The Bayview Hotel

A driveway flanked with tropical plants slopes up to the drop-off area outside the entrance of The Bayview Hotel -- a modern, 10-story property with a gray, boxy exterior that lacks style or character. Stepping inside, however, the lobby space is chic and contemporary, with an understated exotic feel where soft velour seating and low-profile tables are bathed in a warm glow of numerous hanging wire lanterns. To the rear, a garden pavilion extends to a tiered waterfall that overlooks a peaceful pool area. Hallways however feel a little more dated. The property is divided into the Garden View and Tower Wings, and the older Garden View section lacks elevators. Clientele are mostly vacationing couples, though there's also a mix of families, friends, and solo travelers. 

Although not right on the seafront, the hotel does have an excellent location in the center of Pattaya city, just a block from the main beachfront boulevard. It's a popular tourist neighborhood with numerous restaurants, bars, and nightspots within a short stroll -- though its location set back from the road means that little noise reaches the hotel. Also just a block away is the CentralFestival Pattaya Beach, a seven-floor shopping mall with over 370 outlets plus a cinema and a bowling alley. Walking Street -- the red light district and main entertainment area of the city -- is around a 10-minute walk, while farther afield the more family-friendly Pattaya Park -- with a roller coaster and waterslides -- is a 15- to 20-minute drive. Utapao Pattaya Airport is around an hour's drive from the hotel, while Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport is about two hours away.

The Bayview's air-conditioned rooms are spread across two wings, the old Garden Wing and a newer Tower Wing. Garden View Rooms are in the older section and while colorful and perfectly pleasant, are starting to show their age and datedness with green patterned carpet and chipped wooden furniture. Cheerful Tower Wing rooms are fresher and more contemporary, and those on higher levels offer sea views. Amenities are ample in all rooms, including minibars, tea- and coffee-making facilities, safes, and flat-screen TVs with satellite channels (though just one English-language channel). Many rooms also open to small furnished balconies. Garden View Room bathrooms are more worn than those in the Tower Wing, but both are generally clean, with shower/tub combos or walk-in showers. Toiletries, bathrobes, and slippers are also provided.

Dining-wise, the Garden Terrace Cafe offers a breakfast buffet (for a fee) with a decent spread of hot and cold dishes, as well as a cooked-to-order egg stations. The eatery, which also serves lunch and dinner, has a poolside terrace and twice-weekly seafood barbecue buffets. The Exotica Bar & Lounge has a gentleman's-club-meets-Art-Deco vibe and features two snooker tables. There are also a small coffee shop and a pool bar open for snacks and light lunches.

Though child-friendly facilities are mostly absent, the hotel has two outdoor swimming pools -- a larger one with a poolside whirlpool tub that's partly shaded by bushy trees and a smaller one that gets significant shade from the Tower Wing during the later part of the day. The on-site business center is modern, but the two tennis courts are due for some attention. A spacious fitness room has a few machines and overlooks the smaller pool. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel.