistake of booking a room as a single, then you leave the door open for the hotel to charge you whenever you bring a 'guest' back to your room.

 

Book double occupancy, and you've already paid for the first guest you bring back each night.  Whether the hotel will charge for bringing back more than one guest depends not only on policy but also on the mood of the girl behind the front desk that night.......

 

Cheers

 

Perthie

 

That is good advice bro. People do often confuse a "double room" with "double occupancy" but they are not the same thing as you point out.

 

Most online bookers, such as Agoda, now auto book for 2 persons and I think most of the others probably do too. If you book direct or via email etc it is always worth making it clear. I have yet to see a hotel here that charges any difference for double occupancy but if you dont specify it they can use it as an excuse.

[whitespider - RIP]

Indeed they do. Sabai Group's Agoda deals almost always have a single or dual occupancy rate, for example. One time, I was looking at two side by side and (not seeing the little images of one human and two humans) dived on the cheap rate. When I realised, I had to cancel and rebook for two.

 

Agoda USED to ask "one or two persons". it no longer asks that question so you cannot forget it. Now it defaults to 2 persons auto booked. Even so you should still check the T&Cs as these are set by each individual hotel, not by the booking agents.

 

As you point out "special deals" can often have riders i.e. single occupancy or n breakfast etc.

 

Human nature often goes for cheapest but cheapest is not always best.