Comments: There are a number of resort type hotels in Songkhla province not too far away from Hat Yai. They are known to a few foreigners, but not many.

In less touristy provinces it is mainly Thais that stay in the beach hotels and resorts. The beaches and sea on the Gulf coast aren't as beautiful as those on the Andaman coast but you will often find that you have the entire beach to yourself.

Rates are about one-third what you might pay in Phuket. English isn't as widely spoken as in the tourist places and the cuisine tends to be of the local variety.

Haad Kaew Resort is located just north of Ko Yo, past the oil company locations, on the road to Nakhon Sri Thammarat. If you use public transport you will need to get a motorbike taxi from the main road. It's not that difficult but the ability to speak some Thai will help.

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Comments: When the Wiangpin Hotel opened in Hat Yai it was very clear which sector of the tourism market the owners were planning to go after.

Even during a protracted economic downturn, such as the one we are experiencing now, there are certain things that will always be in demand. Food is one, and sex is another.

I predicted that other hotels would follow the Wiangpin's business model.

Hansa Plaza, in the Kate 8 area of Hat Yai, is an evening entertainment venue well known to Malaysian tourists. The ladyboy cabaret is popular with tourists of both sexes, while the Sotus pub - with its sexy Thai female staff - is popular with Malaysian men (most of whom are ethnic Chinese).

However, it would seem that the Hansa Plaza owners were missing out on two key areas of business. This has now been rectified with the opening of the Hansa Venetian hotel, located just behind the Hansa Plaza complex.

The hotel, which opened around March 2010, has 71 rooms. They are exactly the same as almost every other mid-class Thai hotel room I have ever seen, except they are brand new. Maintenance isn't big in Thailand and after a few years, even the plushest hotel rooms start to look quite tatty. Newly opened hotels are, therefore, always a good bet.

In order to attract customers, immediately after opening the hotel offered a promotion rate of Bt400 a night. This was still running three months after the hotel opened, but I'm not sure how long it will run for.

To suit the type of guest the hotel is aimed at, there is a large, glass-panelled fishbowl just behind reception on the ground floor with about 20 girls from the north and northeast of Thailand sitting inside.

They arrive for their shift around 3:30pm and are rented out for approximately 90 minutes to provide an 'aap op nuat' (hot bath and massage) service. This takes place in the guest's room or in another one of the hotel rooms, and costs Bt1,500.

Of course, bath and massage (or Turkish massage, as it is sometimes called) is simply a euphemism. The girls provide sex.

Considering that at the time of writing (June 2010) this is the newest hotel in Hat Yai, the Bt400 promotion rate is a real bargain.

On the downside, there isn't much in that area and it's not that convenient to get into town. Also, the atmosphere in the hotel may not suit everyone. I would imagine the hotel will attract a lot of single Malaysian men, but not too many couples or families.

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Comments: A fairly typical middle-range Hat Yai hotel. Facilities include the 'Sometime' Pub & Restaurant, Kiss Boutique Karaoke, Kiss Music Lounge, Jen Jen Ancient Massage, and a snooker club.

Kiss Music Lounge is not what you might think. As you enter, you walk into a room full of very attractive girls wearing evening dresses who are available all night or for a short time. They are very easy on the eye and priced accordingly.

I ventured into Jen Jen Ancient Massage on one occasion. There was one woman working there and it quickly became apparent why the word 'Ancient' is used in the name of the establishment. The word described her perfectly. I made my excuses and left fairly hastily.

A few years ago a farang was hospitalised after falling out of a window here. I don't know if he was drunk or just trying to avoid paying his bill. Maybe both, or perhaps he was practising for the world-renowned 'Pattaya Suicide Leap' which is a favourite pastime among farang expats in Thailand? Whatever he was doing, it's generally not a good idea to leave hotels via a window.

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Comments: Opened some time in 2008, this place is fairly new at the time of writing. There are 90 well furnished rooms. The rooms are standard Thai hotel rooms; what more is there to say? A bed, a TV, a fridge, and a bathroom. One thing to say is that the rooms are quite small compared to other hotels.

The location is strange. The hotel is located near the fresh market and Pakistani mosque, which is quite an undeveloped part of Hat Yai. For that reason, I thought the Bt800 room rate was a litle expensive. Had the hotel been located close to Lee Gardens Plaza, Bt800 would have been reasonable, but for this location I would have expected a rate somewhere between Bt500 and Bt600.

