petehoax

PA is already back, let's see if it stays up.

do you have insider info or is this just a guess? they announced the start 6pm thai time but i did't read that they expect it to take 24 hours. the admins said they expect to not run into any big problems (and they already learned a lot when they moved BA and philippines-addicts), but realistically, there is always some kind of unforeseen problem. So i think best case is that it will come back online quite soon. Realistic median case is that it will start coming online again after 24-48 hours, but they'll fight with some intermittent problems for a few more days. Worst case: byebye forum (ok, let's not be dramatic)

that's not true, and very easy to test yourself empirically. but i don't expect you to change your opinion on it and it's up2you of course.

why? @OP: google maps is a great aggregator and you normally get lower prices that way than going directly to agoda.

i've stayed there before just for one night and was happy enough with everything. location is great and you can get it (sometimes) for a very low price. i also really like vesuvio's pizza right next door. currently have a december reservation there (but fully refundable, i'll wait and see how prices develop).

penthouse was a dump even years ago. and now (finally) closed. while some guesthouses have bars on the ground floor and some have ladies working, i think it's (normally) a bad idea to fuck anyone that works in the place where you sleep. there are tens of thousands other options available in pattaya, no need to make it overly complicated. popular guesthouses: hideaway on soi 15, very well run and the owner is great. lots of options in lk metro and soi chaiyapoon.

i posted two lengthy situation updates last week and yesterday on phuket on pattaya-addicts (and there's lots of other up2date info there). you find it on my profile (same username as here).

https://siambiketours.com/cycling-tour/bangkok-to-phuket-east-coast-cycling-tour/ , check the itinerary and tour map there. they do the tour several times a year, so i assume they have picked a good route by now... they start in phetchaburi.

yes, carlton is guest friendly, and i can recommend the place highly (at least for the rates they currently ask for). they officially ask you that a joiner deposits her ID at the front desk, but i always just walked by with them. but that's up to you and with some girls, it might be a good idea to have them deposit the ID.

i stayed here last year and won't return. i honestly cannot remember too many specifics about the hotel, but i remember that in general, i was somewhat disappointed. breakfast was quite lackluster, check-out took a long time and the room had some small annoyances. it was also a little further down the soi than i expected and there weren't cabs / mototaxis available. combined with the heat (and having to wear business attire) that was somewhat annoying. imho you should be able to find a better hotel in this price range. as i said, i really can't give you a very specific feedback, sorry, besides not being able to recommend it in general.

on my last trip i was in a similar (or maybe the same) place. same setup, girls sitting on stage, no real party. i also don't have many memories, probably the only way to end up there. :) unfortunately i don't know exactly where it was. taxi driver took me there. according to my google maps history, it was somewhere close to here: https://goo.gl/maps/wzFUKmDQwBo , maybe that helps.