Hotel Reviews - LK Metro (247, Areca, Sea Me Too, Deep Blue Z10) - Hotels & Accommodations in Pattaya

December 8, 20196 yr

Hi everyone,

before I am posting my trip report I want to shortly post a summary of my hotels I stayed on my trip in mid November – December. I hope that its okay to have one new topic instead of different post for each hotel. Somehow I managed to stay in four different hotel over 14 days. Normally I am not so picky about hotels, but I somehow I had always a major issue with the hotel I picked (noise, no wifi, and uncontrollable AC).

Some general hotel information (for newbies)

In Pattaya the hotels are not very good kept in shape. So the newer the hotel / the rooms the better in regard of the shape of the room (mold in the shower, look of the furniture).
But also keep in mind, the in newer hotels the room size is generally smaller then in old hotels. So the best recommendation is and "old" hotel with updated rooms.
Don't relay too heavy on old reviews (I did for the 247 and failed). Within a few months the hotel crew could have changed or a new bar area could have opened up (more noise). In Pattaya stuff changes faster then elsewhere.
All hotels are girl friendly. The only difference is in the price for the third person (second joiner) and the handling. I always walked in and out with my girl (LT), so for this point there is nothing I can contribute. All hotels always took the IDs and in Areca lodge and Z10 I had to sign a form.

For booking I used the Agoda app. To get the best price you first have to search via Google or tripadvisor, then jump to Agoda and select on the page "open in app". In the app itself I had a 4% and 5% exclusive in app coupon, so I got another 5% off the tripadvisor / Google price. In contrary to the reports the agoda price was always better then the walk in price.

Location: Since this is my first trip I wanted to stay in / near the LK Metro area with good access to Baht bus. I also thought about hotels near Soi 6 (August Suite / Arden Exclusive) but decided against it and was happy with my decision :-). I didn’t care about the pool area, but if this is important for you the Areca would win (two pools).

Now to the hotel:

247 Boutique hotel. Price ~ 30€ / Night:

I stayed in the hotel for two nights, before I switched. I first thought about going to the Acqua Hotel instead, but only the standard rooms were available for ~45€. In the reviews many people complained about the size of the hotel and sugested the 247, if you cannot get a better room, so I tried it. I liked the room size and the window in the shower, but the hotel is already showing it age. There was already a lot of mold in the shower and the furniture looked used.

The reason why I switched was although NOT the mold, but the noise in the room. It seems that a few months ago a new bar area opened in the back. In the room I heard music until 4 am. I asked to be switch to the other side of the hotel, but no other rooms were available (wonder why). So I slept with ear plugs and then switched hotel.

Summary: If you get a room to the front or party all night it is a good hotel. But if you are jet lagged or want to sleep before 4am, then choose a different one.

Areca lodge - Standard Plus Room. Price ~50 € / Night

My favorite hotel of the trip and I returned to it and the end. I stayed in the updated "Standard Plus" rooms with a shower, first in the fifth floor and then on the fourth.
The room size is similar to the 247 room, but it has a much better furniture and overall feeling (you get what you pay for). You have a comfy TV Chair, a table with two small chairs and a large fridge. Only downside, you cannot put anything in the sideboard below the TV. The Standard rooms are looking to a small side alley, so there was almost no outside noise. On one night one of the bars in LK Metro had a party and then you heard some noise reflected by the other buildings, but beside this everything was very quite.

Good: Comfortable bed, new furniture. I also liked the ladies at the reception, always friendly. Two pool area, although I never used them.
Bad (I am German, so I need to complain :-)): Wired layout of the lighting control, but it was always good for a laugh, because none of me or the ladys knew what button to press and there were also no signs on it.
Breakfast only open until 9:30 am. Used it once and it is just "okay". The other times I slept in and went somewhere else.

The cost for additional stuff is also ok. We broke (in a heated moment) a glas, 50 baht. Toothbrush (Not included in the room accessory) 20 baht.

Second part:
After I returned from Koh Chang I wanted to try out to Soi 10, because many recommended it as an alternative. The Page 9 hotel was too expensive (~65 €) so I tried two other hotels and went back to the Areca lodge afterwards. The location is better than LK Metro in regards off the Baht bus, because it drives on both side. On the other hand there are no restaurants in the Soi, so you always need to walk a few minutes.

Sea me spring too hotel. Price 50€ / Night

Somehow I didn't like the rooms. They were very dark and there was not sufficient lighting or it was badly placed. Maybe because the new Deep Blue Z10 was build next to it and it took all natural lighting, I don't know. Also I have no idea who designed the bathroom. It had a window between the bathroom and the bed, but instead looking into the shower you look into the bathtub. I am not a bathtub guy and cannot imagine, that lady would get a bath before any action.

On the plus side, the room had the quietest and best AC of my entire trip. You almost didn't hear it.
The main reason for me to switch was, that the WiFi broke down and I was more than one day without Internet (no Thai sim card). In front of my hotel the Deep Z10 Blue was build. So I walked over, looked at the rooms and then booked it (unfortunately without checking the AC).

Deep Blue Z10. Price 55€ / Night. Room with balcony

I was lucky and got a room on the fifth floor. You could see a little bit of the sea (between the buoldings), without paying more for it. I really really liked the rooms, nice bathroom area, balcony with two chair, nice bathroom, fast WiFi. The room size is also okay for me, but missed a table inside of the room (as compared to Areca lodge). For some pictures check the following tripadvisor review: https://www.tripadvisor.de/ShowUserReviews-g293919-d12189195-r517058510-Deep_Blue_Z10-Pattaya_Chonburi_Province.html

BUT - And why I didn't' extend and went back to the Areca lodge- You can't change the "f***" temperature on the AC. You can change the speed (low medium high) and select a temperature, but the AC didn't care about the selected temperature. I always cools down to ~20°C. I even asked to the maintenance crew and the guy then just tried to change direction of the AC (metal string of the output), but this didn't fix the temperature. So my lady and me where either freezing (AC on) or sweating (AC off).

So I didn't extend, but went back to the Areca Lodge.

In summary, my favorite for a hotel around 50€ would be the Areca Lodge in the LK Metro area in the end of 2019. Near the Areca lodge there are also some condo to rent (via AirBNB, Centara building). If you want to stay longer maybe check these out. If you want to pay less I heard also some good things from the Scenary Hotel, but its a different price category and you can see the difference already in the pictures.