Areca Lodge - Lottellee Winna Updated Review (October 25)

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

Intro - Living up in Issan, I am privileged enough to manage at least six or seven one week+ trips annually to Pattaya. Over 3 weeks, I will be staying at four hotels - one in Bangkok, two in Pratumnak (Sanctuary and Lewit) and of course the Areca Lodge. I booked Areca partly because of its central location, second as I’ve liked it when I’ve stayed previously, also because it’s been recently refurbished, and finally because there was actually a room available (Areca tends to book out months in advance). 

hotel Style - most hotels in the city are now designed with the pool on the roof, Areca is what is known in the trade as ‘resort style’, where the rooms are placed around the two beautiful swimming pools. I have to say that I much prefer this type of layout to the high rise hotel with rooftop pool.

Note that there are three wings built around the two pools. Farthest away from the main entrance is the Evergreen wing, then in the middle is the Corona, nearest to the entrance is Areca. Evergreen used to be seen as the number one wing as it was the most modern, but subsequently the other two wings have been refurbished to a very high standard, and personally, I would choose the newly refurbished wings.

Location- The location of this hotel, is the best in the city. It’s easy to get around town from here - located on Soi Diana , it’s about a 30 second walk to LK Metro and the adjoining sois (pothole, lenkee and diana). You are 2 minutes walk to Baht Buses running both ways up and down Buhakow and heading north on second road. Also note there is a rear entrance taking you to Buhakow 15 and the Avenue Mall.

Check in - As your approach the hotel you really get a ‘wow’ factor - the building had an upgrade around 2 years ago and has a sleek and modern look, but still with some Thai aesthetic touches in reception…truly beautifully designed. The concierge is out in a flash to help you with bags, the door slides open for you and there is no queue at reception. 

The checkin process is friendly, welcoming, quick, easy and efficient. I booked payment in advance with Agoda and all I ‘paid’ at reception was a returnable 1000THB deposit. The staff respectfully request that all ‘additional guests’ hand in their ID cards when they are brought back to the room. No joiner fee

Rooms - The room design is much improved following renovation. I had a Standard King room in the Areca Wing of the hotel. This was the only room I could get, I would gladly have paid a couple of hundred ฿ more for a pool view room, but none were available. So I had a bit of a shitty view over the back of the adjoining condos.

The room is ultra modern and fresh - spacious too at 30+sqm. The room has a proper closet (a rarity these days), large safe, large refrigerator, small table for working/dining and flat screen smart television. There is also enough power outlets to charge my devices. The bed is firm but comfortable (not hard). Also note there is plenty of scope for mood lighting when entertaining company at night 🤩

The rooms are opened by electronic cards and the key needs to be placed into the holder in your room to power the electricity. My room had a balcony with a great view over the pool. The king bed was large and comfy enough to sleep on. There was also a chaise lounge sofa to relax on. The AC worked well, and the toilet, bathroom and shower room (inc rain shower) are modern and well designed. You get the complimentary toiletries of toothpaste, brush, soaps and shower-caps (always appreciated by your guests)

Wifi - The WiFi signal quality in my room worked fine.

Breakfast - There are two restaurants, and I use the nearest one to me which is the newly refurbished one in Areca Wing. The quality of the food is good, I can’t really tell you about all the choices, as I eat a simple breakfast. this is one of the few hotels where it’s worth getting breakfast in my view, as the quality is really good. I also appreciated touches like the coffee machines, and the fact that there was quite a chilled vibe in the restaurant at breakfast time. I left a daily tip in the tip box for the staff.

Also note that if you want to ‘pig out’ you can do. The dude next to me loaded his plate up as high as he could with fried potatoes and well done bacon…oh and he went back for seconds too (I just had to take a quick secret squirrel picture) 😂

Facilities - The hotel has two really classy swimming pools with jacuzzi, sun loungers and towels. These pools really are the highlights of the hotel and are very relaxing to sit around and going for a swim 🏊 There is also a reasonable sized gym. The hotel has the Marble restaurant right at the front of the hotel and food and snacks are available poolside.

The gym is quite good, but not brilliant. Plenty of free weights and a few machines, along with treadmill, etc.

