Riviera Wongamat Beach Apartments

There are restaurants and food shops all around Riviera, and the beach is about a 5 minute, 200 meter walk. The water here is deeper than at other beaches around Pattaya. The high buildings make it breezy at ground level and by the pools, which is welcome. Tower B has an open skypool. Tower A's skypool is mostly shaded and has cooler saline water. On the 4th floor of Tower B, there's also a tucked-away pool for young children, shaded in the afternoon.

Update May 2025. Please disregard my review from before this period. Riviera Wongamart is one of the best condos in this area now. The Jurisdiction Team has changed and things have improved. Building and facility maintenance is well managed. It's usually quiet, though children can get noisy at the pools on weekends. The location works very well, close to a shopping mall, hospital, and restaurants. There is 24/7 security and shared parking for cars and motorbikes. It's friendly to kids and pets.

The infinity pools look lovely, with a spa-like design, and the pool loungers are fine. Security staff are friendly, pets are allowed and have their own walking area, and there's a children's room and outdoor play area. Ants do get in from outside. The yard is patchy and not well kept in some spots, with garbage and old grass. Parking is separate from the building, so you have to walk along the street with your bags. At Riviera Jomtien, we could take the elevator from the parking area straight to our floor. Noise is a major concern on the side facing the pool with slides. Children scream there, and you can hear them even on the 15th floor. Across from that side are several cottages with pools, where different groups gather and talk, laugh, and shout loudly until midnight. Sometimes families come and the children run around screaming. Another cottage with a pool is being built right under the windows, so I strongly recommend avoiding an apartment on this side. There's also a market at the end of the building. They play music in the evenings, and tourists sometimes put on Russian songs and sing along. You hear it clearly. Construction noise can wake you in the morning, followed by pool and market noise in the evening. We lived at Riviera Jomtien for a long time without these problems, so I'd choose that instead. The two ground-floor pools aren't lit in the evening. Riviera Jomtien has lighting, which makes it nice and convenient to swim a few laps after dark. There is no sauna or hamam, and the jacuzzis either don't work or work very weakly, so they're no fun. There's no coworking space if you need to work on a laptop, and there aren't comfortable sofas or cushions by the pool like at Riviera Jomtien.

I've been here for 2 years and am going on 3, and my experience has mostly been good. I like it for more reasons than I don't. When choosing a place, think about what suits YOU, not only the lowest price. A cheap place is no bargain if you can't live with it. There can be noise from dogs, scooters, or construction, but that's part of living in a tourist town like Pattaya. Wongamat is a quieter part of the city. Street noise and people walking around go up a little in High-season, but not drastically like in Jomtien. There's usually little traffic by my door. The trees and greenery add to the place's charm and maturity, though leaves fall and get raked up every day. A few things that helped me avoid hassles when choosing a room: 1. Pick a higher floor to avoid bugs and mosquitoes. 2. A room at the end of a hall gets less foot traffic by your door, and you may be able to leave the door open for an ocean breeze. 3. Choose the side away from the pool if you don't want to hear kids yelling or people partying. If it gets too noisy, you can call security, who will fine people who don't respect others' privacy or space. 4. Check that the room doesn't face a busy scooter street. Wongamat isn't too bad, since there are no traffic lights starting and stopping traffic in front of buildings A & B. 5. If you're concerned about packages being stolen from the security office, set Lazada/Shopee/TikTok deliveries to COD so you receive them in your hand. I've never seen a cockroach in my room in 2 years. An occasional toilet smell does happen, as is common in this city, but putting a "rubber-stopper" from DYI in the drain can fix it. It costs 50 baht. No place is perfect, but some issues are avoidable if you check things first. The staff are helpful, and security are usually on the ball with opening the gate and saying hello, "sawadeekah". They've also cracked down on "hotel" type stays. Stays of 1-2 days are prohibited, and they encourage residents to report them. Those renters often have ZERO consideration for others and treat the place like a rental car, using and abusing it. The elevators and lobby AC do break sometimes, as can happen anywhere, but they usually seem to fix things fairly quickly. Maintenance fees are generally 100-200 baht, which is very reasonable. There are three fast elevators, though sometimes one is out of service. If there's a problem in your room, it's usually your landlord's responsibility to deal with and fix it. Mine gave me a good starting rate. I paid for the full year upfront, and he raised it a modest 2K each year, which seems fair. I still pay below average for my room, which is above 38 seaside. I was the first person to rent this room after it sat empty for 5 years. With the positives I've mentioned, I do recommend the place for monthly or yearly stays, but check things carefully and try to find a quiet corner room with a view like mine.