Help Please Re:phuket Hotel Info :)

[julian]

hi,

first posting on this board!!!

i am coming over to thailand in august. thinking of staying at grand troppicana hotel in patong, phuket.

do you know where the hotel is, what its like etc etc. how close to beach, centre.

any info would be really appreciated. i'm looking for nice hotel close to beach and town without being in the centre of an all night disco!!!

what is the weather likely to be like in early august??

any info and tips greatly received.

julian

[george]

http://www.r24.org/phukethotel.com/phuket/tropicana/

[phuket Mike]

It is certainly one of the best hotels in Patong Town itself. It is close to the beach and away from the main night life (Bangla Road) but within walking distance. I have never actually been inside but I have driven past it hundreds of times and it certainly looks very nice.

A friend of mine stayed there last year and didn't really get on very well, mainly because he was a single guy and they were not very happy when he wanted to bring late night "friends" back to his room.

The other thing to remember is that food and drink in such nice hotel will be at premium prices.

The weather in August in Phuket can be a bit unpredictable, if often rains at night and last year we had few days of rain. The temperature never really changes day or night its always above 28 degrees C. Care needs to be taken when swimming in the sea in August because it can be pretty rough. If you plan any trips to other islands the sea conditions can make it difficult.

August is not a bad time there tends to be more Europeans here because of the school summer holidays.

So in summary if want a holiday where you plan to spend a lot of time in your hotel and money is not a problem the troppicana is a great choice. But if want to get out and about and will only come back to your hotel to sleep its probably a bit on the expensive side.

Have a good trip, and any other information you need don't hesitate to ask.

phuket Mike

[julian]

Hi Mike,

Wow what a helpful and comprehensive answer. Very many thanks. That was the information that i needed.

Hopefully we will be able to do some swimming and boat trips, are there lots of other "day trip" type things one can do?

best wishes...julian

[phuket Mike]

Julian

There are a lot of day trip type things here, I must admit I haven't done many myself. There is canoeing, Elephant trekking, diving, trips to islands - James Bond Island, Phi Phi Islands and many other isands, fishing trips etc.

Just avoid the ones where you are taken to some sort of retail outlet pearls, tourist shops etc. they tend to be a rip with special tourist prices.

There is also a shooting range, which I have heard can be fun if your into that sort of thing.

There is a Zoo which in my opinion should be avoided, mainly because they charge foreigners about 10x more than Thais for entry and its rubbish anyway.

There is quite a lot of dual pricing down here now, so be careful, also don't ask a tuk tuk driver to recommend a bar/restuarant/shop etc. they will take you to one with special tourist pricing and also get a commision. The best thing to buy when you get here is the Phuket Gazette's local guide book, its cheap and has some very good information about the whole island. It has just been updated so should be ideal.

If you have got the time the old part of Phuket Town is also worth a visit with lots weird and wonderful shops its also cheap.

Cheers,

mike

[julian]

hi mike,

again many thanks, if there was an award for helpfulness...i'd nominate you.

best wishes...julian

[pongster303]

hey, mike... i m off to phuket soon too....thinking of staying at Bann Thai..according to my friends, the palce is very nice....so what do you reckon, mike??

[phuket Mike]

Pongster

Sorry mate I'm not going to be much help this time, I don't really know much about Bann Thai. I've asked around and I can't find anyone that's been there.

All I can say is the location looks nice and Patong is definitely the place to stay at the moment because its where all the life is.

If there's anything else that I can help you with give me a shout.

phuket Mike

[pongster303]

that s ok, mike.. thanks anyway...we decided to stay somewhere i couldn't rememeber, the end of patong....as i was a bit off my trolley that night....i will let you know where and ask for your advice again....cheers mike....

what about a good night spot, mike??? apart from patong, if it s possible?? well, if it does only exist in patong, recommend me a few places so we don't have to spend a whole night searching for a good place....

