Sawasdee Sunshine Hotel review

[in love with Pattaya]

We checked in to the hotel at 5 pm. Actually, If we hadn’t used google map to ‘walk’ around Pattaya it would have taken us some time to find it. The easiest way to get there is to look for a honey body massage neon sign. The hotel is situated inside the soi (not too far) on the right hand side. On the outside it looks a bit shabby (I mean a building, space next to reception looks quite new), this same inside. First thing you will notice when you check in is that all the information at reception is in........ Russian (majority of guests)! Not that it bothers us (I speak it, but most of them were grumpy bastards!) but it is a weird thing. Thinking back, most restaurants we have been to in Pattaya had menus in Russian as well as in English. Upon arrival we were asked if we wanted to see the rooms first. Usually we wouldn’t but when you hear a question like that you kind of expect something dodgy. Rooms were ok, quite basic we would say. In each of them there was a double bed, big fridge, TV, two mirrors, shower and toilet, sink, wardrobe and commode (I am talking about standard, air-con room – we were not really on a budget but at the time of booking they did not have enough superior rooms for all of us, booked with the early bird discount - 540B a night). To be honest you are not going to need much more than that (at least we didn't).

 

At the beginning we have found reception staff to be a bit tired and grumpy (they work 6 days a week 10-12h shifts so we did not expect a fake smile like in England all the time). Their ability to speak English (and their knowledge of the area) was very limited, although, you can have a nice chit chat with one of the girls (the only one that was sometimes smiling). During the first day of Songkran she had an evening shift and when she saw us she smiled and said: ‘See, no water today’. We were just coming back after a small bar crawl (soaking wet) and Matt replied: ’For now’. When we changed our clothes and went back to the reception to take some money for the night he was caring a small bottle of water and when that girl turned to take a list he has thrown half of that water on her back in one go (yes, we were quite merry at that point). She shouted and turned not knowing what to say. We were all like , but Matt smiled and said: ‘Now you are wet like we were, Happy New Year!’. At that point we all burst laughing.

Next to reception you can also find computers with the internet access. We did not use them but instead used a small cafe (when you walk from the hotel towards second road is on the right hand side about half the way, 40B per hour).

 

First thing we have done was to lock up all our valuables at reception. They have safety boxes there; when you start using one you get a key and the other one is at reception. You have to sign a list every time and they are available between 7 am and 12 pm. From friend's recommendation we knew that a place is girls friendly but we wanted to know if there were any restrictions. It feels somehow weird to ask about it (especially when there is a young girl at reception) but after finding condoms among the goodies left in every room for purchase Tom said to that girl: ‘You know, I have found some condoms in my room, is there any problem if I have an overnight guest?’ Of course there isn’t but when you bring you new ‘girlfriend’ make sure she has her ID as security guard will keep it until she leaves.

 

First night we took some girls from the ‘coconut beach bar’ and the next morning we couldn’t be bothered to go down for a breakfast (after hard working night +jet lag) which was included in the price. You have two options: 1 – two middle size toasts, small glass of juice, some butter and jelly (not much but enough), eggs done as you like; 2 (Thai breakfast) – noodles with meat which actually looks more like a soup; with tea and coffee you help yourself. The next morning when we came down (Su had to leave to go back home in the early morning for Songkran) I was the only ‘single’ guy. We shouted loudly hello and smiled to the girls serving breakfast as they looked a bit tired. They did not respond at that point but the next day (we have done the same each morning, reception staff and chambermaids as well) I was again on my own (the day before we had a busy afternoon on Soi 6 and in the evening Dea from Honey Body massage ‘sucked’ all my life energy leaving me gutted and I did not feel like taking a girl for a night), one of the girls smiled at us and the other one, who was standing next to a tea/coffee station (behind us), put her hands around my waist and shouted loudly: Nope! She shouted: ‘Hello hansum man:)’ There were at least 40 people there and they all burst laughing! I did not Blush like that since high school!!! It is surprising how far a smile and a positive attitude can go!!!

 

We would say that the hotel has quite a good location. It is half the way between Soi 6 and Walking Street(although, it is not an easy, 2-3 minutes walk!), within 5 minutes walking distance from beach road and 2 minutes from ‘Kiss food and drink’ restaurant. There are not many bars there (there certainly are a few good massage joints!) but there is a huge bar with life music and ladyboys in fancy dresses on the corner which generates lots of noise and a few small bars inside the soi + drunk tourists coming back to Soi Diana and LK Metro. One night when I couldn’t sleep I went down to sit and see what was going on at 4 am. Despite having quite a few girls already (I mean between 5 of us) we haven’t really noticed other guys bringing the girls. At that point there was a beautiful girl leaving our hotel and security guard had to spend some time to find her ID (he had at least 40 of them!). That made me feel a bit better I decided to go for a small walk and was really surprised that most of the bars were still open. I always thought that they have to close around 2 am, but actually that is only music, bars stay open much longer. Some of them seem to be never closed!

 

Overally, we would rate it 3.5 out of 5. Why?? Firstly, because it is a value for money place. Secondly, two of us spent some time working in hotels in England and we know how annoying and tiresome it is to listen to those dummies coming to reception to complain about their TV not working (because they are too stupid to plug it in!), the fact that they paid for a sea view but they can’t see much (at night!) and bullshit like that. So, when we go for holidays we try to be good customers and not make troubles for other people who work hard. Remember that there are no lieu days or paid sick holidays in Thailand and those people work much harder than most of us have ever worked for a fraction of our salaries!!! We bought some chocolates at Heathrow in off-duty zone and, at the end, gave some of that to our chambermaid (we were all on the second floor) together with 200B each (we were there for 10 days, well we escaped for 2 to Bangkok), and to reception/breakfast girls together with tips for whole staff (most of them have been consumed by our ‘girlfriends’, I think all of them loved Western sweets!). Yes, we could have complained all the time about the bed being too hard (we asked for some extra blankets but they had none at that time) or lack of the elevator but what is the point??? We have already spent £550 each just to get there so another £6 for a nice blanket with an elephant which I got now at home will neither kill me or spoil my holidays. Finally, nothing in life is perfect and, if you don’t wanna be an old grumpy SOB, you have to adapt to changes and new situations. We needed rooms ONLY to bring our girls somewhere, we did not spend much time inside even during heavy rain! After all, you don’t go for holidays to sit in a room and watch TV!!!

Cheers!

[liston]

thanks for the review. Sounds good value for money.