Birthday Weekend at an Airbnb Pool Villa

April 4, 2016

We only jumped on the Airbnb game little less than 5 months ago when we decided to rent an apartment while tripping through Chiang Mai. Hotels are great but we found Airbnb to be more useful and value for money and this proved really true when we started looking for a getaway destination for Shayan’s 31st birthday.

Here’s what our criteria looked like:

Private villa with at least 4 bedrooms and can accommodate 9-10 persons
Beach property or near a beach
Private pool
Kitchen
Living space or room
Quiet neighborhood but allows some level of noise till 11 pm or midnight
All the other general amenities like refrigerator, AC, pots and pans, etc.
Budget of 10k-13k Thai Baht for one night

It was pretty obvious that hotels and even hostels would not be able to satisfy our requirements so we turned to Airbnb without a second thought.

The Booking Process

The initial search started with Hua Hin as the destination but since we were only going for one night, we decided somewhere closer to Bangkok was more reasonable. So we decided on Pattaya. We plugged in the criteria on the Airbnb website and about a dozen options showed up.

We sent requests to a few to ask about noise level and if we can have a birthday party without incident. Two or three villas quickly got eliminated because they were run by elder people or very strict rules. Soon we were left with two choices (both, which got pre-approved): VIP Villas Pattaya 5br or Tropicana Pool villa 4 br. The first one was definitely cheaper and more value for money but we had a nicer feeling about the latter one. The host seemed nicer and easier to work with.

I think that is where booking with Airbnb requires some tact. Price is of course a factor but how hosts communicate with you, welcome you and actually want you to stay with them is a lot more important. So Peter from Tropicana really sold it for us and 1.5 months in advance, we were booked. We even had an issue with our credit card so Peter found a workaround so that we could pay him in cash. It was almost seamless!

The Birthday Stay

Tropicana pool villa is a beautiful villa compound in Jomtien, a coastal district about 5 km further south from Pattaya. It is the quieter sister area of Pattaya. So it is no wonder we found such a beautiful and paradisiacal place to stay at – close enough to have a crazy night out but also be able to get some quality R&R. Perfect for anyone turning 30 something.

We arrived at the villa after about a 2.5 hour drive from Bangkok and when we entered the compound, this is what we saw. Just like the pictures on Airbnb teased us with.

The pool lay in between two buildings. The one on the left was a seperate room where Shayan and I stayed while our friends stayed at the other side, which had a living room, a large kitchen, and 3 bedrooms, each with a private bathroom spaced within a two story building.

Also on the 2nd floor was a sundeck with eco-friendly style furniture made of bamboo. It had a beautiful view but it was too hot at the time to spend even a minute. Possibly best at sunrise or sunset.

Here’s a look of the villa from the sun deck.

By now we couldn’t wait to get in the pool and cool off. We practically lived in the pool all day and we would have spent the night too but I guess old age is getting to us all since we were all ready to be in bed by 10 pm right after dinner.

A photo posted by Shayan N. (@shayan85) on Apr 2, 2016 at 9:40am PDT

But no matter, the next day we were up at 6 in the morning and back in the pool again for a good few hours before we had to check out.

It was strange because one of our criteria was that the host would allow us to make some noise at night and we made little to no noise, even during the day. The same, however, can’t be said about a group of young Thais who kept screaming into the night at their villa next door.

We really loved staying at Tropicana and would definitely go back again if Pattaya is on our destination list again. It was a bit far from main Pattaya beach crowd but that was a good thing because then we could really enjoy the perks of having a villa all to ourselves.

Now, Airbnb is our best friend and will be using it a lot more to plan stays during short or extended trips.

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The Booking Process

The Birthday Stay

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