Customer Service - The staff were nothing short of fantastic. Everyone is very friendly and chatty. Always had good banter with the reception staff and the night security dude. The staff are respectful to any guests you might invite back to your ‘loom’…no guest charges (for one visitor), ID cards must be handed in (a good thing in my view) and you get a call from reception to make sure everything is OK before the lady gets her card back. If you wish to bring a guest back without going to reception, this can be done via the rear of the hotel.

Security and Cleaning - security good and I felt safe and comfortable the entire time. The place is clean as a whistle...as always guys consider leaving a daily tip for the hard working cleaner. I also really appreciate the cleaning being carried out to your convenience (ie you put the ‘please clean’ sign up and it’s done virtually straight away…some places you can wait till 5 PM to get your room cleaned).

Car Parking - Security patrolled car parking via the font of the hotel.

Noise - It’s absolutely amazing to be right in the centre of town and not to hear very much noise from traffic or bars. I guess everything is relative, as I did hear one guest ask for a room change because it was ‘too noisy’, I had to smile a bit because you’re booking a hotel that’s right in the middle of the action…so a little noise is to be expected.

Price - I got this at a price of ฿1680 (including breakfast). I thought this to be incredible value as the hotel simply oozes class and 4 star type luxury. 

Criticisms - I really can’t think of a single criticism.. this is a great hotel.

Overall -  Over the last 12 years I have stayed in around 60 hotels and guesthouses in Pattaya. Believe me, following the refurbishment, the Areca is right up at the top of my list of top class hotels. Indeed, I would even go so far as to say that I place it almost on par with the fantastic five star Amethyst.

If you are looking for a classy hotel in a great location in central Pattaya then this property is one for you. This is not one of those hotels that do tour groups, so no large groups of Indian lads, nor coach loads of Chinese. US, Aussie, Korean and European guests seemed to dominate.  IMHO this is a truly outstanding hotel for those who enjoy good 4 star quality and who want to be near ‘the action’, but don’t want to suffer from any unwanted noise and bustle. Areca is a little oasis of tranquility among the madness of LK.

As always, the booking of any hotel is price dependent. If you can get Areca for under 2,000 THB inc breakfast in low season and 2,500 high season, then my advice is to put it on your shortlist… but be quick as the hotel gets booked up very early.

Lottellee Winna Rating: 9/10

Edited October 11, 2025 by LOTTELLEE WINNA

[Laid Back Larry]

My experience with Areca is similar. I don't see any reason to book elsewhere. Maybe I have seen lucky but I never had problem getting a room booking  2 -4 weeks in advance. 

Edited October 12, 2025 by Laid Back Larry

[Geordie59]

But isn’t that pool by the Area wing freezing? I used to stay there many years ago and that is my biggest memory of the place.
Getting a seat around the other pool that gets more sun was hard unless you were up early, which I never was. 

[Kayser_pats]

Thanks for the great review! As a frequent guest who has stayed here at least a dozen of times over the last few years, I'm adding a few complementary details:

Pools: Both pools are nice, but most guests use only the larger one (the one pictured first). It’s a perfect size for doing laps. One minor drawback, this pool becomes fully shaded after 3:00 PM due to surrounding buildings.

Seating: Finding a chair can be challenging during the weekend for those waking up late, as some guests reserve seats with towels and then leave the pool area for extended periods.

Parking: Parking is available for your visitors.

Laundry: A laundry service is available, but it is somewhat expensive, as is very often for most similar hotels. You may find it more cost-effective to use an outside service.

Rooms: I used to prefer the Evergreen building (the one at the back), but given the recent renovations to the other two wings, I would now recommend those options instead. Furthermore, the evergreen wing is bit far from the hotel entrance. Not really a big deal but can it be a bit annoying to go back and forth to your room in case you forget something. 

Guest Policy: The hotel checks the ID of all visitors at the front reception. I believe they have a 18+ yo policy. Note that there is a second entrance at the back of the hotel. Altough not allowed by the hotel, this second entrance can be considered to bypass ID check from the front desk as there is usally no hotel staff in this area of the hotel. 

