Holiday Inn PATTAYA by IHG in Pattaya

Let's get straight to the point: this is a budget hotel with terrible service, especially towards Chinese guests. If you're willing to pay over 1000 RMB for a room that's equivalent to a Jinjiang Inn, Orange Hotel, or Hanting Hotel in China, then go ahead, you're just getting ripped off – I'm speaking from experience, having ignored all the negative reviews. For my fellow Chinese travelers heading to Pattaya, please read this thoroughly before deciding whether to stay here. (This is a true account from April 2026)

1. From the facilities and decor to the service, everything here is on par with a budget hotel (just look at the pictures). The lobby feels cheap, the rooms have a budget hotel aesthetic, the toilet is a basic flush type, not even a siphonic one, let alone smart. The bath towels look like something from 5 years ago in China – dirty, old, and with loose threads. The bedding has a strange odor, especially the pillows, which reeked of body odor. The air conditioning is so loud you'll need earplugs (it's as noisy as a hairdryer on the second setting). Empty tissue boxes and used slippers aren't replaced. The water quality is so bad, just look at the new filter after two days of use. The curtains are manual. There's no turn-down service. And the hairdryer constantly emits a plastic smell. For over 1400 RMB a night, you know what kind of standard that is in China! After this, I'll forgive all hotels in China; you truly spoil your guests well.

2. Chinese guests are preferentially given end rooms and low floors (how delightful!). If you want a better room, you either pay more or get a room downgrade. (You can skip my personal experience if you're impatient.) It was the off-season! I booked a 'Beach View Select Room' for 1434 RMB (the most expensive twin-bed room apart from suites in this hotel), with a note requesting a high floor and no end room (this is an old hotel, understand?). At 6 PM, the driver dropped me off, and after checking my passport, the front desk immediately assigned me an end room on the 9th floor (out of 26 floors total). (In contrast, a five-star hotel in Bangkok saw my note and offered several options – 26th floor, 19th floor – for me to choose from.) The front desk can definitely see order notes. I objected to the low-floor end room. After a standoff, they offered the 11th floor. The hotel explained that this room type only has one per floor, and they're all end rooms (whether this is true, I'll leave it to future skeptical guests to verify). Okay, I accepted the inherent flaw of an end room. But I refused the 11th floor. Why? The entire building is next to a main road, and every morning you'll be woken up by the loud put-put of tuk-tuks, like those noisy 'ghost-fire' teenagers back home. After repeated arguments, the front desk finally mentioned that the 14th and 15th floors were available, and offered me an end room on the 14th floor. The front desk showed me their system's room booking table, and the 9th, 11th, 14th, and 15th floors were all marked 'clean' with no guest names. I said I would only accept an end room on the 15th floor at most. The front desk then changed their story, saying the 15th was already booked. If I wanted a high floor that wasn't an end room, I'd have to pay an extra 4200 THB per night. Or they could downgrade me to a room on the 20th floor. Frustrated, I had no choice but to contact Ctrip customer service. The problem is that the hotel clearly has higher floors available, but insists on giving Chinese guests the lowest floors, trying to bully them first to see if they're pushovers. Little did they know, they've been doing this to many, and today they ran into a brick wall.

3. Their attitude towards Chinese guests is terrible, and they were equally rude to Ctrip's official customer service. Let me specifically commend Ctrip customer service representative 'Chi Chi' – Ctrip is lucky to have such a patient and responsible employee. The customer service rep repeatedly communicated with the front desk, but the conclusion remained: 14th-floor end room, downgrade, or pay more. Even knowing the customer was dissatisfied, these two front desk staff members made no effort to resolve the issue. For two hours, they didn't even offer a glass of water, just the cold, hard 4200 THB (893 RMB/night) upcharge form on the table. Unable to resolve it, and with it nearly 9 PM, I had no choice but to stay in an end room on the 11th floor. You have to approach this front desk manager like a vassal bowing to a monarch. Her tone when arguing with you is like two women tearing into each other in a Thai drama – expressionless, her voice full of accusation and very loud in English: 'I offered you a room, but you didn't want it, you wanted to go to Ctrip yourself.' I asked why the customer had been upset for two hours and they didn't even offer a bottle of water. This 'queen' replied, 'Oh, we don't have welcome service.' The entire interaction was in English; no one on the reception team spoke Chinese, and their attitude was very arrogant. This is the hotel's idea of hospitality!

4. With so many negative reviews, how can this hotel still be a 'Chinese favorite,' rank high, and have a five-star rating? It's incomprehensible. Many people don't complain, they just quietly leave bad reviews, and the hotel makes no changes. Why does Ctrip continue to partner with a hotel that so disregards customer needs? In the end, regarding this complaint, the hotel said Ctrip would handle it and they wouldn't make any concessions. Ctrip truly bore all the responsibility and compensated the customer. Ctrip, you did nothing wrong. Your official customer service reps even had the phone hung up on them frequently by the hotel. With such obnoxious tones and attitudes, why do you tolerate this hotel? They will only become more brazen in bullying our compatriots.

I suggest this hotel's management team come to China for an exchange to see what five-star management and service look like. Don't be such arrogant, rude, and prejudiced frogs in a well. China welcomes you.