A picturesque resort at the edge of the insanity
Beachside barbeque restaurant... swimming pool by the sea... bar by the swimming pool, need I say more?
Seriously though, booking a few nights at the Siam Bayshore was definitely a serendipitous choice. We decided to escape Bangkok for a day or two but couldn't go far away. We were keen to get away from the madding crowd, and although Pattaya was not the ideal choice for that, we figured at least there was some sea.
What we found was a pleasant resort and a good escape.
Unique Quality: The grounds of the hotel are quite extensive and include 4 tennis courts. The hotel is rather organic in shape, and is filled with pockets and strips of well tended gardens. Quiet pools, waterfeatures and attractive foliage abound. There are tables and chairs scattered around in nooks so you can just sit out and have some time to contemplate, or wander the paths discovering bonsais, frangipannis and fat lazy fish. Even the ashtrays (I am not a smoker myself) were aesthetically pleasing, being large urns with sand in the top, that are stamped every day with the logo of the hotel. A nice touch.
The rooms were decent... evaporative cooling rather than air conditioning, and the room smelt a bit damp and mildewy, but the bed was quite good, in house movies great, and the room service food was excellent.
Staff seemed far more expectant of a tip than the staff of our hotel in Bangkok, but gave decent service. The hotel seems to be popular with Germans, and there were german foods available on some of the menus.
There are two swimming pools, one beachside, and one in the centre of the resort. Sadly both close quite early in the evenings, but between you and I, I snuck in and had a quick midnight dip one night.
The beachside barbequeue was good, a buffet with both Thai and Italian choices, and some seafood which they will cook for you freshly. They have some pleasant live music, and the musicians seemed delighted that we actually noticed them and clapped after some of the songs.
The barbeque also doubles as a chinese restaurant, and my partner and I had an excellent Peking Duck meal there.
I very much enjoyed the picturesque surroundings of the hotel grounds, and its location at the far end of the Pattaya main beach meant it was quiet and pleasant. The rest of Pattaya looked truly horrid and I was really happy with this hotel as a relaxing escape for a few days.
