Comments: Located close to the Hat Yai Central Hotel but a bit more upmarket, the Sakura Grand View has quite a fancy lobby and boasts 'panoramic views of the city'. The hotel brochure also claims that the building is an 'innovatively architectural design'. I don't think Sir Norman Foster was involved with the design; it just looks like a typical Thai hotel to me.

Sakura Grand View is a standard mid-range Hat Yai hotel and this one is very popular with Malaysian tourists. There is a large 'ancient' massage facility with lots of young massage girls from north and northeast Thailand, Karaoke girls, snooker, a restaurant, and a bar. A Karaoke place with lots of pretty girls sitting outside every evening is located next door.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: Conveniently located for the centre of town, the Siam Centre is at the higher end of the quality scale in Hat Yai's range of hotels. It has the obligatory 'Thai Massage' centre plus a restaurant, Karaoke lounge and snooker hall.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: The Singapore Hotel owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Lonely Planet. In one edition of LP the description for this hotel included the magic words, 'security-conscious'. Backpackers, worried about someone stealing their flip-flops or baggy Chinese fisherman pants, flock here and I know it can only be because of the LP endorsement. They would never find the hotel otherwise - it's a lot further than 150m from the train station for a start.

But is it really 'security-conscious'? As far as I can tell it is no more or less 'security-conscious' than any other Hat Yai hotel in this price range. Anyone entering the hotel has to pass the reception desk but that is not unusual. It really makes me wonder about LP at times when they come out with these vague statements.

Note: It's January 2005 and I have just flicked through the latest Lonely Planet Thailand Guide. I am pleased to see they have changed some of the things written in earlier editions (including what I complained of above) and generally their review of Hat Yai in the latest edition seems to be a bit better than it was previously.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: At the time of writing (March 2007), this - as far as I am aware - is Hat Yai's newest hotel. I've said it many times before that new hotels are always a good bet in Thailand. They look great when they are first completed but after a few years they normally get quite tatty.

I visited three weeks after the hotel opened and it looked great. Rooms have the usual facilities plus personal safes which I wish every hotel would have. The location is quiet and because Hat Yai is so small the hotel is still close to everything.

For a room rate less than Bt1,000 a night you can't really go wrong. Because it's so new, the hotel isn't on the map yet but it's fairly close to the Emperor Hotel.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: Not for tourists, but for those looking to spend longer in Hat Yai.

This development contains property to buy, as well as some units to rent. Different room sizes are available starting from Bt5,500 per month (not including electricity). The location is a little way out of town on Suphasarnrangsan Road. The advantage over somewhere like Wanthana Mansion is that it is set back from the main road a little so therefore it is quieter.

The disadvantage is that if you don't have your own transport then it will mean paying for a lot more tuk-tuks and motorbike taxis into town.

When I first saw this place at the end of 2003 it looked OK. Six years later, and it seems that no external maintenance has been done at all. The paint is a mess and generally the building is looking very run-down.

During the economic boom in the 1990's a lot of property was built in Thailand by investors hoping to make a good return on their money. After the bubble burst a lot of property wasn't sold and people lost interest.

A lot of places that were originally designed to be luxurious condos look like quite shoddy apartment buildings now.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: Stereotyping nationalities isn't very fair but it seems that certain traits are common with people from certain countries. As an example, when Germans come to Thailand they must stay near, or on, the beach. I heard this fact somewhere years ago from someone in the travel business and it seems to be true from my observations.

The Malaysians coming to Hat Yai like to stay right in the centre of town, that is, within spitting distance of Lee Gardens Plaza. To have a successful business in Hat Yai, it must be within a very small area in the centre of town if it depends on tourism. If it is just a short distance outside that area it will most likely fail.

Hotels a little way from the centre of town, in my humble opinion, offer much better value for money. The distances we are talking about are not huge but you need to be prepared to walk a little.

The Tanaphat Hatyai hotel is one such hotel, a little way from the centre of town. It is a pleasant, smaller hotel and the rooms actually resemble hotel rooms rather than 'guest house' rooms. The staff are very friendly.

It is located right on Suphasarnrangsan Road so there are many eating options just yards away. Lee Gardens is about a ten minute walk away or a few minutes in a tuk-tuk.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: A long-term stay 'Mansion' building, close to the bus station and the weekend night market. It is also close to Thungsao Mansion and Chudchada Place, both of which, in my humble opinion, offer better value for money. Facilities in all of these places are basically the same (TV with UBC, fridge, wireless Internet, hot water) but a fridge and TV will cost you Bt1,000 a month more here compared to the other two I mentioned. Wireless Internet access is free.

It is located only a matter of yards away from the bus station and the night market which runs from Thursday to Sunday. Rooms are also available on a daily basis which might be handy for someone catching an early bus out of Hat Yai.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: I looked at the apartments in this building several years ago when it was known as Jutti Apartment. The rooms were grotty and packed full of young kids. This area has a lot of tutoring places and it becomes overrun with high school students during the school holidays.