The hotel has its own Karaoke lounge, restaurant and massage shop. The rooms in the massage shop are some of the most pleasant I have seen in Hat Yai. They are very tastefully decorated and make for a relaxing environment.

Massage prices are Bt300 for two hours of Thai massage, or Bt700 for a two hour oil massage. Whether or not the service from the massage girls matches the quality of the rooms remains to be seen. Had I wanted a massage when I went, I would have been unlucky because there were no masseuses around. I would had to have waited two-and-a-half hours. I hope this isn't normal.

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Comments: As you can perhaps tell from the photo, the Indra is very close to Lee Gardens Plaza. It is also within staggering distance of the farang expat bars on Thamanoonvithi Road. There is a disco/pub and massage shop.

It's large and conveniently located but a bit run down and the receptionist was quite hostile. With all the new places that have sprung up in Hat Yai in recent years, I would only stay at somewhere like this in a real emergency.

A small point of note. The name in Thai transliterates to something like 'In-traa'. Many transliterations from Thai into English are a complete mystery to me and how a 'D' crept into this one I will never know.

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Comments: In the mid-range category of Hat Yai hotels (Bt400 - Bt800) the quality is quite variable. In fairness to the Inter, I haven't stayed there but my gut reaction tells me it is definitely at the bottom end of the market. It has that smell that I have only ever smelt in Thai hotels like this. If I was looking around for somewhere to stay it would definitely be a case of, "I'll think about it," and I would only go back if the accommodation situation in town was really desperate.

The location is fine for central Hat Yai, and especially for Gim Yong market, but for Bt500 I would either recommend somewhere cheaper like Louise Guest House (which seems to be a lot cleaner) or spend a couple more hundred Baht and go more upmarket. Just a few minutes away along Suphasarnrangsan Road is the Tanaphat Hatyai hotel which is a lot nicer for only Bt50 a night more.

July 2006 Update: My comments above about this place weren't far wrong but the good news is that something is being done about it. The hotel has been closed and completely gutted. There is a serious refurbishment taking place and I am told that it is under new ownership, even though there are still 'For Sale' signs outside.

This isn't just some new carpets and curtains. Several external walls have been removed and the building has been reduced to a shell. For the time being, therefore, the hotel is closed for business. When it reopens I will take a look and add some comments.

The Thais normally do a good job with this kind of thing and, as I said above, the location is good. When it opens again it promises to be a decent accommodation option.

April 2007 Update: The building work has been completed and the Inter is now officially dead. I will leave these comments here but what used to be the Inter is now the Golden Crown Plaza Hotel - details on the previous page.

Comments: This is an interesting little place. It is very near to the Regency Hotel in the centre of town - and therefore very convenient - but it is in a location where the crowds of tourists don't usually go.

There are only 11 rooms in total. The 'small rooms' really are broom cupboards and they are the smallest hotel rooms I have seen outside of Singapore (I've never been to Tokyo). There is just about room for a bed but not a lot else. They don't look like rooms where people would stay for very long but I'll come on to that in a moment.

The single rooms have one large double-bed and the twin rooms have two single-beds. The interior design has actually been done very well and some might label In Town as a 'boutique hotel'. If they did, it would be worthy of the label.

I've mentioned elsewhere that there is a strange little woman in Hat Yai who approaches foreign men on the street offering to procure women for them. She isn't in the least bit shy.

She has approached me a couple of times and I've chatted with her purely out of curiosity to get some information about the Hat Yai commercial sex scene. She suggested this place as a venue for short term liaisons with working girls for people who didn't have a hotel room.

When I looked at one of the 'small rooms' with just a bed and a small bathroom, the pieces of the jigsaw started to fit together.

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Comments: JB Hotel was the first (and for a long time the only) upmarket hotel in Hat Yai. Once the Lee Gardens Plaza development was completed that area became the tourist centre in Hat Yai so JB seems to be in an out-of-the-way location but that is only by virtue of the fact that it was there first.

In terms of quality it is right up at the top end of the market in Hat Yai. It never seems very busy and I get the impression it is more geared towards business travellers, receptions and functions rather than for the weekend Malaysian tourist trade. It is also where VIPs stay when they come to Hat Yai.

