Bangkok Hotels

[QUOTE=GoneFishin;2081364]No safes in those rooms.[/QUOTE]Are there boxes at reception? This could be a deal breaker for me.

Thanks Rob.

[QUOTE=RobJones;2081657]Are there boxes at reception? This could be a deal breaker for me.

Thanks Rob.[/QUOTE]Yes. There are safe deposit boxes at the reception which you can use free of charge.

[QUOTE=WeewillyWinkie;2081550]Anyone know if this hotel is guest friendly? Just opened so no info on the usual sites.[/QUOTE]It was GF when I walked in with my girl last time. A few weeks back. Given the location with Hillary's / Oscar's and other pick up places close by it should be. Rooms are a decent size. Club floor OK. There was quite a lot of noise from the street and adjacent bars. Also avoid getting a room which has an adjoining room. Sound proofing was poor. Staying on Soi 11 has upsides but the constant hassle from touts who perceive any foreigner as tourist is a pain. Pushing taxis, girls, shops, peanuts, watches, sex shows etc. Taxis seemed reluctant to use meters too.

YMMV.

Cheers FK.

[QUOTE=RobJones;2081657]Are there boxes at reception? This could be a deal breaker for me.

Thanks Rob.[/QUOTE]It's many years since I used a Hotel Room safe or any other safe in Bangkok or any other country I have been working in. Even the room has a safe, I don't use it.

Okay I don't have anything very expensive like jewellery. I even struggled to spell it. I have laptop computers. I have a passport. Carrying large amounts of cash is not a great idea. That is really asking for it. I do have Thai bank accounts. Your belongings are much safer in the Hotel room than with you out on the street or in a shopping centre.

Last time I had something stolen, a bag with various valuables in it, like phone, camera, etc. , was when I put it down in a shopping centre, to fill out a form. Don't take your passport with you except when really necessary. A photocopy is okay Motorcycle thieves exist out on the street too.

Hotel rooms are very safe unless you take someone very unsafe into your room. Then you don't let them out of your site, and be careful for spiked drinks.

[QUOTE=FloridaKeef;2081713]It was GF when I walked in with my girl last time. A few weeks back. Given the location with Hillary's / Oscar's and other pick up places close by it should be. Rooms are a decent size. Club floor OK. There was quite a lot of noise from the street and adjacent bars. Also avoid getting a room which has an adjoining room. Sound proofing was poor. Staying on Soi 11 has upsides but the constant hassle from touts who perceive any foreigner as tourist is a pain. Pushing taxis, girls, shops, peanuts, watches, sex shows etc. Taxis seemed reluctant to use meters too.

YMMV.

Cheers FK.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the confirmation, appreciated. I know Soi 11 quite well and the busyness won't matter, I am a creature of the night so it matters not! Good to know its GF, I guessed given the location it should be but you never know.

[QUOTE=NattyBumpo;2081570]In addition, there are many more BKK hotels that have similar policies. If you want to know about a particular hotel not listed here: #1 google girl friendly hotels Bangkok (there are a number of competing sites) or #2 to be absolutely sure, email the hotel itself and ask. You will receive a prompt and courteous reply regardless of the hotel's policy.[/QUOTE]If in the Sukhumvit area, very few Hotels are not GF, in my experience.

It would make good sense if someone compiled a list of those Hotels that are not GF, or very family oriented Hotels, since surely the list would not be so large.

Maybe I was just lucky, but I don't ever recall having a problem in Sukumvit area, in 3 to 4 star Hotels. I never chose the absolute most expensive or anything really low priced. Maybe Tai Pan had a hint of not being GF many years ago but I was not sure. Rembrandt I also was not so sure. Had GF staying with me there.

[QUOTE=Syzygies;2081873]It's many years since I used a Hotel Room safe or any other safe in Bangkok or any other country I have been working in. Even the room has a safe, I don't use it.

Okay I don't have anything very expensive like jewellery. I even struggled to spell it. I have laptop computers. I have a passport. Carrying large amounts of cash is not a great idea. That is really asking for it. I do have Thai bank accounts. Your belongings are much safer in the Hotel room than with you out on the street or in a shopping centre.

Last time I had something stolen, a bag with various valuables in it, like phone, camera, etc. , was when I put it down in a shopping centre, to fill out a form. Don't take your passport with you except when really necessary. A photocopy is okay Motorcycle thieves exist out on the street too.

Hotel rooms are very safe unless you take someone very unsafe into your room. Then you don't let them out of your site, and be careful for spiked drinks.[/QUOTE]The hotel with out the safe will be on our last leg of the trip and only 2 nights. I'm not sure if I will be bringing anyone back or just use a short time room. I'm always cautious and insist on the hotel to take their ID and will insist on a call if I'm not with them when exiting. I think I will start looking for another hotel as I don't want the temptation to be there.

Thanks, Rob.

