Never been to Jomtien - tips and advice please

[davejonesbkk]

Need a quick weekend getaway and thinking of going to Jomtien, Ive only ever been to 'normal' Pattaya and never Jomtien so Id like some tips on the following:

any nice sea view hotels?

what to do in the Jomtien area? I basically just wanna go for a few walks, have dinner and try and catch the footy on Saturday night!

[KittenKong]

They are basically the same place but Jomtien is quieter with fewer noisy bars and more Russian families.

You can walk to Pattaya from Jomtien in well under an hour (I do it at least twice a week) or go on the bahtbus in under 5 minutes unless there is a big traffic jam. I live in Jomtien but often go to Pattaya to eat as there is more choice there, and prices are generally a little bit lower, and I think I get the best of both worlds that way.

[davejonesbkk]

thanks, what are the best hotels there? Where do Thais usually stay when they go there?

[KittenKong]

Best in what sense? Most expensive? There are no 5-star chain hotels like Hilton, Dusit etc in Jomtien; they are all in Pattaya and Wong Amat or on Pratumnak. There are some big hotels along the beach here but not the international names that everyone would recognise. Most hotels in Jomtien seem to cater to Russian tourists either independently or in groups. There are lots of smaller places in the sois off Beach Road, and many people will rent a condo even for a few days.

If you look at Google street view you can see the whole of Beach Road and all the sois off it, which should give you an idea of what it's all about and will help you pick out a hotel that looks right for you.

I have no idea where Thais stay, I'm afraid, though quite a lot of them seem to have bought these new micro-sized condo rooms that have sprung up everywhere the last couple of years.

[wgdanson]

Best place to watch footie is Shenanigans Irish Pub, just next to the archway. They have about 8 screens and show everything, and good live music on Fridays and Sundays, and a great quiz night on Tuesdays. See you there.

[impulse]

Pinnacle Resort about 5 miles south of the strip.

90% Russian, German and Asian families, with emphasis on families. Not the same crowd you'd avoid on the singles scene.

A little expensive at 3000 baht per night (give or take), but well worth it if you can afford it.

Good restaurant on location and on a small street with convenience stores and more restaurants.

Beautiful grounds, well managed and the beach vendors are there (try the boiled shrimp and corn), but they don't pester anyone.

Walk up and down the beach 500 meters to get to several hi-so restaurants and the Clubloongchat Kite Surfing Club where you can take lessons and rent kites and windsurfers.

Edited September 17, 2013 by impulse

[craigt3365]

I think you will get a lot more replies over in the pattaya forum. Most good, some not. But I think its worth moving this over there. Ok?

Topic moved.

[JSixpack]

Pinnacle Resort about 5 miles south of the strip.

90% Russian, German and Asian families, with emphasis on families. Not the same crowd you'd avoid on the singles scene.

A little expensive at 3000 baht per night (give or take), but well worth it if you can afford it.

Good restaurant on location and on a small street with convenience stores and more restaurants.

Beautiful grounds, well managed and the beach vendors are there (try the boiled shrimp and corn), but they don't pester anyone.

Walk up and down the beach 500 meters to get to several hi-so restaurants and the Clubloongchat Kite Surfing Club where you can take lessons and rent kites and windsurfers.

Strongly advise against the risk of eating shellfish from a beach vendor.

[dddave]

I would also suggest considering BANG SURAY, a small but relatively unspoiled beach/fishing village just south of Jomtien. Nice beach, great seafood restaurants on the water and fish pier. Strolling that same fish pier is really interesting.

The town itself has a nice temple complex and some interesting shops.

Some very nice Guest Houses close to the beach. Sorry, I forget the names.

There are enough Farangs resident there that several sports bars will have the Footie of the day on TV.

[giddyup]

If you want a nice big room overlooking the beach, try the Rich Man, Poor Man bar on Beach Road. Last time I stayed there it was around 700 baht a night, but may have gone up since then.

