The Pullman Pattaya Hotel G advertises itself as a five start beachfront resort. While I had a pleasant enough stay, I’m not sure I’d categorise it as a real five-star resort. This said, I found it to be a good value option when I decided to extend my stay in Thailand by one week.

Pullman Pattaya Hotel G Location

The Pullman Pattaya Hotel G has a good location in Pattaya. It’s located right in front of the beach, and while I didn’t particularly rate the beach, the views from the hotel are good. This was my first time in Pattaya, and I had read lots of different things about it before we arrived. Personally, it’s probably not a location I’d return to. It feels very urban, it’s built up, and the beaches aren’t particularly clean. If you lived in Bangkok, and wanted to spend some time at the beach, perhaps for a long weekend, this would be somewhere worth considering though.

There are plenty of bars and restaurants nearby, although for this stay, we were mainly based at the hotel. I was looking forward to having some relaxed moments in the pool and by the beach before heading back to Europe.

Arrival

Arriving at the hotel from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport was fairly straightforward. This said, I consistently find the process of ordering a Grab from Bangkok Airport to be a nightmare. It can take a considerable amount of time for a car to be allocated, and even then, you often have to deal with multiple cancellations and delays. This meant that it took about 2 hours from landing on a domestic flight from Phuket (I’d previously been at the Novotel Kamala Beach hotel) to finally getting into the Uber. It took around 90 minutes to then get to the Pullman Pattaya Hotel G. The total cost was around €35 which I didn’t think was too bad.

The check-in experience was good. We arrived at the hotel at 6pm. There is an Executive Lounge at the hotel (Sunset Lounge) which is free to access if you have Platinum Status or higher in the Accor ALL Loyalty scheme. Usually, when there is a lounge check-in takes place here too, but in this case, check-in took place in the main lobby area, which was fine. Each day, the lounge offers complimentary alcoholic drinks, as well as snacks, from 5:30pm until 6:30pm. As we arrived half way through, the check-in assistant invited us to go straight to the lounge, and organised for our bags to be taken up to the room for us – which was a nice touch.

Accor Status Recognition

I have Accor Platinum Status, and the hotel did a fairly good job of recognising this. As mentioned previously, we were automatically invited to use the Executive Lounge, even though I’d booked a room which didn’t include access.

A small welcome gift of some fruit was waiting for me in the room, and I was also given a welcome drink voucher, which could be used for most drinks at the bar.

I booked the cheapest available room at the hotel, which is the ‘Lanai Room‘ but was upgraded to an ‘Executive Club Room’ instead. These rooms are located on a higher floor, so it was possible to enjoy some great views from the balcony.

The Room at the Pullman Pattaya G Hotel

As mentioned, a complimentary upgrade was offered to an Executive Club Room. This was technically a three level upgrade. While appreciated, I didn’t think the room itself was particularly amazing. Especially when you consider the Pullman Pattaya G Hotel advertises itself as being five star. The hotel building itself isn’t particularly modern, and while the room had obviously been refurbished in the last few years, it was showing signs of its age. The bathroom is particular was dated and wasn’t at the level I’d expect.

Although our room had a balcony, it lacked privacy. The balcony is separate to that of the neighbouring room but there is no barrier or privacy screen. This means if both rooms are using their balcony at the same time, you’re virtually right next to one another. During one night of our stay, the guests next door were part of a wedding group and seemed to be hosting an after-party in their room until the early hours of the morning. Actually, this wasn’t so bad in the end – we got talking and ended up sharing drinks – it was actually pretty fun. But I’d still rather have access to a balcony with greater levels of privacy.

In terms of comfort and service, everything was good. The bed was great, the wifi worked well, and on a few occasions I ordered ice to the room, and it was never a problem. In my opinion, however, everything was much as you’d expect from a good four star hotel. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it tends to be better to under promise and over deliver, rather than the other way round.

Sunset Executive Lounge at the Pullman Pattaya G Hotel

If you’re staying in an Executive Room, or in one of the hotel’s suites, you’ll have access to the Sunset Executive Lounge. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, but actually, I was quite impressed. The lounge offers breakfast each morning, followed by afternoon tea, and then drinks and snacks in the evening. My only criticism would be the limited hours of operation. Drinks are only available in the evening for one hour between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. This is in contrast to the Sofitel Krabi where the lounge operates for two hours in the evening, which I think is much more reasonable.

The breakfast was good. It seemed to be much more relaxed than in the main restaurant. There wasn’t a huge selection, but the quality was all very good. The afternoon tea was a nice touch. While it wasn’t anything particularly substantial, it was good for a snack. Likewise, the evening drinks and snacks were good too. On some evenings it’d be things like salads, chicken wings and spring rolls. On others it’d be mini chicken skewers, breads and cheeses.

I was particularly impressed by how the hotel handled things during the Thai elections. Local laws mean that alcohol stops being served for 24 hours from 6:00pm the day before the election. This meant that the lounge was unable to serve alcoholic drinks. So instead, the hotel sent up a bottle of red wine for us to enjoy in our room. They didn’t have to do this, and I definitely didn’t expect them to – I thought it was a nice touch.

Of course, the hotel also has a restaurant and bar. We visited the Beach Club bar during the day, and it was always good. We also tried room service a couple of times, which again, was good.

Pools and Leisure Facilities at the Pullman Pattaya G Hotel

The Pullman Pattaya G Hotel has two pools. Both were good and they never seemed particularly crowded. The hotel itself did appear to be busier during the weekends, but in a good way – there was a nice atmosphere. We enjoyed using the pool throughout our stay, and it’s definitely one of the highlights of the property.

The beach, however, isn’t very nice. It looks a lot better in photos than it does in real life. The sea was very polluted, and it wasn’t uncommon to see plastic bottles and other objects floating in the water and washing up on the beach. To be fair to them, the hotel was regularly trying to maintain the beach. The amount of pollution, however, clearly made this challenging.

The hotel spa is really good. We used it twice for a full body massage. The experience was great. It was very relaxed, and the prices were competitive. I’d recommend making the time to visit if you happen to stay at the Pullman.

Recommended?

If I am being honest, I don’t think I’d return to the Pullman Pattaya G Hotel. But that’s more to do with the location and Pattaya itself which is completely subjective. I don’t think this is a true five star hotel. It’s better described as a decent four star hotel. The building is dated, and although the rooms have clearly been renovated, it’s clear the building itself has limitations. Having said all of this, I thought the hotel did offer good value for money. For a stay in May, we paid €59 per night – and the booking was very last minute.

The Executive Lounge was a really nice addition. If I’m staying in Asia, I always try and choose a hotel with a lounge, if possible. In fact, I’d probably rate it as one of the best benefits of Accor ALL Platinum.