Massage: A massage service is available in the hotel close to the gym. It's possible to have the girl providing her massage in your room (only 2–3 ladies usually available). I haven't used this service myself, so not sure what is on the menu here. Most likely no sex service, but I've always prefered to not take the risk of booking and fucking one here, knowing I would see her every time I would enter or leave the hotel for the rest of my stay, which can be a little awkward. 

 

[Atlas]

My first hotel back in 2013 !!! Loved it, still one of my favorites, though not stayed there since

[J1066]

Great review. Agree with everything you say. 
I just had 10 days in Evergreen wing. Your Areca Wing room looks sooooo much better and cheaper too. 
 

 

 

[Gaggball]

Going back soon. My #1 hotel in Pattaya

[Jagaar]

If you are booking via Agoda, Booking.com etc, how do you know which builkding your room is located in?

[Jagaar]

38 minutes ago, Jagaar said:

If you are booking via Agoda, Booking.com etc, how do you know which builkding your room is located in?

I have worked out by using the Areca Lodge website, that you work out what room types are available in each building. Now to work out if booking direct vs Agoda is much different. Will check close to my travel dates

 

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

18 hours ago, Geordie59 said:

But isn’t that pool by the Area wing freezing? I used to stay there many years ago and that is my biggest memory of the place.
Getting a seat around the other pool that gets more sun was hard unless you were up early, which I never was. 

The smaller pool gets a bit of sun and genuinely is ok temperature wise in my view..and as you rightly say the smaller pool is less busy.

[direct_voyage]

1 hour ago, Jagaar said:

If you are booking via Agoda, Booking.com etc, how do you know which builkding your room is located in?

You can tell based on the room types — those who’ve stayed here for a while can spot it right away — but I’ll make a cheat sheet.

On the official site, they indicate which room type is in which building: either Areca or Corona, the newly renovated front two buildings, or Evergreen, the back building that still has the bathtub and hasn’t been renovated yet.
👉 https://arecalodge.com/rooms.html

 

Using this I mapped it out to the Agoda listings to create a cheat sheet.

Using GPT because I’m a nerd — I just mapped the official list to the Agoda listing 🤓

Quick draft mapping Agoda (based on official definitions)

• Standard Plus (all bed configs, incl. “2 Single Beds” / “1 King”) → Areca or Corona

• Deluxe Plus (incl. “Twin” / “Pool View King”) → Areca or Corona

• Executive → Areca

• Superior → Evergreen

• Super Deluxe → Evergreen

• Luxury (Family Room/Suite) → Evergreen

• Patio Suite → Evergreen

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

11 hours ago, Kayser_pats said:

Thanks for the great review! As a frequent guest who has stayed here at least a dozen of times over the last few years, I'm adding a few complementary details:

Pools: Both pools are nice, but most guests use only the larger one (the one pictured first). It’s a perfect size for doing laps. One minor drawback, this pool becomes fully shaded after 3:00 PM due to surrounding buildings.

Seating: Finding a chair can be challenging during the weekend for those waking up late, as some guests reserve seats with towels and then leave the pool area for extended periods.

Parking: Parking is available for your visitors.

Laundry: A laundry service is available, but it is somewhat expensive, as is very often for most similar hotels. You may find it more cost-effective to use an outside service.

Rooms: I used to prefer the Evergreen building (the one at the back), but given the recent renovations to the other two wings, I would now recommend those options instead. Furthermore, the evergreen wing is bit far from the hotel entrance. Not really a big deal but can it be a bit annoying to go back and forth to your room in case you forget something. 

Guest Policy: The hotel checks the ID of all visitors at the front reception. I believe they have a 18+ yo policy. Note that there is a second entrance at the back of the hotel. Altough not allowed by the hotel, this second entrance can be considered to bypass ID check from the front desk as there is usally no hotel staff in this area of the hotel. 

Massage: A massage service is available in the hotel close to the gym. It's possible to have the girl providing her massage in your room (only 2–3 ladies usually available). I haven't used this service myself, so not sure what is on the menu here. Most likely no sex service, but I've always prefered to not take the risk of booking and fucking one here, knowing I would see her every time I would enter or leave the hotel for the rest of my stay, which can be a little awkward. 

 

Great post mate - appreciated.