[balo]

And remember to bring a Russian dictionary with you so you can try to understand all the Russian signs outside hotels and restaurants, they are everywhere,

[Michaelaway]

On Jomtien Beach Rd., there are many guesthouses & hotels to choose from; my guess is that none of them are fully booked at this time of year. This means you can just come on down to Jomtien and look around until you find a place that appeals to you. And, there are many restaurants around the beach area so you'll have no problem, regardless of what kind of food you want to eat. Nirvana Suites on Soi 4 is a really nice and romantic hotel with a very convenient location... but no sea view. And, I agree that Richman Poorman on Soi 9 is a nice guesthouse, directly opposite the beach, with a great sea view. But, the sea view rooms will definitely be more than 700 baht/night (guessing 1,200 up). Further down Beach Rd., (after Soi Chaiyapruek) you might check out RS Seaview- a very nice guesthouse with sea views. Hello, welcome! And, come on down...!

[SantiSuk]

Stayed with my Thai family the weekend just gone by. Wish I had found Shenanigans as I eventually had to hot foot it to Witherspoons in Pats on the Saturday night to watch Arsenal. Nobody seemed able to tell me in other bars where there was football with the sound turned up in Hat Jomtien.

It is very very quiet at the moment. Not even many Russians! The girls in the beer bar streets seemed to be all asleep at 12 midnight and most bars close at 1 am. 24 hr bars are only a short baht bus ride away in Pats however.

We stayed (as twice before) at the Silver Sand Villa Hotel - a middle range hotel close to the Pattaya end of Beach Road. It is a little faded but the rooms are really big and we got a queen double and a single in a very large room with a sitting area for 1,600 baht a night (no breakfast). Two lovely big pools. Only 10% occupancy as far as I could see with half of those being Thai on the Saturday night. The hotel has even larger family rooms at the front - I put 5 adults and 8 kids in two rooms for my first visit and it was about 4,000 baht for the lot. They just kept wheeling more beds in until we said stop!

There might be a sea view on the top (third) floor at the front but if sea view is your main priority you are probably going to need a hotel with at least 4 floors to get your aspect up above the casuarinas. Those are usually the expensive modern ones - 3 grand and up for a double bed.

My family like the beach at Jomtien (better than Pats), the floating market (on Sukhumvit Road south of the Chaiyepreuk 2 intersection) and my wife likes Central Festival Mall in Pats. The baht buses are still only 10 baht to central Pattaya and very frequent. Best value tourist transport in Thailand. The Thai food was good along the front - a bit more expensive than your local town of course (think 80 to 150 baht for a standard dish or 350 baht for a steamed/fried big fish) - it has still not been wholly replaced by Russian food.

If you are minded to have a nice quiet relaxing beach weekend and don't mind the prospect of some rain interruption then now is a good time to go to Jomtien IMO. No need to book in advance, though we did telephone ahead.

[Gone]

Good post SantiSuk

I agree and there are tons of restaurants everywhere that are decent enough and a long beach-walk. Also Footy is shown in many Bars and Restaurants and if they are not showing it just ask them to turn it on.

NaJomtien (South of Jomtien) is a lot quieter if that's what you are looking for but it requires going back out onto Sukhumvit, South a couple of kilos then into NaJomtien (unless you know the short-cuts which I doubt the OP would).

[somtampet]

Dont go to jomtien complex,full of gays,and they arent shy to shout u over

[roamer]

Pinnacle Resort about 5 miles south of the strip.

90% Russian, German and Asian families, with emphasis on families. Not the same crowd you'd avoid on the singles scene.

A little expensive at 3000 baht per night (give or take), but well worth it if you can afford it.

Good restaurant on location and on a small street with convenience stores and more restaurants.

Beautiful grounds, well managed and the beach vendors are there (try the boiled shrimp and corn), but they don't pester anyone.

Walk up and down the beach 500 meters to get to several hi-so restaurants and the Clubloongchat Kite Surfing Club where you can take lessons and rent kites and windsurfers.

Strongly advise against the risk of eating shellfish from a beach vendor.

My resistance is low....

[JSixpack]

Pinnacle Resort about 5 miles south of the strip.

90% Russian, German and Asian families, with emphasis on families. Not the same crowd you'd avoid on the singles scene.

A little expensive at 3000 baht per night (give or take), but well worth it if you can afford it.

Good restaurant on location and on a small street with convenience stores and more restaurants.

Beautiful grounds, well managed and the beach vendors are there (try the boiled shrimp and corn), but they don't pester anyone.

