message from above

So the Grace Hotel has proven to be a curious place. There were no knocks on the door, but it turns out this area of town is Little Arabia. There are women with burqas here. Burqas in Thailand - I would've never guessed.

The lobby of this hotel is full of full-figured Thai ladies looking for, ah, dates. And the guys standing around down there are ready to arrange, ah, dates.

This morning I was woken up by lightning hitting the hotel at 8:00AM. Keep in mind I am on the top floor. It scared me the hell awake and set off all the fire alarms. I got dressed fast and ran out of my room, and the only other people in the hall were old confused-looking western guys slowly leaving their rooms with one or (surprisingly often) two Thai girls.

Maybe the lightning strike was a message. Regardless, I've had just about enough of the Grace Hotel scene. So I've checked out and found a place for half the price. You can now find me at Hotel Miami. The door of my room, 204, is pictured in the Lonely Planet's 'budget places to stay' section. It's like seeing a celebrity at a restaurant - an encounter with fame.