Grande Centre Point Pattaya

[ludwighigh]

Haven't seen an extended review here so I thought I would contribute one.  Just stayed here for six nights at the end of August.

1. Most importantly, after staying in my share of expensive but run down properties (e.g. Hilton, Baraquda) or new properties with maintenance issues (Siam @ Siam), it was really nice to be in a hotel that is new and clean.  The fit and finish of the room, hallways, and common areas are very good, and materials were chosen that should be durable and long-lasting (such as stone tile in the bathroom floor, and tile in the bedroom that looks like grey wood planks).  Air conditioning also works well and doesn't smell. 

2. I stayed in the Panoramic Suite Seaview.  It has a bed, full couch and table for four, all in one large room.  If you need a separate living room, this room type is not for you.  It has a large refrigerator and microwave, along with silverware, some dishes, and free snacks.  One really cool feature are small lights in the ceiling over the bed that simulate stars in the sky.  Looking at some of the regular rooms from the hallway, they seem nice but could be a bit on the small side. 

3. Bedding was good and the bed itself is better quality than the Hilton.

4. My biggest concern was about the location, and whether it would be too far away.  The location is better than other hotels in the area because motorbike taxis, regular taxis, and baht buses are right outside.  One caution - the baht buses immediately outside seem to go to North Pattaya.  If you walk just past Dolphin roundabout and to where beach road starts (maybe 250 feet total), that's where the baht bus goes south to Walking Street, etc.  I used more taxis than I have used on prior trips, just to save time.  They asked 200 baht for a ride to Walking Street.  I know, that's a lot of money for the local market.  In a taxi, Walking Street is about 5-6 minutes away.  I generally thought this location was more convenient than Siam @ Siam in this regard.

5. There is 24 hour room service, which is a big plus.  Unlike the Hilton, which has an extremely limited menu late at night, everything on their non-breakfast menu is available from 11am - 6am.  Menu is in English and Thai, which is a plus for obvious reasons.  Room service was pretty fast late at night, and food was good.

6.  One important note - it doesn't appear that you can purchase alcohol anywhere on this property.  None was available at the pool (which is a big negative) or via room service.  I think this is permanent, not just a delay in getting a license.  Maybe a related observation or a coincidence, there were lots of middle eastern couples at the hotel.  The hotel website states that you can bring alcoholic beverages to the restaurant on the top floor with no corkage fee.  

7. The pool area is pretty large, with adult and children's pools, and a water park area with slides and sprinklers.  There are some families there but plenty of adults as well.

8. The hotel connects directly to the Terminal 21 mall on the first floor, adjacent to the Gate 8 entrance to the mall from the parking garage.  That's also a way to bypass the front desk on the way in.  The mall has 50+ dining options, TT Exchange with good rates and open until 11PM, and crucially, a 24 hour grocery store in the mall.  Getting from the grocery store to the hotel late at night when the rest of the mall is closed is a bit of headache - you have to exit the mall at Gate 7, then walk 200 feet through the parking lot and re-enter the mall at Gate 8.

9. They are used to seeing couples, so depending on how you look, you can walk right past the front desk without being questioned, or get stopped in the driveway by someone providing instructions in Thai about where to drop off an ID card at the front desk.

10. I tried the breakfast restaurant on the 32nd floor (which is where you eat when breakfast is included in your hotel rate), which has great views.  Food was OK.  Most people seemed to be eating in the other restaurant on the second floor.

11. In addition to the pool area, they do have a pool table, air hockey table, and fooseball table, all of which are first-come, first-served.

12. Seems to have a fair number of Chinese tour groups and families.  Check-in was a bit slow and my room was not ready when I arrived at 2PM.

All things considered, unless Hilton points are an issue, I think I will be staying here again.  PM me with any other questions.

 

[davidge]

Good review, thanks.

Re. alcohol: Yes, this is a Thai-Owned chain of hotels and all their properties are ‘dry’.

[ludwighigh]

Just finished another 7 day stay there. 

Everything was fairly high quality, same as before.  I probably did more late hotel cleaning and other miscellaneous requests, without any problems.  

Whether you dropped off an ID card or not was really dependent on whether you or the TG wanted to stop at the front desk.

I did a lot of travel from there to Walking Street from 12 midnight - 1AM.  At that time, motorbike taxis are the best (and possibly only) option.  By that time the regular taxis are gone.