Walk up and down the beach 500 meters to get to several hi-so restaurants and the Clubloongchat Kite Surfing Club where you can take lessons and rent kites and windsurfers.

Strongly advise against the risk of eating shellfish from a beach vendor.

My resistance is low....

Low resistance implies a hospital visit. Seen that.

Looks can be deceiving. Numerous testimonials around about the misery that can follow. I found out the hard way too. Three days of suffering, first night wishing for death.

But you enjoy. Watching social Darwinism in action is always entertaining.

Edited September 18, 2013 by JSixpack

[OMGImInPattaya]

Dont go to jomtien complex,full of gays,and they arent shy to shout u over

Why the hate? Maybe the op doesn't suffer from homophobia and doesn't mind gay people, shy or not shy. Those straights cat-calling me constantly into their bars is a real annoyance to me but I can live with it and don't feel the need to make posts about it. Edited September 18, 2013 by OMGImInPattaya

[roamer]

Pinnacle Resort about 5 miles south of the strip.

90% Russian, German and Asian families, with emphasis on families. Not the same crowd you'd avoid on the singles scene.

A little expensive at 3000 baht per night (give or take), but well worth it if you can afford it.

Good restaurant on location and on a small street with convenience stores and more restaurants.

Beautiful grounds, well managed and the beach vendors are there (try the boiled shrimp and corn), but they don't pester anyone.

Walk up and down the beach 500 meters to get to several hi-so restaurants and the Clubloongchat Kite Surfing Club where you can take lessons and rent kites and windsurfers.

Strongly advise against the risk of eating shellfish from a beach vendor.

My resistance is low....

Low resistance implies a hospital visit. Seen that.

Looks can be deceiving. Numerous testimonials around about the misery that can follow. I found out the hard way too. Three days of suffering, first night wishing for death.

But you enjoy. Watching social Darwinism in action is always entertaining.

Seafood always carries risks. Personally I would say less risk if you're selecting fresh seafood that you then have cooked in front of you. Can get seafood poisoning from restaurants too, a few years ago a friend of mine was among 250 people poisoned by norovirus contaminated oysters at The Fat Duck in the UK, often voted the top restaurant in the UK. When it comes to seafood there are no guarantees. I bet there were a few opponents of social Darwinism chuckling at the fact they couldn't afford to eat oysters at the Fat Duck that day.

[Richie23]

Royal Thai pavilion is a nice hotel with great sea views...

[JSixpack]

Strongly advise against the risk of eating shellfish from a beach vendor.

My resistance is low....

Low resistance implies a hospital visit. Seen that.

Looks can be deceiving. Numerous testimonials around about the misery that can follow. I found out the hard way too. Three days of suffering, first night wishing for death.

But you enjoy. Watching social Darwinism in action is always entertaining.

Seafood always carries risks. Personally I would say less risk if you're selecting fresh seafood that you then have cooked in front of you. Can get seafood poisoning from restaurants too, a few years ago a friend of mine was among 250 people poisoned by norovirus contaminated oysters at The Fat Duck in the UK, often voted the top restaurant in the UK. When it comes to seafood there are no guarantees. I bet there were a few opponents of social Darwinism chuckling at the fact they couldn't afford to eat oysters at the Fat Duck that day.

Very true. Now, I've never had a problem eating non-shellfish at popular Thai restaurants. Actually I won't eat shellfish here anymore period, just not worth the risk to me. Part of the issue is the cleanliness of the kitchens. Maybe that's overkill, but so be it. I make up for it by pigging out on fresh oysters and shrimp on the coast of the USA--when I visit. I wouldn't risk even that if my liver weren't in good condition (knock on wood). Yet I've known a guy, early forties, w/ hepatitis who died after eating oysters at a well-known restaurant in Florida. He'd been warned by his doc, but, shall we say, "his resistance was low," in more ways than one.

One would reasonably believe a top restaurant would be safe. And If not, there's a good possibility of compensation from the restaurant if you survive. (My friend's widow sued and won a hefty sum.) Try getting that here from any restaurant, let alone an itinerant beach vendor. I wouldn't touch shellfish from a beach vendor w/ a barge pole.