Pic: My City Ocean View room at Holiday Inn Pattaya (Aug 2011)
To get from Bangkok to Pattaya I used the services of Mr. T. Taxi (mr_ttaxi@hotmail.com)  He offered the cheapest fares I could find online – 1000THB (23 euro) for the 150km ride.  The limo was a Japanese compact car offering sufficient space for two passengers and two big suitcases.  The car was clean and the driver was punctual.
My two night stay at Holiday Inn Pattaya was paid with 30.000 PriorityClub points (15K per night).  With an advance purchase rate of around 80 euro per night, this was not the best value I could get for my 30K points.  Still, with more than 200K points in my account, I felt it was time to spend some.  Points and miles devaluations happen regularly as loyalty programs require more points/miles for rewards nights and flights.  It’s a good idea not to sit too long on your points/miles.
Pic: My City Ocean View at Holiday Inn Pattaya (Aug 2011)
As Platinum member my Ocean View room was upgraded to a City Ocean View room.  I had hoped for more, an Executive room or Suite would have been nice.  After I entered the room, I got a call from the Duty Manager.  He wanted to express his concerns regarding my expectations for my stay at HI Pattaya: “How’s your room Sir? I learned you stayed at IC Bangkok last weekend.  Please note that’s a 5* luxury hotel, we are just a 4* hotel”  Found it quite funny.  I could have used this opportunity to request an upgrade to an Executive room or Suite, but decided not to push it.
The hotel had two swimming pools, one for the kids and one for adults (infinity pool)  A nice feature if you want to chill and not be disturbed by screaming kids all the time.  We also tried the Terrazzo resto and Havana bar for both lunch and dinner.  Great international food but quite expensive for Thai standards.  The lovely appearance of PR Exec Miss Cindy was a big plus. 😉  For more info and 360 views of the Holiday Inn Pattaya in recommend the review at At-Bangkok.com