'good place' for me is,....well......., umm......inexpensive drinks, half farang and thai capacity, preferably english music and ....don't know hope you get my drift, mike....

will be off the end of next month, by the way.. will surely pop in again for more advice... cheers again phuket mike

[andy50]

hi pongster, i went to phucket twice ,in 2002 i stayed in the holiday inn , they discourage "guests " being brought back to your room ,by leveeing a 500 bht extra fee per night ,so if you intend to bring back a lady ,its worth getting a hotel thats "guest friendly",the main area for drinking and you know what,is bang-la road ,theres loads of bars ,discos, "very" friendly ladies, if your into that,(i am!)you have to pay a bar fine and also agree a fee with your chosen lady bring your own protection as Thai condoms are crap quality and too small!- wach out for the ladyboys (katoeys), its very difficult to tell that they are male ,dont lose your temper under any circumstances "smile "have a great time------karon bay and town is about half an hour away the town is smaller but lively ,lots of nice ladies! if u need to know anything else just post another massage oops message !

[phuket Mike]

hi pongster,

As already mentioned the main nightlife in Patong is centered around Bangla Road. This area is just beer/girlie bars, restaurants and tourists. The prices are pretty standard (expensive) 70baht for a Singha, 80baht for Carlsberg and probably 50ish for Chang. Very few Thai's go to this area (except girls) because its full of farangs. In terms of Bars a lot of people thing Kangaroo Bar is good with good music, personally I don't think there's a lot to choose between any of them. You can walk the full length of Bangla and all its Soi's in about 20 minutes anyway so its easy to take a look around first.

There are also a couple of discos at the end furthest from the beach, Tai Pan (right at the end of Bangla on the other side of the road) and I think Star Wars although it may of changed its name, its just at the end of Bangla on the right corner. Tai Pan is certainly the busiest and is quite lively although drinks are expensive 100baht upwards for beer. The other one doesn't get busy until late.

The other place in Patong the maybe worth a try is Safari disco although I haven't been myself. Rumour has it that it stays open until 4am, I was told this by some of the local girls who go there after work. Its located just outside Patong on the Karon Road, if you go watch out for rip-off Tuk Tuk drivers who charge a small amount to take you there and your life savings to take you back to Patong.

In terms of other places, I don't think Karon or Kata are worth bothering with unless you have your own transport. The bars in Karon are very similar to Patong only there are a lot less of them.

My advice would be to go to Phuket Town for a night. Its a lot more normal with some quite cool bars and restaurants. There is also a lot of live music, a lot of Thais and generally lower prices. Jammin' is one place that is good, others are dotted around town. There are also a number of discos. We quite like it mainly because the are not hundreds of bargirls trying to extract cash from you. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of available women if you want them its just that there not so obvious as Patong. One thing to remember is that if you go with Thai's they will need their ID card to get into some of the bars.

Anyway hope this helps.

Have good trip.

phuket Mike

[pongster303]

thanks a lot phuket mike and andy50.. youse are very great helps.. i cannot think of anyhting to ask today but i surely will in a very near future....

pongster303

[pongster303]

hey phuket mike and andy, i have to cancel my plan cos i just fnally got a job....well, next time i pop over there i will ask youse for info again.. thanks anywya.

[sonthaya]

Well if any of you are looking for a cheap, nice and friendly place to stay, I can recomend the Phuket Palace, large rooms, friendly staff, and a fantastic pool.

[MadFrankie]

so is there a general problem with takin women/hoez back to the more upmarket hotels in phuket?

[RamdomChances]

Yea the big up market hotels don't like it.

It offends the package tourists, so they charge huge fees or ban alltogether.

[MadFrankie]

so would you get away with checking yourself and "Noi" in on arrival, saying you were going to meet your girlfriend when she finished work? This would be ok @ the hotel mentioned @ the beggining of this post for example?

Lets say I arrive back @ the hotel and they start saying they want B1000 extra due to me having a lady friend with me, if I then say she had alredy been checked in, what can they do about it?

Can anyone recommend any hoe friendly hotel in the B3000+ category?

[RamdomChances]

Youd have to have a name and they might ask for the ID card as well. I never worked out that if you booked a double what the prob was.

Dont know about hotels that much used to live down there, and just going on what people used to say about the BG in rooms thing.

Dont think its a problem with the medium class hotels, dont know if its the same now but at the Holiday you could'nt take back a girl no matter how much you pay'd, I think the merlin is the same, never here'd anything about the Tropicana though.

[StrongView]

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