So what does it mean when a hotel is guest friendly?. What is a joiner/joining fee? Why are some hotels in Pattaya “joiner free” but others charge a joining fee?
A guest friendly hotel is also commonly known as joiner friendly. In Pattaya they are also referred to as girl friendly, bar girl friendly, working girl friendly, and lady-boy friendly. The term “guest friendly” simply means the hotel does not charge an additional fee when the registered guest (you) takes a personal guest to stay in their room.
The personal guest is known as a joiner. In Pattaya the joiner will usually be a bar girl, freelancer or ladyboy.
About Pattaya Hotel Joiner Policies and Fees
Every hotel in Pattaya has a joiner policy which determines the conditions under which the registered guest can take a joiner back to their room. Included in those conditions is the joiner fee, if they decide to charge one. Other conditions include the maximum number of joiners allowed, minimum age of the joiner, and in some cases the joiner’s gender.
How Many Guests can I Have in my Room?
Most guest friendly hotels in Pattaya will allow 1 guest free of charge, some will allow 2 free of charge but most will apply a fee for the second.
How Much is the Hotel Joiner Fee in Pattaya?
If a hotel charges for joiners the fee is usually related to the room rate of the hotel. Budget to mid priced hotels and guest houses may charge as little as 300 baht per joiner per night, while 4 and 5 star hotels often charge as much as 1,500 baht per night. I would say the average price is between 500 and 600 baht.
Which are the Best Guest Friendly Hotels in Pattaya?
Guest friendly hotels are just like any other hotel in Pattaya. There are many gay and LGBT friendly hotels in Pattaya, and there is one quite famous adult themed guest friendly hotel in south Pattaya. But aside from your sexual orientation, the best guest friendly hotel is one which suits your budget, and is in your preferred location.
Where’s the Most Guest Friendly Hotels in Pattaya
By far the largest choice of guest friendly hotels is in and around the most popular nightlife areas of Pattaya, that is the areas between North Pattaya Road and South Pattaya Road. On my blog I’ve separated this area into 3 pages, north, south, and Central Pattaya guest friendly hotels. Through my own correspondence with hotels I’ve found that hotels (especially 4 and 5 star) in the more family oriented areas such as Naklua, Wongamat, Jomtien and Na Jomtien are less likely to be guest friendly than their counterparts in Central Pattaya.
Soi Buakhao and the connected sois such as Soi Lengkee, Soi LK Metro, Soi Honey are extremely popular nightlife zones, and also host to an abundance of popular guest friendly hotels and guest houses. I’ve included many of best guest friendly places on Soi Buakhao, Soi 7, Soi 8 and the extended area on the Central Pattaya guest friendly hotels page. From there you will also find links to guest friendly hotels in north and south Pattaya, as well as Walking Street.
Searching Guest Friendly Hotels in Pattaya
There’s a lot of websites with lists of guest friendly hotels in Pattaya. Maintaining a list of hotels is easy, maintaining an up to date list of guest friendly hotels in Pattaya is not.
The reason for that is simply because things change, hotels can and do change their joiner policy. Many websites (this one included) email a hotel to ask if they are guest friendly, then post the information on their site. The problem is, even though a page might have been updated yesterday, last week or last month, there is no way of knowing when the author last contacted the hotel, meaning that information could be years out of date.
There’s no need to worry about it, there’s some great first hand reviews on many sites, and they are a good starting point. But as I recommend on my own pages, email the hotel yourself, it’s the closest you will come to guaranteeing your hotel is guest friendly.
To add a little clarity and transparency I’ve started updating my lists of Pattaya guest friendly hotels to include the date I first added hotels to my pages, their response to my email, and the dates I emailed them again to reconfirm they are still guest friendly.
Changes to Guest Friendly Status
It’s not reasonable to email a hotel every day, every week, or every month without them starting to regard you as a time waster and ignoring your emails. That’s why it’s difficult to maintain accurate up to date lists of Pattaya guest friendly hotels. I do keep my pages updates as much as is reasonably possible, but during that process I have omitted hotels due to change of joiner policy.
Changes usually occur due to change of ownership, but I had one hotel inform me they changed policy on the advice of a government organisation, and another decided to only offer “free for joiners” to guests who booked directly with the hotel.
What You can do to Make Sure Your Hotel is Guest Friendly
- Use an up to date list Pattaya guest friendly hotels as your starting point.
- Choose a hotel as you normally would.
- Contact the hotel and ask if they charge a joiner fee for your guests.
- You need to book the room for 2 occupants, it costs no extra but it is a requirement.
Don’t be Just Another General Inquiry
Are you joiner friendly?. Hotels in Pattaya probably get asked that same question dozens of times every day.
Improve your chances of getting a timely response by mentioning “I will be booking your hotel” and include your proposed travel dates. If you want to go one step further, make a free cancellation booking, and include your booking details in the email. Don’t forget to cancel if the response is negative.