Suggestions for no tell hotels charging on hourly basis?
Cheers, I can't find info on hotels that charge hourly and where they don't ask any questions beyond what's necessary.
From my last visit I know the two hotels right next to each other in that dead-end side street in Nana Plaza soi where the FLs will usually take you to. As far as I'm concerned they are both alright but I'm curious if you have further suggestions for Bangkok. Especially ones not located in the center of a red light district.
Speaking of the Dead / Dying. Soi 7 Beer Garden
Had been meaning to stop by Soi 7's Beer Garden, just to see its current state, given its grimness last year. Other more important things on the to-do list, but the BG got pushed to the top after I read Stick's column this week. Didn't know what to expect. The Soi 7 corner has certainly changed, though now, you don't have to exit from the BTS in the opposite direction from Soi 7. Now, they've nicely made a connection to the old pedestrian overpass closer to Soi 7, so it's a bit easier.
Walked down the Soi, and a bit of a surprise, the BG sign still there (guess I was expecting a vacant lot). It's now just a mass of beer bars, an expanding mutation of what was there last year. A mamasan flagged me down, saying "This is the BG" (probably due to my age), and sure enough, at the far side, where the original entrance and the alter were, there it was. But like an old lady, shoved into a corner by the younger generation. Like one of my CHEAP $5 t-shirts, mistakenly washed in hot water then thrown into the dryer, shrunk from adult to child's size. Gone is the front wall, now open to the street. ONE tiny bar with a pool table in front, really indistinguishable from all the other beer bars there. One tree, the one by the old entrance has survived, but the other on the opposite side, gone. Mamasan said "cut down, for money". Sad.
Yes, the BG was old school. But once upon a time, a nice place to me to meet up with friends, have a drink and a conversation where you could hear yourselves, before heading out to Nana or Cowboy. And, for me, a nice place in an afternoon, having stopped by Soi 5's Foodland to pick up a Bangkok Post NEWSPAPER, take the shortcut (still there) to the BG, and peruse Trink's night Owl column, or the Sloane Ranger, or Sunday's page 2, with last week's / upcoming week's news, with some witty comments on each (some rather surprising for their jabs). With a bit of luck, you could catch an [I]afternoon delight[/I], originally a taxi to the Playboy Motel with its carport curtains, later on a SHORT walk to Soi 7/1's hotel, a mix of tourists and ST rooms on the lower floors. And last week of the month, before payday, reasonable chance of a shop girl looking to pick up some cash to tide her over until said payday. In the early evening, the BG could be packed with men drinking and FL's looking to score. Now, while I was there in the early afternoon, a couple of other [I]mature[/I] gents stopping by, no doubt for old times sake, one over-the-hill provider, the mamasan the only staff. Still had ONE big screen TV for sports.
Like the old rambling ranch style home you'd visit while growing up, now, it's gone, and the lot has been transformed into those small sheds to house the homeless. If this sounds like an obituary, guess it is.
Annies, Eden, SOL, Beer Garden... No, I don't live in the past, but I do pay homage to it, given the pleasant memories generated by each.
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On just about the last hot / humid / no-breeze day, EARLY afternoon, took a stroll along Soi 23 for old times sake. 3-5 girls outside each of the MP's. One at each shop tasked as the tout, calling out "Massage" and holding up the laminated price sheet as you passed. Most looking bored and disinterested. One, maybe two, along the whole stretch MIGHT have been worth of a second glance if they'd looked up from their phone. Figure if they're glued to the phone, they won't be glued to you. Happy to say, it was just a stroll, nothing that remotely kindled any kind of desire. Only benefit was a bit of exercise of the vertical nature.
