I stayed for 2 nigths in this 'resort' hotel. First impression was good and the check-in process was staright forward. The lobby area was housed in an open-planned traditionally styled building. The only problem was that it was not airconditioned.

My room was in one of the buildings around the pool, on the second floor. The usual amenities were present in the room. There was a minibar with the usual drinks with 2 complimentary bottles of drinking water per day. The bathroom was spcious and clean with a big walk in shower (no bath tub) and came with plenty of toiletteries.

There were plenty of storage spaces and wardrobes, with bathdrobes and non disposable slippers which I did not use. The TV was big but I could not find any English language channels at all and I gave up after a few minutes. There was also a DVD player. I had a balcony with view of the pool but I did not use it as there was no chair. There was, however, a drying rack for your wet towels and swim suit I pressumed. The bed itself was big and comfortable with nice pillows. I had very good night sleeps.

The was a medium size pool with lots of pretty plants around. However, there were also some slightly tacky decorative porcelain items around e.g. a penguin in the middle of the pool, and ducks in the little fountain. The hotel also had free wifi which was of decent speed and quality. There was a 'spa' area with sauna and gym, which I did not use.

Buffet breakfast was in a separate building and was served from 7 to 11am. There was a decent selection of western and oriental / Thai items. They had the usual breakfast cereals, various Thai interpretaion of western breads / rolls, western breakfasts items (sausages, fried potatoes and bacon), an 'egg counter' with freshly made omelette and fried eggs, lots of cut fresh fruits, a selection of juices and many Thai items (rice, noodles, curry etc). Althought the selection was not huge, it was adequate and tasty. The waiting staff was very helpful and friendly and always topped up my coffee.

The location of the hotel is probably not ideal for a typical tourist that comes to Pattaya for the beach and bars. It is about 20 minutes away on foot from the beginning of beach road (or a THB 10 Tuk Tuk ride). From there, it is another 30 minutes or so to the 'walking street'.

However, it served my purpose (on business) pretty well as there were many local Thai eateries around (within minutes of walking distance), a couple of convenience stores (handy for drinking water etc) and a few massage parlours which do not hassle you when you walk pass.

There was an interesting incidence during my stay there. I woke up the second morning to find a leak from the ceiling, probably from the air conditioning unit. I contacted the front desk, who immediately sent a supervisor to attend. She was very sweet and apologetic about it. I left my room for breakfast and upon my return, she informed me that they could not fix the problem staright away and had offered me a new room next door. I had no problem with that. She then started to help with my packing, which I was very surprised. I politely declined her help and did it myself. The new room was pretty much just a mirror image to the original one, minus the leak !

In summary, this is not what I call a 'resort' hotel but served my purpose well. It was clean and I had very good sleep. The staff was friendly and helpful.

So let’s get this straight, this is a four star hotel with glamorous pictures of swimming pool, balconies, quiet, hygienic, tranquil place for families with good food like the website’s amazing video right?

WRONG!!!

The hotel’s promotional video is world-class and very professionally-made, inviting guests to relax at their boutique hotel. It is absolutely misleading and an wanton abuse of reality, designed to fool tourists into parting with their cash.

When we stayed, the hotel had been taken over by an unruly mob of drunken tattooed American US Navy sailors swilling beer and smoking in the pool, yelling, swearing and screaming, with the hotel pool bar pumping out techno music. Oh I forgot to mention this was from Saturday when we arrived to the Sunday night. When we complained, (first time) the completely ineffective guest relations officer said it was not normally like this and this group would be checking out the next day; in other words, to put up with it. I told her they should not be tolerating it and should have restored some standards for the rest of the guests but she didn’t seem to have that power to do anything so the rave went on. Apparently you can “take over” the swim-up bar and crank up your own rave. When it had not stopped, I just about lost my cool with the mute woman on reception two hours later at 3pm and angrily handed her a letter for the manager, asking for a refund for the last 24 hours saying it was unacceptable and that the management were negligent in how they were handling this and that it was not what they had portrayed on the website and stormed out of the hotel leaving the thumping techno music behind me.

So, in staying there four days did I have an apology? No way did they apologise. I never met the manager I wrote to. Of sorts a bowl of fruit arrived when we had gone to get some quiet, but the US navy guys were still partying the next day and left dead on 12 noon checkout having used the pool all morning.

Pros: the rooms are nicely decorated and at least some thought has been given to the design of the rooms. They say flat screen TV but ours was CRT. Other pros might be the breakfast as ok if impersonal and they wash up in front of you. It is in a converted car showroom nearby so everyone can see you but that is about it. On our last day it had converted to a la carte because the number of guests had gone down so much, so no buffet.

Cons: Leftover trays: there were empty room service trays outside rooms all day on Sunday 8th January with half eaten food on them. This was not in sealed corridors but in outside areas prone to insects. I think most of the staff had disappeared with all the pool noise.

Booze bottles: There were also empty Gin and Vodka bottles at the bottom of our stairwell which by 3pm had not been cleared away. I was too tired to hear the room parties the previous night but I think people had been drinking on the stairwells and typically nobody from the hotel had the foresight to complain or maintain standards.

Dead Cockroach: The dead cockroach on the way to breakfast I was not going to mention but because of their lack of attentiveness around the hotel, and arrogant attitude, I will mention it because it proves they are not really in control of their hotel. This was admittedly in the outside bit of the hotel, but a well-managed hotel would have this swept up by 630am. What a nice treat to find for guests taking that route to breakfast!

Smoking in the pool: smoking in the pool means ash in the pool, which is not acceptable. Do they not have standards about that? We saw the loud Americans smoking in the pool at noon on Sunday 8th January and no hotel staff having a word at all. To me that is unacceptable and a breach of health/hygiene standards. Which other hotels would allow smoking in their hotel pools? This to me typified the lack of basic management at this hotel. Indeed the noise was so appalling the manager was probably at his own executive pool on the edge of Pattaya. Having paid for pool side access we didn’t use the pool after we saw that happening. Can the pool filters take out ash in 24 hours? We shouldn’t have to be thinking about those questions.

Cocktails: they don’t know how to make cocktails. They are from a bottle with no trimmings or fruit.

Safety: each morning there were beer bottle tops strewn around the edge of the pool not swept up and cigarette butts everywhere. A well-managed hotel would have this all swept up by 630am.

Location: There is no guidance at all about trying to get transport into the city centre and although there is a complimentary tuk tuk it is underused and there is frequently nobody to drive it. After we waited 20 minutes for them to find a driver, we were then given a tour of the petrol station because it was on empty. We feel if this hotel wants to improve on its rating, it needs to help guests by advising them on transport options or providing a tuk tuk service. A well-managed hotel would have the tuk tuk full of fuel by 7am.

Conclusion: Our stay was extremely disappointing and was one of the worst hotels we have stayed in. The mute arrogance of the staff who suddenly could not speak English and lack of basic management of the hotel they are trying to run, only reinforces my belief that this hotel is a cash cow for the owner and they have no regard for guest’s comfort, hygiene or well-being. I am still angry about their indifference and am going to complain to LK Pattaya about this stay. I wrote a formal letter of complaint on the Sunday 8th January and got no response. I got no discount just three bananas, three apples and some oranges. There are hardly any staff here.

Unbelievable. You have been warned.