Free tuk-tuks for guests run between the hotel and Lee Gardens Plaza all day up until 9pm. The rooms are just what you would expect for hotels in this category in Hat Yai and the bathrooms are quite large. There are personal safes in each room which is a feature I love in hotels and wish all hotels would have. It provides a great deal of peace of mind being able to put valuable items in a personal safe.

Facilities include an outdoor swimming pool, function rooms, and a couple of excellent restaurants. Dynasty offers a fabulous Chinese restaurant experience and the Palm Court restaurant is one of my favourites for both Thai and farang food.

Room rates at JB have tumbled. When I first enquired some time in 2004, a standard room was Bt1,500. At the beginning of 2007 the rate had gone down to a bargain Bt850. I think there are two factors involved here related to the old laws of supply and demand.

Since the southern insurgency problems, tourism to Hat Yai has fallen quite significantly but there has been no let up with the building of new hotels. It is just a case of supply outstripping demand by a long way so hotels have to stay competitive to attract custom.

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Comments: King's is a very typical Hat Yai mid-range hotel near the station. There's an in-house massage shop (of course) - staffed almost entirely with Burmese girls - and a small restaurant. It's not the Oriental in Bangkok but it's about what you would expect for Bt400 a night in provincial Thailand.

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Comments: This place looks ancient. I don't know when it was built but the architectural 'style' is of the classic 60's or 70's concrete block variety. The hotel business cards claim that all rooms have been renovated with new furniture, carpets, 20" TVs, and refrigerators.

A visitor to this site who has stayed there told me the housekeeping staff are helpful but reception aren't. This became very apparent when I went there to get this information.

I asked the receptionist how many rooms there were in the hotel. "Lai hawng," she told me - many rooms. Yes, I know that but how many? "Yeuh yeuh," came back the reply - a lot. Yes, I know but how many? Next she wanted to know why I wanted to know, at which point I just walked out.

I've come across this type of thing before (one hotel in Bangkok was particularly guilty of surliness), It's unusual in Thailand but every now and again you meet surly, unhelpful people working - supposedly - in the service industry.

Guest Comments:

• "The receptions were the worst I have come across. Things will not get done through them, have to call housekeeping direct. We still stay there cause the rooms are clean, carpet looks new and furnishing still good and their twin bed is half size Queen size bed. Price 550 bht by voucher."

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Comments: Very close to both the station and Louise Guest House on busy Thamnoon Vithi Road. It's cheaper than Louise but there is a big difference. Ladda is much more like Cathay than Louise. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

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Comments: Close to the train station and the centre of town, this hotel with 60 rooms isn't the most salubrious place in Hat Yai, but it looks about what you would expect for the room rates.

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Comments: Not to be confused with Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel. When I took a look around this place I wondered if there was much point adding further hotels to this page. The reason is that they are all basically the same and cater to the same clientele who all want the same things. For less than Bt1,000 you get an average room in a mid-range hotel that has a bar and a restaurant.

This particular hotel doesn't appear to have an in-house massage parlour, which is quite unusual, but it does have a barber shop which offers nine private hairdressing rooms, "for guests of VIP status," and the Diana Nightclub where you can, "move late into the night with the most popular rhythms of the golden age of sound."

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Comments: One of Hat Yai's better hotels, it is right in the centre of the tourist area and very popular with visiting Malaysians. The rooms are a decent size but the one I looked at was suffering badly from my pet hate in Thai hotels. The carpet, bed sheets and furniture were covered with cigarette burns.

Apparently there are non-smoking rooms in the hotel but I don't know if these are any better due to the fact people in this part of the world seem to have a total disregard for no-smoking regulations.

There is a good size outdoor swimming pool located high up which is available free to hotel guests and a gym which guests can pay to use. One slightly annoying thing about the hotel is that it is necessary to take multiple lifts to get up and down between ground level and the guest room floors. Security is quite good, requiring room cards to get access to the hotel corridors.

Rates quoted are direct from the hotel. Konsortium travel agency just next door can offer a rate of Bt1,070 on Superior rooms thus giving a small discount.