The 32nd floor restuarant is closed several days a week for breakfast, depending on how full the hotel is.  If it is closed, everyone is sent to a downstairs restaurant which is much more crowded.

They have some type of discount card that would give you free nights or money off hotel stays, but I was told it was for Thailand residents only.  Doesn't seem to be a good move because the hotels they are competing with are not limited that way.

Will likely stay there again as the cost/quality is still favorable over the Hilton.

[MarkKetting]

Good share, thanks

[EdwardSnowden]

So even if you drop off an ID card there’s no joiner fee here?

 

[ludwighigh]

No fee. Only tried one at a time, however. 

[pdiddy544]

Good to know there's an alternative to the Hilton and Siam.

Whether you dropped off an ID card or not was really dependent on whether you or the TG wanted to stop at the front desk.
I did a lot of travel from there to walking street from 12 midnight - 1AM.  At that time, motorbike taxis are the best (and possibly only) option.

So to clarify, you did not have to stop by the front desk and show an ID for the girls?

And how much was the motorcycle to WS? You mentioned 200 for a taxi - was that a motorcycle taxi?

Did you have trouble convincing girls to go this far away (basically Terminal 21)?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[ludwighigh]

1 hour ago, pdiddy544 said:

Good to know there's an alternative to the Hilton and Siam.
 

 

So to clarify, you did not have to stop by the front desk and show an ID for the girls?

And how much was the motorcycle to WS? You mentioned 200 for a taxi - was that a motorcycle taxi?

Did you have trouble convincing girls to go this far away (basically Terminal 21)?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

In my experience, with one girl, it was not required.  There will be hardly anybody in the lobby after midnight.  Walk through quietly (like all the couples who stay at the hotel), and they assume you are a couple and will not ask.

If the girl wants to leave an ID, they will take an ID.  They will also call in the morning before the girl gets it back.

With two girls, the security guy at the front door starts talking to the girls as they walk up the driveway, presumably to tell them to drop off IDs at the desk.

A motorbike taxi to Walking Street was either 80 or 100, depending on the guy I asked.   To LK Metro it was 80 baht.  A regular taxi (minivan) was like 200.

As far as the distance, nobody really cared.  If you are worried, show them a picture of the nice swimming pool complex (by them a bathing suit the night before) and your soaking tub (I got the suite), and you will be all set.  It's on the far end of the baht bus route that circles beach road and second road.   It can even be used for ST from Soi 6 depending on the bar's policy of how much time they have.

[B@htman]

Be aware if you want to use the slide in the swimming pool. I'm tall 6'4" (192cm) and bumped my head hard first time I went down. Was first and last time for me.

Apparently the slide is designed for children and petite bargirls 

Edited January 8, 2020 by B@htman

[phenixr]

Just returned from an 18 day stay at this facility. I have stayed at lots other high end hotels in Pattaya except the Hilton which I have always thought was overpriced, anyways. I agree with all the other reviews of this hotel as impressive indeed. Going back to the hotel mid year. I ended up registering company I brought back to the hotel late at night as I'm quite recognizable once you meet me and the night staff quickly got to know me. They do not even check the ID. They just accept it and let you proceed. They probably do look at it when you're away from view but the point is that I believe there's no age check. But then again, if one were to bring a minor (likely to have a fake ID anyway), they would probably call to your room. Additionally, as stated by others, bringing company during the day, and the reception areas stays busy and crowded up to about 7 PM, one would best just walk right past as you would have to wait in line otherwise. Additionally, if bringing in a guest from the mall entrance you'd be going out of your way to go the reception desk. So at times I did deliberately use that entrance to avoid the front desk dependent on the attire my guest had on. This is an extremely popular hotel with families but I did not feel out of place.

I stayed in a Deluxe Corner room which to me looks smaller than the regular Deluxe room on their website. I'm pretty sure it is smaller although priced higher. Incidentally the superior and Deluxe rooms are all listed at the same square footage on their website but again I think there's a difference between the corner rooms and the rest. DOES ANYBODY KNOW DIFFERENTLY? Curious about this as I get ready to book my next stay. Incidentally the architectural design of this hotel is such that all rooms have a seaview. The south side ( facing the mall) was my preference as it is quieter than the other side late at night. There are several beer bars nearby on that side. The rooms have no enclosed closet space which is something I have noticed in several Asian countries in otherwise unquestionably high end hotels. The mini fridge in the room was double the size of most hotel mini fridges and it sounds like the suites may have even bigger fridges. They do not stock the fridges with merchandise for sale. There are several products placed in there and restocked as you use them up by all 'free'. I don't drink and so I did not miss the lack of alcohol in the room and indeed did not realise this hotel chain is dry. Interesting. I did not sample the food on the premises. I use my vacations as physical fitness boot camp and so I choose not to eat breakfast even when free. Incidentally their gym is very well fitted and very spacious.

