Francophone Hotel Walking Street - Beware

[peter6173]

WHEN I COME TO PATTAYA I STAY FOR 6 TO 8 WEEKS BUT AFTER FEW WEEKS IN PATS I'LL TRAVEL SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THAILAND TO BREAK UP THE BOREDOM BUT THOSE GO-GOS DRAG ME BACK EVERYTIME.ANYWAY ALTHOUGH I STAY AT AN ALMOST PERFECT GUESTHOUSE MOST OF THE TIME FOR ABOUT 450/NIGHT WHERE THEY LOOK AFTER ME,I LIKE TO STAY IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF PATTAYA FOR THE EXPERIENCE. I FOUND WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A BARGAIN- THE FRANCOPHONE hotel DOWN THE QUIET END OF Walking Street IN WHAT I DISCOVERED IT IS CONSIDERED THE FRENCH DISTRICT. 3200 BAHT/WEEK INCLUDING A SWIMMING POOL BUT NOT INCLUDING ELECTRICITY AND WATER,WHICH I WAS TOLD WOULD BE ABOUT 400 BAHT FOR THE WEEK.UPON CHECKING OUT I WAS CONFRONTED WITH AN ELECTRICITY BILL FOR 1640 BAHT WHICH THEY EVER SO KINDLY DEDUCTED FROM A 5000BAHT DEPOSIT. I ASKED TO SPEAK TO THE FRENCH OWNER WHO I'D SEEN DURING MY WEEK STAY ONLY TO BE INFORMED HE COULD NOT SPEAK, HE SEEMS TO HAVE HAD A STROKE OF SOME KIND, SO THERE WAS NO REDRESS, JUST PAY AND PISS-OFF.IT IS KIND OF CHEAP FOR THE LOCATION, BUT I STILL HATE THE RORTS SOME PEOPLE PUT OVER FARANGS BUT I SUPPOSE THATS THAILAND.NOT A NICE PLACE TO STAY THAT FRANCOPHONE hotel. I DO FEEL SORRY FOR THAT FRENCH, STROKE AFFECTED OWNER AT MERCY OF HIS THAI STAFF. MY ADVICE STAY AWAY!

[farang1]

What were the accommodations like?

[sabrethrust]

Did you check the meter at start & finish of stay?

[Bitch Controller]

Turn the caps lock key off, might make your post easier to read.

Edited April 12, 2010 by Bitch Controller

[yogi100]

That works out at over 6000 baht a month for electricity! A normal bill should not come to more than 3 - 4000 and that's if you have the aircon on all the time you are in the room. It would seem the cheap room rate is a spratt to catch a mackerel.

[peter6173]

no i didn't check the meters and the place is quite run down,they seemed to have small roach problem,but i suppose thats normal in older buildings.

p.s i think it more my bad grammer and the the fact i don't type well that makes it hard to read, rather than the cap lock, but hey thanks for pointing it out! from what i've read 85% of people on the internet don't contribute to forums probably because they don't put a sentence together and/or type well.

[aras]

the thing with la fontain is that the place is full most of the time, so they don't give a shit.

[kuffki]

Government rate for electric is approx 3 baht per unit, but hotels usually charge 6-9 baht per unit, some even more. When i stayed at the hotel, my monthly bill was 4000 baht for having air con only at night.

Mind you this was a brand new hotel with brand new aircon units.

Most likely in an old hotel, aircon units would also be old, and they are monsters when it comes to electricity-hence the huge bill

[hazze]

It could be a staff scam.

 

When the boss is away, they add 1,000B to the leccy bills of anyone checking out and pocket it.

 

They are probably on 4,000 or 5,000B a month.

So skimming 1,200B of you is about a weeks wages. And the boss is none the wiser because your money covers the actual bill as well as the staff extas.

 

 

Its not impossible the hotel are just charging a high markup on leccy as a way of earning a few more baht.

The very high deposit seems to suggest this in my mind.

I can think of a lot of hotel owners who having to hold of your 5,000B would be very reluctant to let it go when you leave, and perhaps look at extra charges to facilite that.

Edited April 12, 2010 by hazze

[Daveo]

I hear this so often, I experienced it myself when I holidayed here, we have meters outside each room at Canterbury Tales Guesthouse so they can be checked by the guest also and we only charge electric on monthly as an incentive not to leave the A/C on all day/night when out.

If you don't see a meter and they are charging for electric, ask to see the meter, chances are there is only one main meter and they use the opportunity to bump up the bill.