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Comments: Louise Guest House appears to be a notch up from the usual standard of 'Guest House' accommodation. It is very close to the station, which is of critical importance to backpackers, but it is not your typical grotty backpacker type of place. The rooms are quite clean and well maintained. I would imagine the rooms overlooking Thamnoon Vithi Road are quite noisy as this is a very busy road.

Compared to most backpacker guest houses it's an improvement but it still has that 'guest house' feel to it. This might suit a lot of people who are comfortable in that environment but for just a little extra there are proper hotel rooms in Hat Yai that are a lot more comfortable.

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Comments: This hotel stands where the old LK Hotel stood. The LK was completely gutted to a bare shell and refitted. When the new hotel was reopened it appeared with a new name.

The rates quoted above are walk-in (rack) rates. If you purchase a voucher from one of the nearby travel agencies, you can get a standard room for Bt890.

The rooms are pleasant, clean and tastefully decorated. The top three floors - 12, 14, 15 (there is no floor 13 for superstitious reasons) - have a nice external view from the corridors but on lower floors there are rooms on either side of the corridors so therefore no view.

Suites have a living room in addition to a bedroom but rates are twice as expensive as standard rooms. The hotel is very well located for the central Lee Gardens area of Hat Yai.

Guest Comments:

• "Wi-Fi in all rooms."
• "We spent our days in Mayflower Grand Hotel. Service was really good for the 895 baht we paid per night.The front desk staff were willingly helpful and tried their best to answer to our inquiries regarding places of Hat Yai. However, most of the tuk tuk drivers don't know the place, so we had to tell them to take us to Lee Garden plaza each time."

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Comments: The Hat Yai Merlin is located in the area around the larger Daiichi hotel.

The hotel is quite large with about 100 rooms, and it isn't expensive. There is a restaurant and an in-house massage shop.

The front desk reception staff are really friendly and a lot of fun. How refreshing it was to laugh and joke with them after checking out the Indra and Kosit hotels where the reception staff were quite surly.

The hotel itself is looking a bit worn and is probably in need of a refurbishment fairly soon.

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Comments: A mid-class Hat Yai at the lower end of the range with 80 rooms. The staff seem friendly enough but the hotel isn't in a particularly attractive location. The local area is busy at night with lots of food vendors on the streets where you can get a taste of real Thai street life.

Nearby are also some other elements of Thai nightlife including Karaoke bars and a few cheap aap op nuat places. The hotel is a lot closer to Diana department store than it is to Lee Gardens. Facilities include the Krua Thong restaurant and an ancient massage parlour where you can, "Relax and release your tension. You will be treated by our experienced masseuses in a separated room furnished with traditional look."

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Comments: What can I say? Positive things first and the most positive thing about this hotel is that it is located very centrally amidst a busy market area of Hat Yai. Oh, and the room rates are cheap.

Apart from that, it is one of the gloomiest, most depressing places I have ever set foot in. Sorry, but I try to be honest.

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Comments: There is an abundance of rental accommodation in Hat Yai but the vast majority of rental apartments have just one room plus a bathroom. There isn't much living space.

If you want more space, you will probably need to find a house to rent because there aren't many apartments that have more than one room and a bathroom. A few places do, but they only have two rooms in addition to a bathroom - a bedroom and a living room.

Muang Thong Mansion is the only place I am aware of in Hat Yai that has two-bedroom apartments for rent. There are two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a combined kitchen/living room/dining room.

The building is in a quiet location with fairly well kept grounds that include a children's play area. There is a car park, and because the building doesn't seem to have many residents there are ample free car parking spaces.

The location isn't that central. It's quite a way out of town, down a Soi opposite the golf course on busy Karnchanawanich Road.

The rooms aren't huge, and neither are they that luxurious. The furnishings are getting long in the tooth and the rooms are more dark and dingy, than light and airy - but they're OK.

The rooms are a little expensive and the location is a little inconvenient, but because of the extra living space and the lack of competition locally for two-bedroom apartments this type of place will suit certain people who need the extra space.

It might suit those with children looking for medium-term rented accommodation who don't want to stay in a hotel, and who don't want to start buying things to furnish a rented house.

The rooms are fully furnished so you won't need to buy anything. A cleaning service is provided once a week and there is also an in-house laundry service.

Water and electricity are charged at the standard rates for apartment buildings in Hat Yai, and the deposit is two months' rent.

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