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

1 minute ago, direct_voyage said:

You can tell based on the room types — those who’ve stayed here for a while can spot it right away — but I’ll make a cheat sheet.

On the official site, they indicate which room type is in which building: either Areca or Corona, the newly renovated front two buildings, or Evergreen, the back building that still has the bathtub and hasn’t been renovated yet.
👉 https://arecalodge.com/rooms.html

 

Using this I mapped it out to the Agoda listings to create a cheat sheet.

Using GPT because I’m a nerd — I just mapped the official list to the Agoda listing 🤓

Quick draft mapping Agoda (based on official definitions)

• Standard Plus (all bed configs, incl. “2 Single Beds” / “1 King”) → Areca or Corona

• Deluxe Plus (incl. “Twin” / “Pool View King”) → Areca or Corona

• Executive → Areca

• Superior → Evergreen

• Super Deluxe → Evergreen

• Luxury (Family Room/Suite) → Evergreen

• Patio Suite → Evergreen

A really helpful post. As you say once you stayed a few times, you quickly know which room is in which of the three hotel wings. However, if it’s your first time at the hotel, you wouldn’t really know. Your guide is very helpful in that regard. 👍

[direct_voyage]

Excellent review @LOTTELLEE WINNA.  My only problem with Areca is that once I stayed there, I lost all motivation to explore other hotels! I now find myself booking as early as May just to secure a pool-view room for Christmas!

[DanGee]

It’s a great hotel and I’ve stayed several times.  I love that it is spread over a large area and not just a single building crammed against other hotels and the like.  I do have two complaints.  

First, as you mentioned, it can be hard to book due to its popularity.  More than once, I’ve stayed at another hotel because I couldn’t get the room I wanted at Areca.  

And second, the WiFi has always been terrible for me, slow speed and frequent disconnects.  It has been bad enough that I just use my phone as a hotspot.  I did see somewhere that they have recently (or are soon going to) upgrade their WiFi service, so that may no longer be an issue.

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

32 minutes ago, DanGee said:

It’s a great hotel and I’ve stayed several times.  I love that it is spread over a large area and not just a single building crammed against other hotels and the like.  I do have two complaints.  

First, as you mentioned, it can be hard to book due to its popularity.  More than once, I’ve stayed at another hotel because I couldn’t get the room I wanted at Areca.  

And second, the WiFi has always been terrible for me, slow speed and frequent disconnects.  It has been bad enough that I just use my phone as a hotspot.  I did see somewhere that they have recently (or are soon going to) upgrade their WiFi service, so that may no longer be an issue.

Yes it’s sometimes difficult to get a room booking…I’ve learned though that if Agoda doesn’t have any rooms available showing, then contact the hotel direct. Even then in high season, it’s very difficult if not impossible to get a room.

I think perhaps they’ve sorted the Wi-Fi thing out now. It was absolutely 100% fine for me last week (certainly in the Areca wing).

[Jagaar]

7 hours ago, direct_voyage said:

You can tell based on the room types — those who’ve stayed here for a while can spot it right away — but I’ll make a cheat sheet.

On the official site, they indicate which room type is in which building: either Areca or Corona, the newly renovated front two buildings, or Evergreen, the back building that still has the bathtub and hasn’t been renovated yet.
👉 https://arecalodge.com/rooms.html

 

Using this I mapped it out to the Agoda listings to create a cheat sheet.

Using GPT because I’m a nerd — I just mapped the official list to the Agoda listing 🤓

Quick draft mapping Agoda (based on official definitions)

• Standard Plus (all bed configs, incl. “2 Single Beds” / “1 King”) → Areca or Corona

• Deluxe Plus (incl. “Twin” / “Pool View King”) → Areca or Corona

• Executive → Areca

• Superior → Evergreen

• Super Deluxe → Evergreen

• Luxury (Family Room/Suite) → Evergreen

• Patio Suite → Evergreen

Thanks

[joey147]

On 11/10/2025 at 04:59, LOTTELLEE WINNA said:

Intro - Living up in Issan, I am privileged enough to manage at least six or seven one week+ trips annually to Pattaya. Over 3 weeks, I will be staying at four hotels - one in Bangkok, two in Pratumnak (Sanctuary and Lewit) and of course the Areca Lodge. I booked Areca partly because of its central location, second as I’ve liked it when I’ve stayed previously, also because it’s been recently refurbished, and finally because there was actually a room available (Areca tends to book out months in advance). 

hotel Style - most hotels in the city are now designed with the pool on the roof, Areca is what is known in the trade as ‘resort style’, where the rooms are placed around the two beautiful swimming pools. I have to say that I much prefer this type of layout to the high rise hotel with rooftop pool.