[QUOTE=Syzygies;2081873]It's many years since I used a Hotel Room safe or any other safe in Bangkok or any other country I have been working in. Even the room has a safe, I don't use it.[/QUOTE]I would never rent a room without a safe. I am curious, Syzygies, where you keep your passport when you travel? I realize room safes are not 1000% secure but they are better than carrying around valuables on my person.

And I can confirm Mercure on Soi 11 is GF. I checked out of there yesterday. The rooms there are extremely modern and nice. Every girl I brought back commented how nice the room looked. One girl even took a bunch of selfies in the room because it looked so nice. I had the upgraded room. IDs are not checked here. When entering the hotel you arrive at the elevators before the reception desk. The reception people will not see your new girlfriend. A security guard will see you but not stop you or request the girl's ID.

I almost always stay in hotels with room safes. Most 3. 5*, 4*, and 5* city and major resort hotels have them so it is kind of like an industry default. Nothing is 100% so there is always a risk. I find that a more relavent issue is wheather the room safe is large enough to store my noteboook computer. I dislike hotels with small room safes. In such circiumstances I store my notebook in my suitcase under some T shirts and lock the suitcase. I have never had a problem with hotel theft in over 35 years of travel. Knock on wood.

But once upon a time when I was a young backbacker, I was staying in a low budget hotel (pension) in Cartegena. I had very little money back then, but I knew how to have a great time. Anyway, a local thief climbed over the roof of this hotel into the garden courtyard and robbed the guest's clothes hanging near the windows in all the rooms. This hotel had no AC only electric fans. No TV or room safes either. LOL. My jeans that were hanging near the open window were stolen out of my room while I slept. I found them lying in the courtyard near the wall in the morning. The few pesos in their pockets were gone. Ever since then I always hang my clothes in the closet or the farthest area away from the door or an accessable window. 555.

Few months back I booked a room in Fusion suites.

It was one of the best rooms where you can enjoy the girl you are with. Bathroom separated with just glasses, When the girl I picked up from bar was taking a shower, I was peeping and she noticed it and she started teasing me for a while. It was very good.

[QUOTE=Allover;2083768]I would never rent a room without a safe. I am curious, Syzygies, where you keep your passport when you travel? I realize room safes are not 1000% secure but they are better than carrying around valuables on my person.
[/QUOTE]As I said earlier, Bangkok Hotels are quite a safe place to leave a passport, even not in the safe. As soon as you take your passport with you in a bag, danger increases a lot. Non secure rooms like beach bungaloes may be different.

If ever a Hotel maid would steal something, most likely is to try some female guests Lancme face cream (not take the whole jar), where never could be proved anything was missing, or try the perfume. Cash is a most obvious temptation as well. Not passports.

Right now staying somewhere else. However it is inconceivable that hotel staff will search my bag and take a passport. Hardly even noticed if room had a safe. It does, but I can't be bothered to use it. I might forget stuff in the safe.

A Hotel is more secure than my own home, and that does not have a safe. I am aware of Thai people having house broken into and things stolen. Very stupidly some Thais keep significant money in the house, without even finding a very strange place to hide it. One Thai girl is missing significant cash (not a made up story). She is not sure if was stolen or she just forget where she put it several months ago when moving house. Nothing else is missing. Could have been stolen (maybe not).

[QUOTE=Syzygies;2084556]A However it is inconceivable that hotel staff will search my bag and take a passport. Hardly even noticed if room had a safe. It does, but I can't be bothered to use it. I might forget stuff in the safe.

[/QUOTE]I'm the same, I never use a safe at a hotel. A maid is unlikely to steal a passport, they are unlikely to be able to sell it on for much money and it would be a one off thing. They would be fired pretty quickly and lkely to end up in jail. Sure, if you left US $ 20 k in your bag and the staff found it then maybe they would be tempted, but not a passport.

[QUOTE=Kerrstar;2084627]I'm the same, I never use a safe at a hotel. A maid is unlikely to steal a passport, they are unlikely to be able to sell it on for much money and it would be a one off thing. They would be fired pretty quickly and lkely to end up in jail. Sure, if you left US $ 20 k in your bag and the staff found it then maybe they would be tempted, but not a passport.[/QUOTE]Kerrstar and Syz: Ok I respect your opinions but, if there is a safe in the room, I would always keep my wallet, debit / credit cards, and passport in it. And of course not carry ridiculous amounts of cash away from the room. No reason for me to tempt fate and leave anything sitting around the room. I won't even book a room without a room safe. I will agree that the Thai girls and Thai housekeepers are extremely honest. In all my years I have never had a theft with a Thai female guest or Thai hotel staff.