Since then, however, the building has been completely refurbished and it has gone significantly upmarket. The lifts, passageways, and rooms have all been fitted out to a very high standard.

The rooms on floors two to six are available for long term rental, while the floors above are intended for short, hotel-like stays.

Despite being pleasantly decorated, the rooms are small. The monthly rate is also fairly high for Hat Yai. Consequently, The House doesn't offer great value but it will suit those who value cleanliness over space.

I was told there are lots of rooms vacant, which is an indication of the value for money. In places that offer good value, the rooms get snapped up very quickly.

As a place to live long-term the rooms may not offer enough space, but for short stays it is a decent alternative to the other hotels in town. The House is located fairly close to JB Hotel.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: A long-term stay option, Thungsao Mansion is very similar to nearby Chudchada Place (see Page 2). The facilities are basically the same (TV with UBC, fridge, wireless Internet, hot water), as is the monthly rate. This one is on the main road whereas Chudchada is in a Soi so the latter is probably quieter.

Water is charged for at Bt200 a month and electricity at Bt7 per unit. The bus station is close by. Thungsao Road is also home to many 'Karaoke' bars where not a lot of singing takes place but where other urges can be satisfied.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: A conveniently located apartment building for long term stays or daily rental. The facilities include cable TV, air-conditioning and 24 hour security. There is a WiFi access point in the reception area but very few (probably none) of the rooms can get a signal.

The location is almost next door to New Season hotel and therefore very convenient for Lee Gardens and all the other shopping and restaurants in central Hat Yai.

Pronounced 'Wee See' in Thai.

Guest Comments:

• "VC apartment was overall a good place to stay. The location was great, the staff and her friends were nice enough to guide me on how to get to different places e.g advice on border run, the room was spacious and the toilet was good enough. But they didn't want to us to use the VC wireless line and told us to tap onto someone else's unprotected by password connection. Good place still."

To add your comments, send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: A good size hotel (104 rooms) located 10 minutes walk away from Lee Gardens Plaza and the centre of town. The large rooms come with either one double bed or two twin beds. The rooms seem to be quite well insulated against noise from the traffic outside and the corner rooms have a good view overlooking Gim Yong market.

There is a restaurant but no massage shop. At one time they offered a great Internet deal for guests. Internet sessions were just Bt20 for an unlimited time and it was possible to connect your own laptop. I'm not sure if this still applies.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: This small hotel with just 30 rooms is located in the heart of one of Hat Yai's red light districts. The small road it is located on is home to several 'Karaoke' bars where never a song is sung. Karaoke is used as a euphemism in Thailand for brothel and outside each establishment every evening you will see 'booking' girls sitting around waiting for customers.

The majority of the punters are Chinese Malaysian and most of the girls are from the north and northeast of Thailand. It is rare in Hat Yai to find local girls working in the prostitution industry.

The Visa came as a bit of a surprise. Because of its location in such a seedy neighbourhood I had never previously considered it for inclusion here, but I happened to walk past one New Year's Day when the streets were empty and very quiet.

It's a clean little place and the lady on reception was very friendly and helpful. This made a pleasant change after having just checked out a few larger hotels and having spoken to some quite surly reception staff.

The hotel motto is, "Clean room, low price, good service," and from what I saw I wouldn't disagree.

For the price it could be a reasonable backpacker alternative to the Cathay guest house and the other guest houses located near the train station.

Because of the location and the cheap room rates there may be some renting of rooms by the hour and lots of comings and goings. This is just speculation though and I don't know for sure. However, I'm not unfamiliar with Thailand.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: As far as budget hotels in Hat Yai go, the Wangnoi appears to be one of the better ones. The location is fine, just a few minutes stroll to the centre of town and near to busy Suphasarnrangsan Road where there are lots of places to eat.

The rooms are clean. Some rooms in the middle of the hotel do not have an external wall so therefore have no windows and are a bit dark and depressing. Try to get a room with a window to get some natural light into the room.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: This was my first home in Hat Yai, several years ago. It is a modern building with nice tiled floors and carved wooden doors. The rooms (just 24 of them) are clean and comfortable but not very large. The bathrooms have Western style toilets with hot showers and the staff (just three girls on reception who provide 24-7 coverage, and a maid) are friendly.

Wanthana is located on a busy road which is convenient for restaurants and just a few minutes walk away from the centre of Hat Yai. The location is noisy though, especially when the local motorbike racers come out to illegally street race in the early hours of the morning. Suphasarnrangsan Road suffers from loud traffic noise 24 hours a day.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: As far as I am aware, this is the most expensive apartment building in Hat Yai. It is clear that the developers have targeted the farang, Malaysian, Singapore market as most locals would have a heart attack over the prices. To give you an idea, most Thais in Hat Yai consider Bt5,000 a month for a room to be expensive and only expect to pay around Bt2,000 - Bt2,500.

The strategy of targeting wealthy expat clients is standard practice in tourist resorts such as Phuket but a little riskier in places such as Hat Yai because there isn't the same farang demand for rented apartments. The apartment building looks just like something you would expect to find in Phuket, except the nearest beach is in Songkhla.