Note that there are three wings built around the two pools. Farthest away from the main entrance is the Evergreen wing, then in the middle is the Corona, nearest to the entrance is Areca. Evergreen used to be seen as the number one wing as it was the most modern, but subsequently the other two wings have been refurbished to a very high standard, and personally, I would choose the newly refurbished wings.

Location- The location of this hotel, is the best in the city. It’s easy to get around town from here - located on Soi Diana , it’s about a 30 second walk to LK Metro and the adjoining sois (pothole, lenkee and diana). You are 2 minutes walk to Baht Buses running both ways up and down Buhakow and heading north on second road. Also note there is a rear entrance taking you to Buhakow 15 and the Avenue Mall.

Check in - As your approach the hotel you really get a ‘wow’ factor - the building had an upgrade around 2 years ago and has a sleek and modern look, but still with some Thai aesthetic touches in reception…truly beautifully designed. The concierge is out in a flash to help you with bags, the door slides open for you and there is no queue at reception. 

The checkin process is friendly, welcoming, quick, easy and efficient. I booked payment in advance with Agoda and all I ‘paid’ at reception was a returnable 1000THB deposit. The staff respectfully request that all ‘additional guests’ hand in their ID cards when they are brought back to the room. No joiner fee

Rooms - The room design is much improved following renovation. I had a Standard King room in the Areca Wing of the hotel. This was the only room I could get, I would gladly have paid a couple of hundred ฿ more for a pool view room, but none were available. So I had a bit of a shitty view over the back of the adjoining condos.

The room is ultra modern and fresh - spacious too at 30+sqm. The room has a proper closet (a rarity these days), large safe, large refrigerator, small table for working/dining and flat screen smart television. There is also enough power outlets to charge my devices. The bed is firm but comfortable (not hard). Also note there is plenty of scope for mood lighting when entertaining company at night 🤩

The rooms are opened by electronic cards and the key needs to be placed into the holder in your room to power the electricity. My room had a balcony with a great view over the pool. The king bed was large and comfy enough to sleep on. There was also a chaise lounge sofa to relax on. The AC worked well, and the toilet, bathroom and shower room (inc rain shower) are modern and well designed. You get the complimentary toiletries of toothpaste, brush, soaps and shower-caps (always appreciated by your guests)

Wifi - The WiFi signal quality in my room worked fine.

Breakfast - There are two restaurants, and I use the nearest one to me which is the newly refurbished one in Areca Wing. The quality of the food is good, I can’t really tell you about all the choices, as I eat a simple breakfast. this is one of the few hotels where it’s worth getting breakfast in my view, as the quality is really good. I also appreciated touches like the coffee machines, and the fact that there was quite a chilled vibe in the restaurant at breakfast time. I left a daily tip in the tip box for the staff.

Also note that if you want to ‘pig out’ you can do. The dude next to me loaded his plate up as high as he could with fried potatoes and well done bacon…oh and he went back for seconds too (I just had to take a quick secret squirrel picture) 😂

Facilities - The hotel has two really classy swimming pools with jacuzzi, sun loungers and towels. These pools really are the highlights of the hotel and are very relaxing to sit around and going for a swim 🏊 There is also a reasonable sized gym. The hotel has the Marble restaurant right at the front of the hotel and food and snacks are available poolside.

The gym is quite good, but not brilliant. Plenty of free weights and a few machines, along with treadmill, etc.

Customer Service - The staff were nothing short of fantastic. Everyone is very friendly and chatty. Always had good banter with the reception staff and the night security dude. The staff are respectful to any guests you might invite back to your ‘loom’…no guest charges (for one visitor), ID cards must be handed in (a good thing in my view) and you get a call from reception to make sure everything is OK before the lady gets her card back. If you wish to bring a guest back without going to reception, this can be done via the rear of the hotel.

