This is a romantic video of the 3 days with Tar around Koh Yao Noi Six Senses, Phuket, Phang Nga Bay, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, etc. Smaller islands are Koh Roi, Koh Hong and monkey beach.

The video also includes a few scenes of the time together in Bangkok : St. Regis hotel, Hanako restaurant, Reflexions restaurant, Plaza Athenee hotel, Winebridge Plus, Sherbet, etc.

The sound quickly got developed by Thomas, thanks. I hope you like it. Anyway, the video is a good way to preserve the memory. Thank you Tar.

Fields Plaza Suites, Angeles City : 40 girls are not enough !

These suites opened last year, 2011 and already got accepted well, at a current booking of around 75%. It was my intention to have a look a their top room, penthouse 888 which costs something around PHP 17.5k, but it was booked that time, so a friendly staff person introduced me to a balcony suite. The suites currently mark the most luxurious stay you could possibly have in Angeles City and I don’t regard it to be that expensive, the price/value is decent. I especially appreciate that the rooms are very bright and the views are good as well.
It is likely that I make a booking there next time.

The 2 guys who stayed at the penthouse 888 that time had barfined 40 girls ! But calculate, it is really not that outrageous expensive, I am sure many people could live/experience the same if they save a bit of money. Let’s say a girl in general costs PHP 1500 per day, that makes PHP 60k for all, another 17.5k for the room, maybe about PHP 40k to entertain all for a day, so total around PHP 120k for a one day, wild debauchery party – devided by half just 60k – so that’s a bit more than EUR 1000 or close to EUR 2000 when coming alone. I am sure that everyone could experience it if that’s your dream.

In the second part of the video, owner Gerard shows the new Millennium wing of the ABC (Angeles Beach Club) hotel which is really impressive. From my point of view the ABC hotel is AC’s ultimate fantasy party place. This is what people really search for in that area.
Forget Hugh Hefner’s playboy mansion and grot – this is the real party place !

Gerard’s son had the idea for the Millennium pool extension and developed the concept. He is married with a Filipina and also plays an important role for legal transactions that way.
Gerard bought together a lot of land in the Manila, Makati area. In the next few years there might be a massive USD 10 to 15 million project coming up in the area. He will also rent out places for the bars to make sure that those people don’t try to rip-off guests and to get a better degree of control on structuring things.
I am very excited about the plans, it will have a huge impact on the entire bargirl world of the Philippines. This will make Gerard to become one of the most influential red-light district entrepreneurs of entire South East Asia if things work out.
When he started the ABC hotel in 2006, people were laughing at him that he would fail…It seems that he just gets more motivated when dealing with such jealousy.

Lewis Grand Hotel, Angeles City

This was my 3rd time at the Lewis Grand Hotel, again I had booked a poolside jacuzi room. The rooms 001 and 002 are really convenient, you just have to walk a few steps to be at the pool, restaurant and gym.

They changed the pool area a bit : they did a good gardening job, making it more green with a few plants. If you like a peaceful/quiet pool area, the Lewis Grand hotel will not dissapoint you.

The hotel is priced ok for the standard. Owner, the young Mr. Lewis is mostly visible for his guests at the poolside restaurant. He got an open ear for problems and really listens to them. He is one of Angeles City’s driving forces. I believe AC still has enormous potential. Most important is to take away the fears of people/newbies who dream going there but are afraid of many different reasons.

My Thai airways flight to the Philippines got canceled, so I had to fly 1 day later, the airlines didn’t compensate for that. Contact availability wasn’t great at Lewis Grand, it took me 3 emails before I got a reply (took about 60 hours). The service in general is friendly but slow.
The gym is a bit out of date. When using the treadmill I had the feeling that this thing is breaking into pieces every moment, making loud noises that people at the restaurant probably could still hear. I don’t understand why animals like cats and dogs can walk around free at the restaurant area, nobody seemed to bother with that. Most angry made me that I didn’t receive my final wake up call. Of my 3 stays there I never received it at the Lewis Grand. At first I thought it was bad luck, but I am getting now more the feeling that the front desk girls occassionally play some games with the guests, so beware.

Overall the Lewis Grand hotel is one of the best places in AC. The new hotel “The Penthouse” on Santos street will most likely open early 2013. The design and concept looks promising, I am excited about it.

Climax, Ambassador hotel, Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok

Climax is located in the basement of Ambassador hotel in the middle of Sukhumvit Soi 11. The place is known for being one of the hottest after-hours party places. Especially I am a big fan of the good vibe/atmosphere there, no matter what music they play. They often have live bands who mostly are pretty good. The place is full of freelancers but the girls are not aggressive and often look for a good time as well.
I am a frequent visitor there, the staff is very helpful too.