[jlo19]

How would it compare to Mytt beach hotel?

[phenixr]

35 minutes ago, jlo19 said:

How would it compare to Mytt beach hotel?

A close contest but I’d choose this over Mytt for location, view and the ability to avoid the walk of shame. Additionally all the rooms at Grande Centre Point have balconies.

[jlo19]

23 hours ago, phenixr said:

A close contest but I’d choose this over Mytt for location, view and the ability to avoid the walk of shame. Additionally all the rooms at Grande Centre Point have balconies.

Thank you!

[ludwighigh]

On 10/01/2020 at 14:29, phenixr said:

Just returned from an 18 day stay at this facility. I have stayed at lots other high end hotels in Pattaya except the Hilton which I have always thought was overpriced, anyways. I agree with all the other reviews of this hotel as impressive indeed. Going back to the hotel mid year. I ended up registering company I brought back to the hotel late at night as I'm quite recognizable once you meet me and the night staff quickly got to know me. They do not even check the ID. They just accept it and let you proceed. They probably do look at it when you're away from view but the point is that I believe there's no age check. But then again, if one were to bring a minor (likely to have a fake ID anyway), they would probably call to your room. Additionally, as stated by others, bringing company during the day, and the reception areas stays busy and crowded up to about 7 PM, one would best just walk right past as you would have to wait in line otherwise. Additionally, if bringing in a guest from the mall entrance you'd be going out of your way to go the reception desk. So at times I did deliberately use that entrance to avoid the front desk dependent on the attire my guest had on. This is an extremely popular hotel with families but I did not feel out of place.

I stayed in a Deluxe Corner room which to me looks smaller than the regular Deluxe room on their website. I'm pretty sure it is smaller although priced higher. Incidentally the superior and Deluxe rooms are all listed at the same square footage on their website but again I think there's a difference between the corner rooms and the rest. DOES ANYBODY KNOW DIFFERENTLY? Curious about this as I get ready to book my next stay. Incidentally the architectural design of this hotel is such that all rooms have a seaview. The south side ( facing the mall) was my preference as it is quieter than the other side late at night. There are several beer bars nearby on that side. The rooms have no enclosed closet space which is something I have noticed in several Asian countries in otherwise unquestionably high end hotels. The mini fridge in the room was double the size of most hotel mini fridges and it sounds like the suites may have even bigger fridges. They do not stock the fridges with merchandise for sale. There are several products placed in there and restocked as you use them up by all 'free'. I don't drink and so I did not miss the lack of alcohol in the room and indeed did not realise this hotel chain is dry. Interesting. I did not sample the food on the premises. I use my vacations as physical fitness boot camp and so I choose not to eat breakfast even when free. Incidentally their gym is very well fitted and very spacious.

Thanks. Your review reminded me of a few other things:

1. The panoramic suite with sea view does have two large floor-to-ceiling closets in a side area in the bathroom.

2. The refrigerator in the suite is about 4 feet high, and, as I recall, stocked with one coke, one apple/orange juice, and two bottles of water.  Outside the refrigerator, there are some snacks and coffee on a shelf next to the refrigerator.

3. You need an key card to operate the elevator to get to the guest room floors.  Strangely, there is a security guard standing around in the elevator lobby during the day (doesn't really do anything besides stand around, don't worry) but not at night.

[missed]

Thank you for your reviews, just booked 7 days!

[FarangKiNok]

On 12/01/2020 at 08:43, ludwighigh said:

Thanks. Your review reminded me of a few other things:

1. The panoramic suite with sea view does have two large floor-to-ceiling closets in a side area in the bathroom.

2. The refrigerator in the suite is about 4 feet high, and, as I recall, stocked with one coke, one apple/orange juice, and two bottles of water.  Outside the refrigerator, there are some snacks and coffee on a shelf next to the refrigerator.

3. You need an key card to operate the elevator to get to the guest room floors.  Strangely, there is a security guard standing around in the elevator lobby during the day (doesn't really do anything besides stand around, don't worry) but not at night.

Thanks for sharing !