[QUOTE=Allover;2084886]Kerrstar and Syz: Ok I respect your opinions but, if there is a safe in the room, I would always keep my wallet, debit / credit cards, and passport in it. And of course not carry ridiculous amounts of cash away from the room. No reason for me to tempt fate and leave anything sitting around the room. I won't even book a room without a room safe. I will agree that the Thai girls and Thai housekeepers are extremely honest. In all my years I have never had a theft with a Thai female guest or Thai hotel staff.[/QUOTE]Of course you have every right to do things your way. If safe makes you feel better, great.

We just write our views to make sure readers understand that Hotel maids are pretty honest, and there is no need to be in fear of things getting stolen in the Hotel room in Thailand, by the staff. It would be an unrealistic fear. Once a female friend accidentally left a wallet on a bus containing a very large amount of cash. I forget now if was 50K Baht or more. She got it back. The Thai cleaner of the bus did not even open the wallet to see how much money was in there. Friend was very lucky. Carrying large amounts of cash is indeed stupid behaviour. Don't push your luck that far.

I am not going to suddenly start using the safe. It's just not an issue for me, and if the room has no safe, no problem as long as overall security of the Hotel is adequate. I rarely leave wallet in the room. Its in my pocket. That is a more dangerous place than leaving it in the room actually. The issue arises of what to do with wallet while swimming. In that case, a safe is an option. I have also used a water tight plastic container to hold cash and cards that can go swimming with me. I don't like to leave valuables unattended on the beach. That is definitely dangerous.

I never heard of a Passport being stolen from a room and my laptop computers never got stolen either in so many years of coming to Thailand. There are plenty of honest people in Thailand. Even most bargirls can be trusted not to steal your stuff. Freelancers is a more dangerous thing.

I take freelancers to ST Hotel if I don't know them. Take no risks with risky type of people. On the street or in dark alley is probably the most dangerous situation in Thailand. Perhaps the Police are also dangerous. Still have never been mugged in Thailand after 25 years, nor anywhere else in the world, although a thief did rip a mobile phone from pouch on my belt in a foreign country in early days of when digital phones were very expensive, and made a run for it.

Have lost bags after putting them down and leaving slightly unattended for a short time. Once in Thailand managed to lose my wallet when getting out of the taxi. Subsequently got back the wallet and cards. Obviously the first finder of the wallet at least took the cash and dumped the rest.

So I suggest to all to protect yourself from what you think are the biggest risks likely to happen. Cannot worry about scares for bomb explosions, bird flue, Sars, etc.
Cannot worry about every last extremely low risk. Could be killed in freeway car crash or struck by lightning.

Shit happens. Once in a beach resort caf, I accidentally dropped several credit cards and similar Id Cards. The floor boards at my feet had significant width cracks for ventilation. Some cards fell through the cracks. Access to underneath very narrow (too narrow for me to get there at my size) and was very difficult with sand and junk, so hard to get the cards back and in the end maybe only got some of them. Leaving passport in a bag in the Hotel, is far from one of my worries. I would not even worry about leaving my wallet in Hotel room provided does not contain significant cash.

Never had a anything stolen by a bargirl. Worse thing a bargirl ever did was open a bottle of something in the Hotel mini-bar or packet of nuts or chips that I normally would not use .

[QUOTE=Syzygies;2085007]Of course you have every right to do things your way. If safe makes you feel better, great.

We just write our views to make sure readers understand that Hotel maids are pretty honest, and there is no need to be in fear of things getting stolen in the Hotel room in Thailand, by the staff. <snip>
Never had a anything stolen by a bargirl. Worse thing a bargirl ever did was open a bottle of something in the Hotel mini-bar or packet of nuts or chips that I normally would not use .[/QUOTE]I agree. Thai's are pretty honest people that way and I have never had a theft problem in Thailand in over 30 years except one night when I felt a SW's hand trying to lift my wallet. I rebuked her and told her to leave the area before I call the cops. I never saw that SW again.

But generally new visitors should not be overly concerned about their personel safety in LOS or their belongings in their hotel room. Still, its better not to play around with temptation. Use your common sense: never drink more than you can handle and do not leave valuable things out in your hotel room. To that end I always put everything away in its proper place before I go out for the evening. Use your suitcase or the room safe. It is up to you. I never carry large sums of cash, my passport, jewelry, or more than 1 credit card with me wherever I am (BKK, Pat, MNL, CGK, Phnom, Macau). Hotel safes are just another layer of protection, but not foolproof by any means. I use them primarily because they are a handy place to store things like cash, credit cards, and notebook for easy access. I hate rummaging through my suitcase looking for things. If someone is truly concerned about their valuables I suggest seeing the concierge and depositing those items in the hotel safe.

Anecdotally: I was staying in a nice resort hotel in Ko Lipe one time. I went out for my morning swim, but absentmindedly I left my room safe open with a wad of cash showing. While I was away, houesekeeping came in, cleaned the room, and closed the door of the safe. Nothing was missing. But I felt bad because I had foolishly left such a temptation in plain view. Needless to say, I left a generous tip before I left the resort.