Skytrax, Fields Avenue, Angeles City

Skytrax on Fields is a very popular hang-out place for bargirls and local Filipino men after work. “Only” about 75% of the male guests are foreigners, I do like the mixture because it doesn’t appear that sterile.
I had always liked Skytrax and still do, especially I like the staff. There is one guy working there who looks like Danny Trejo (“Machete”). At Skytrax and Atlantis I had the best time on my recent AC stay. To be honest I only partied a single night this time in AC, let’s say I am getting more wise or just older – just cannot crash myself every day on an entire month.

High Society club, Fields Avenue, Angeles City

This video is really crappy, I have to apologize. I was originally planning to visit it again and make a better video there, but I was already out of energy after a crazy party night. Next time…
High Society borrows a naming term that is actually better known/more used in Thailand. I liked the naming for “Forbidden City” but this time I think it just doesn’t fit into the Fields Avenue world, at least not yet.

The place is one large room that can easily be overlooked. The big danceflor in the middle is pretty cool I have to admid. However I miss the dark spots and intimacy of a disco like Skytrax. High Society just opened a few months ago, they will find their niche and maybe arrange a few things differently. Because of the good location next to Blue Nile bar, it should be a winning place anyway.

White Lioness, Sukhumvit Soi 12, Bangkok

The place is behind Insomnia on Sukhumvit Soi 12. The place inside looks like a small gentleman club having posh interior and charging upscale G-club prices for drinks. They didn’t ask for cover charge but normal drinks cost THB 400 and a ladies drink THB 800. My schedule was pretty full that day so I left after 1 drink. Maybe I was unlucky but I just saw a handful of Eastern European girls who didn’t look that stunning to justify such show/entertainment prices.

The Russian girl you see below I met at Insomnia and the room is a short-time room on the lower Sukhumvit. The place White Lioness is mainly an entertainment place, I guess it is possible to pick up girls for take-out as well but no guarantee for that.
CM2 is an alternative freelancer choice for Eastern European girls.

Insomnia, Sukhumvit Soi 12, Bangkok

Insomnia in Pattaya is already well established and among the better large discos on Walking Street. Because of their success they opened a disco in Bangkok last year as well, on Sukhumvit Soi 12.
The place is a bit smaller than in Pattaya, everything else is very similar. From my point of view it is not a place where people come for the special music, great F&B or the other friendly guests. It is so successful because they achieved to find the mainstream farangs taste who travels to Thailand for party.

They clearly have more guests than Bed Supperclub at the moment, on the opposite street on Sukhumvit Soi 11, but Bed Supperclub is more upscale and the guests most likely spend more money on their visit.
The 2 interesting things for me about Insomnia are : they are still open after official closing hours and second there are a few Russian freelancers around.

Sherbet, G-club, Ekamai, Bangkok

Sherbet is part of the BKcoolclub group and at the moment maybe their hottest club. I am fan of the Pent on Wireless road, but Sherbet certainly way improved in the last 2 years. Some local friends I asked confirmed that Sherbet might be one of the hottest G-clubs at the moment in Bangkok.
The location on Ekamai is good, although I prefer the Pent location more – it depends on where you stay.

I met there a person from the club who knew Chompoo with whom I organized a party at 808, 2 years ago. She called her and I had to find out that she lives/works now in Singapore.
I think Sherbet is pretty good and I will be coming back.

Dhara Devi, Mandarin Oriental hotel, villa 99, Chiang Mai

This was my second stay there for 3 days. On my first stay I was a bit unlucky and not everything worked out as I had imagined it. This time I have nothing serious to complain about. The service could still improve from good to higher levels maybe.

The Dhara Devi now already became a place where I will book at least one stay per year, it is just one of those few, special places where I feel I need to stay every year. What they created at the Dhara Devi is truely remarkable. The budget for creating it was something around USD 200 million which makes it one of the most expensive hotels/resorts of South East Asia (the St. Regis Bangkok hotel+residences cost EUR 1 billion for comparison).

This time I had pre-reserved villa 99 which is fantastic. I paid something around THB 60k++ that time which I consider to be a very good deal for money.

The pool is a real pool, not a plunge pool, the villa is also more tangled into the ricefield and offers more privacy. Moreover you can take a short-cut to the beautiful pool overlooking the rice paddy from there : they have a bridge on the right side of the villa which will lead you there.
The outside area like kitchen and sauna are impressive as well.

The villa inside isn’t too large, it feels just about right. The ground flor is small even. The bed is comfortable and the bathroom sufficient but not great. The ground of the shower area wasn’t exactly straight, so often there was still plenty of water on the ground the next morning. I have the feeling that most villas have minor issues like this, I also experienced several minor flaws in the other villa.
In general maintenance could be better around the whole complex. Because it is a huge area, this of course is an immense task.

The breakfast is really good. There I also saw again that the majority of their guests are above 55-years-old. Chiang Mai is a perfect place for older people. They are save there, the sun is not too strong, the humidity is not really bad like in the south of Thailand and it is just so damn convenient around in Chiang Mai. It is the ultimate retirement spot from my point of view.