We visited Patong less as a destination but more as a home base. We're married and 39 and there is absolutely nothing about Patong that interests us.The city is like a frat house without zoning regulations. I tried to get a cup of coffee before 8am and was unsuccessful. If you're an early riser - plan accordingly. Even the beach was so so. It was too hot and no breeze and the water was so warm that it didn't cool you down from baking in the sun. There were people constantly walking back and forth coming up and trying to sell you something.

Now - Aquarius. As much as I hated Patong - and let me reiterate that point. I -hated- Patong I liked Aquarius. We didn't use the pool or the gym or the 'sauna' but they're there and they looked clean. The area where those are located are open to the street during the day but they put up a screen to block them during the afternoon/evening when they become 'adult only'. We wandered through and they were plenty busy. They have a hot tub on the roof which has a decent view. You can also (apparently) sunbathe nude on the roof. There was a one star review by someone saying it was the worst sauna in the world. I'm not sure what his criteria was but I'm not sure it would rate that badly.

The room we had was not located in the main building but across the street. I would have preferred to have been in the main building but the room was clean and had free wifi. **If you have more than one device make sure you ask for multiple passwords. They offered but I said I only needed one and I spent the rest of the trip moving the password between my MacBook and my iPhone.

My one big complaint about the room was the bathroom. The shower/sink/toilet were located in the same room....with no separation. When you took a shower it got everything wet and you have to remove any toiletries that can be damaged. Also the drain was on the opposite side of the bathroom so the floor was constantly wet. It was clogged and drained slowly so my husband had to unscrew the filter and clean it.

They offer a free breakfast which is quite good but I only had it once on our last day because it doesn't start until 8:30. There's a hotel that is (walk to the main street and turn left) about two blocks away. It's open air and you can't miss it. They serve a buffet that starts at 7:00 and isn't fantastic but is available early and you can eat before any adventures you have scheduled. They have coffee (!) and an omelet bar.

We scheduled our adventure to James Bond Island through the front desk. If you have the time I highly recommend going. It's a full day and the company that we were with were top notch.

Again, Patong is dirty and noisy and busy and congested and was _not_ our cup of tea but it was a necessity to explore the outlying area.

Aquarius Guesthouse is like my second home. I travelled to Patong beach many times and since I discovered the Aquarius Guesthouse I always stay there. Close to the Paradies bar area it is most convenient to just go around the corner to be in my favorite bar, the boat bar, within a minute. You find all you need there also: good breakfast (even better then last years as they now make it by themselves), gym, sauna (where you can find young nice Thai guys on lucky days), clean rooms equipped with all you need. It's all worth the money :)
And the owner gives you always a warm welcome and a good talk in the evening drinking a nice cocktail made by Nam, the best bar man there.
Most of the staff is there since years and they are friendly and amusing (some are a bit like drama queen, but you know how to play the game ;-)