Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach Thailand: A Hotel Review

It was less than a year ago that the Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach opened its doors to become the first Andaz hotel in Thailand. The hotel is a beautiful, leafy property with easy beach access and plenty of pools. Even at peak season, between Christmas and New Year, the property didn’t feel too crowded, with the exception perhaps of breakfast. Within easy driving reach of Bangkok, the hotel is a hit with locals as well as those who want to fly in and head directly for the sun. Our stay was comfortable, easy and everything we were looking for in a Thai beach vacation.

Booking our room at the Andaz Jomtien Beach

After a last-minute decision to book some award tickets to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur, we began searching for a beach destination that wouldn’t require too much hassle to get to since we didn’t really want to get on a third flight. When the Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach Pattaya came on my radar, I nearly brushed it off because I’d always assumed that Pattaya was a den of depravity and had no urge to go there, but the hotel is located about 30 minutes south of the city. With that out of the way, and a new hotel beckoning, coupled with the fact that it’s only 1h30 minutes from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, it sealed the deal for us.

I used two Hyatt Category 1-4 free night awards, which I had from using my World of Hyatt Credit Card quite a bit in 2023, and also burned 30,000 points to book a standard room award for two nights. Once arriving at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, we found the sign for Cherry Taxi which I’d booked ahead of time for just 1,200 Baht, a steal compared to the 2,500 I had to pay on New Year’s Day because Cherry was fully booked.

Rooms at the Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach

Although I’m a Hyatt Explorist, we did not get an upgrade from the Standard King Garden View Room that we booked. This was fine by me, because there was plenty of room, especially when considering the large patio with a daybed. The bathroom features two sinks, a bath, and walk-in shower, the minibar is stocked full of local food and drinks that were replenished (including free Singha!) and the bed was comfortable. The air conditioning worked well and there was no sign of the tropical mildew smell that so often afflicts hotels in Southeast Asia, especially those that open directly to the outdoors.

Tasty food options at the Andaz Jomtien Beach

Most of the days we were there, we enjoyed just a “Maldivian breakfast” (i.e., a late breakfast almost bordering on lunch to tide us over until lunch so we don’t have to pay the resort price for a third meal). At breakfast there were both Asian and Western options available from the buffet as well as an a la carte menu that you could order from. The noodle station was fantastic, the mango and sticky rice cart was superb and the highlight was the pandan coconuts which we drank about a half dozen between us every day.

Service was stellar and smiley, and while breakfast was a bit chaotic, everyone was trying their best and if you visit during a lower season, it’s likely to be less of a mess. Things I ordered off the a la carte dining menu took reminding the service staff at times, and in one case did not show up at all, but it’s not like anyone was going to starve with the large option of food and drink available at the buffet. There were four seapately themed restaurants: fish, steak, Thai and Italian. We tried three of four and were impressed with all of them, but stuck with Thai food for the majority of our trip.

Pools and the Beach at the Andaz Pattaya

There are an impressive three pools at the Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach, none of which seem to be heated, which was just fine given that the weather was in the low 90s during our stay. The first pool is overlooking the beach and is in high demand during sunset. It’s in full sun for most of the day and you can order food from the poolside restaurant easily. The second pool is the large lagoon pool with a waterslide that attracted many children and families. It was a bit loud for us, and although it was the closest pool to our room, we walked over to the third pool, which was a quieter option. It actually required us breaking out the map of the resort to find the third pool. Once we did, we lounged there every morning, enjoying the calm and quiet with our books.

If you are more of a beach bum, there are also chairs set out on the sand itself, though they aren’t quite as comfortable as the pool loungers as they’re less padded. It’s not possible to walk too far down the beach, maybe five minutes or so in either direction, so it’s best to get your exercise in the workout room.

Downsides

There were just a handful of drawbacks to the stay. The first was that there were mosquitos in the room, which was bothersome. I get that there are mosquitos in Thailand, it’s the tropics after all, but at least the room should be a respite. I believe they gained access because housekeeping often cleaned the room with the door open, so it would be nice if they were more careful about this in the future.

The second drawback is no fault of the hotel, but it is the fact that there is not much to do around the hotel unless you want to go into Pattaya. We went out to dinner one night at Lek Seafood, which was quite good, and just a 15 minute walk away, but funnily enough was less spicy than the food at the resort.

Unfortunately, one thing that we noticed every time we spent time on the beach was the trash. Although it seemed like the hotel had staff to pick up trash that had washed ashore, there were constantly new pieces on the sand and all sorts of plastic bobbing in the waves. This didn’t stop us or anyone else from getting in but it’s depressing to see and adds a grungy vibe to an otherwise very nice scene.

The Bottom Line

If you are looking for a resort with more activities or with lots to do within walking distance, you might want to continue your search. If you are looking to escape a cold European or American winter, and if you don’t have much planned other than to read, work out, eat and tan, and you are looking for a comfortable and new place to do it, the Andaz Jomtien Beach is a perfect fit.