Security and Cleaning - security good and I felt safe and comfortable the entire time. The place is clean as a whistle...as always guys consider leaving a daily tip for the hard working cleaner. I also really appreciate the cleaning being carried out to your convenience (ie you put the ‘please clean’ sign up and it’s done virtually straight away…some places you can wait till 5 PM to get your room cleaned).

Car Parking - Security patrolled car parking via the font of the hotel.

Noise - It’s absolutely amazing to be right in the centre of town and not to hear very much noise from traffic or bars. I guess everything is relative, as I did hear one guest ask for a room change because it was ‘too noisy’, I had to smile a bit because you’re booking a hotel that’s right in the middle of the action…so a little noise is to be expected.

Price - I got this at a price of ฿1680 (including breakfast). I thought this to be incredible value as the hotel simply oozes class and 4 star type luxury. 

Criticisms - I really can’t think of a single criticism.. this is a great hotel.

Overall -  Over the last 12 years I have stayed in around 60 hotels and guesthouses in Pattaya. Believe me, following the refurbishment, the Areca is right up at the top of my list of top class hotels. Indeed, I would even go so far as to say that I place it almost on par with the fantastic five star Amethyst.

If you are looking for a classy hotel in a great location in central Pattaya then this property is one for you. This is not one of those hotels that do tour groups, so no large groups of Indian lads, nor coach loads of Chinese. US, Aussie, Korean and European guests seemed to dominate.  IMHO this is a truly outstanding hotel for those who enjoy good 4 star quality and who want to be near ‘the action’, but don’t want to suffer from any unwanted noise and bustle. Areca is a little oasis of tranquility among the madness of LK.

As always, the booking of any hotel is price dependent. If you can get Areca for under 2,000 THB inc breakfast in low season and 2,500 high season, then my advice is to put it on your shortlist… but be quick as the hotel gets booked up very early.

Lottellee Winna Rating: 9/10

Thanks for taking the time to write this ,great info.

 

[LeoTex]

On 12/10/2025 at 23:05, LOTTELLEE WINNA said:

Yes it’s sometimes difficult to get a room booking…I’ve learned though that if Agoda doesn’t have any rooms available showing, then contact the hotel direct. Even then in high season, it’s very difficult if not impossible to get a room.

I think perhaps they’ve sorted the Wi-Fi thing out now. It was absolutely 100% fine for me last week (certainly in the Areca wing).

First, thanks for the review as this is my go-to hotel on each of my 4 trips a year. About the question about the small pool being colder than the bigger one in the back. Yes, it doesn't get the sun all day and its is a bit cooler, mostly November, December and January.

I book all my trips directly with the hotel. When the 3rd party reservations and even the Areca website showing my room choice not available, I have gotten one by emailing the hotel and not use website booking.   

 

[Greg_B]

I have learned to contact the hotel directly ([email protected]) in regards to rooms

The contact person is: Ms Ying

I have a trip set for 08 May to 02 June 2026, and I wanted a certain room (Deluxe King in the Corona Wing)

She has taken care of me on this, and I got an email back in less than 2 hours to confirm

Edited October 18, 2025 by Greg_B

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

I’m booked again first week Dec. Pool view King room…woohoo 🤩🎉👍

[LeoTex]

5 hours ago, LOTTELLEE WINNA said:

I’m booked again first week Dec. Pool view King room…woohoo 🤩🎉👍

Same for me, well almost because I arrive on Dec 22nd thru Jan 7th.

Evergreen building on the 5th floor overlooking the large back pool. 

[travelling_man]

Does anyone know the proper pronunciation?

"Uh-reek-uh"

"Air-reek-uh"

?

[roger buttmore]

1 hour ago, travelling_man said:

Does anyone know the proper pronunciation?

"Uh-reek-uh"

"Air-reek-uh"

?

A leaker

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

3 hours ago, travelling_man said:

Does anyone know the proper pronunciation?

"Uh-reek-uh"

"Air-reek-uh"

?

Aa-ree-kaa 

Edited October 22, 2025 by LOTTELLEE WINNA