The Residence Garden

I booked ten nights, but left after three. This was a nightmare on a street in Pattaya, and far too expensive for what it offers. There’s no breakfast, restaurant, or bar, and beyond daily cleaning I didn’t see much being provided. The rooms were spacious, but the living room and kitchen furniture was quite worn. The door uses an old-fashioned key, you can’t see who’s ringing, and getting a comfortable water temperature in the bathroom wasn’t possible. There’s no air conditioning in the elevators or bathrooms, either. The pool area was nearly empty when I saw it, with no umbrellas and just a few plastic chairs. On arrival, the bathroom bulbs and the light by the living room mirror in our first room didn’t work, so we were moved. Two doors in the next room were locked. Since it was early evening and no staff were around, the security guard, who didn’t speak any English, couldn’t explain why. I later found out we’d been given a family room with those two doors closed. We invited two people to have a quiet drink with us in the living room. Security was allowed to photograph their IDs, but still made a lot of fuss, repeating that it was only for two people. It made having visitors feel impossible. There’s also no phone to contact reception, and what passes for reception is just a messy office. At night you have to press a button to open the exit, and after that the gate can’t be closed again. Reviews say this has been an issue for years, yet apparently nobody has bothered to fix it.