Pattaya welcomes its newest 5 star property this week with the soft opening of the Pattaya Hilton.

An Opening Party was held last night, the 29th of November to celebrate the opening of the doors just in time to meet the fast approaching peak season.

The commemorate, the hotel is offering a special promotional rate of THB2000++ per night for a Deluxe Sea View room during the soft opening period through to December 19th.

Hotels often offer deeply discounted rates during a soft opening for two reasons. The first is to attract interest and attention. The second reason is that service during the soft opening may be a little slower than usual as the new staff learn the ropes and get used to the daily ins and outs of running the hotel.

Six types of rooms are on offer at the Pattaya Hilton, including Grand Ocean Suites, Hilton Deluxe Plus Seaview,  Hilton Deluxe Sea View,  Hilton Executive Seaview, Ocean Deluxe Suite and Ocean Suites. Features of the suites include floor to ceiling windows, separate living and dining areas, wireless internet access and rain showers overlooking the ocean.

For those who are into frequent guest reward programs (one of my guiltiest pleasures), this is a Hilton HHonors Reward Category 4 hotel, requiring 30,000 points to redeem a free night.

The location of the 302 room Hilton Pattaya is fantastic, towering above Central Festival Shopping and Entertainment complex, with the lobby on the 16th floor, and guest-rooms and suites located from Level 19 up to Level 33 of the hotel tower. Central Festival shopping & entertainment complex Pattaya is touted as The Largest Beachfront Lifestyle Shopping Complex in Asia.

The Hilton Pattaya will also feature a health club with a well-equipped 24 hour Fitness Center as well as a spa. L’Occitane en Provence quality skin care and spa products will be available.

Sport and recreation opportunities in Pattaya are vast including scuba diving, snorkeling, island excursions, horseback riding, tennis, water skiing, sailing, para-sailing, kayaking, jet skiing (which, due to various scams I cannot recommend), and golf.

Prices will shoot up after the soft opening so I recommend getting in at the great rate while you can. Hilton Pattaya is also on Agoda.com. Check the rates there before making a booking.

The photos in this post were taken by the ever-busy @RichardBarrow, on one of his recent press junkets. (Hook me up Richard!)

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For those of us who have wanted to stay in a luxurious private pool villa but were put off by the cost, I gave good news for you. Yaiya Resort in Cha Am, near Hua Hin will be having a soft opening from December 20th.

If you are not familiar with the hotel industry jargon, a soft opening is when a hotel accepts guests for a few weeks before the official Grand Opening. This is done with little or no advertising so soft openings are sometimes difficult to catch. The purpose of a soft opening is a chance for the management and staff to get used to the day to day running of the hotel or resort before the full onslaught of a hotel full of guests hits them.

Since there is a possibility of a few small snafus during the first few weeks of an opening, hotels often offer rooms for less than the standard room rate. An example is you may find your self waiting a little longer for room service. On the other hand, you will probably have the place pretty much to your self and hotels are usually overstaffed during these times, so you will probably only need to snap your fingers and someone will come running. Imagine having the pool practically to your self!

Yaiya Resort offers some beautiful private pool villas and you could probably snap them up at a great bargain during the soft opening.

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