The building is pleasantly decorated and painted in Meditteranean pastels. There is a small pool, a gym, and a restaurant. Pool, jacuzzi and gym use, as well as Internet and UBC TV are included in the room rates which is just as well. Each room has a TV, a fridge and a small safe - the in-room safe being a nice touch.

Also included in the room rate is a cleaning service twice a week, towel and bedding changes once a week, and laundry up to 70 pieces a month. All these things help to offset the high rates and are normally they would be additional costs.

With the Executive and Grand studios you get an increased laundry allowance, a microwave oven, free drinking water and breakfast 16 times a month. Building security looks to be very good, which is an added bonus.

Weenee Place would suit someone who didn't plan to stay in town for very long, and who didn't want to buy bedsheets and towels, etc. Some rooms are available for just one night so it can also be used as an alternative to a hotel.

I was disappointed at how small the rooms were; not only the studios but the 'Grand Studios' as well. The location isn't exactly scenic or convenient. The only scenic areas in Hat Yai are out by the hills. From Weenee, it's about a five minute walk to Phetkasem Road where there are lots of different transport options and Carrefour isn't too far away.

Rates:

Electricity is charged at Bt7 per unit. Water is Bt100 a month for a maximum of five units and each unit above that is charged at Bt17. It seems incredibly stingy to charge additionally for water at these room rates. Room deposits are 1.5x the monthly rent and rent is payable in advance.

PS. The web site they provide in their literature (which I have given a link to above) appears not to work. I'll leave the link as it might start working later.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: According to tuk-tuk drivers and the sign in the front of the hotel, this used to be the Mair Naam hotel. According to a member of staff it used to be the Sakara hotel. I'm not sure who is right.

Anyway, whatever it used to be was closed down, the hotel renovated, and it is now the Wiangpin. The rooms aren't bad. It's cheap and it is located in an area of Hat Yai that is popular with single Chinese and Indian Malaysian male tourists - just behind the dilapidated Emperor hotel.

It's quite clear which sector of the tourism market this hotel has gone after ... and it's not eco-tourism, agri-tourism, or health-tourism.

On the second floor (it used to be behind the reception area) is a second branch of the Nice Lady bath and massage business with a goldfish bowl and viewing area where clients can have a beer while deciding on which girl to select. The girls have colour-coded numbers and depending whether they are red or blue you will need to fork out Bt1,700 or Bt1,400 for their services.

There is a constant stream of Chinese and Indian Malaysian men going into the hotel who walk straight past reception to the goldfish bowl and then disappear upstairs with one of the girls to one of the hotels rooms reserved for this purpose.

The Hawaii Sexy Show has relocated from its old location near Diana to the Wiangpin. I've never been but have been told by taxi drivers that it's a full on Patpong-style sex show. There are performances every evening from 8pm to 9pm and 9:30pm to 10:30pm. The old Hawaii now appears to be a gay club.

The economy in Hat Yai has been bad for a long time. First, it was southern insurgency problems, then political instability in Thailand, then a global recession.

Thais need money to survive and despite whatever problems there may be with the economy there are certain sectors of the economy that are never affected. We will always need to eat, and men will always need to have sex.

In this particular area of Hat Yai there are at least five cheap aap op nuat - bath and massage - places (a euphemism for brothel) and they keep very busy. This newly opened one looks a lot cleaner than the other cheap places nearby, and it is cheaper than the upmarket Chaophya 4 - a little way out of town.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more such places opening soon.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: A fairly new hotel very close to Diana Department store with very pleasant staff. Most hotels in Thailand have pleasant staff but not all.

There are three types of room - standard, deluxe and family. The latter two categories have good sized rooms and bathtubs in the bathrooms. The sign at reception mentions 'dubble' rooms which presumably are the ones with two beds. All rooms have solid, rosewood furniture from China and some of the bathrooms have attractive glass sink units.

Wi-fi Internet is available in all rooms; a nice feature that is becoming common all over Thailand now. There is a restaurant, a bar that is described in their literature as either a 'Beer Place' or the 'Fountain Beer Park', and a massage shop.

Diana department store is just next door; handy for shopping and eating. Getting to the downtown area is about a 20 minute walk away or a short tuk-tuk ride.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Comments: A mid-class hotel which is a little way out of town with the resultant advantages and disadvantages. It's quieter than downtown hotels and the rooms are cheaper than equivalent rooms near the Lee Gardens Plaza area. However, you will probably need to rely on your own or public transport more than if you were staying at Lee Gardens.

Facilities include the Napoleon Restaurant (which no doubt serves very good snails, frogs' legs and horse meat) and "auto online telephones" (your guess is as good as mine).

The hotel has 84 rooms and lots of car parking which may be of interest if you drive your own car to Hat Yai. Parking can be awkward downtown.

Guest Comments: No guest comments yet. Be the first to comment. Send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

The following are sponsored links: