THE TAVERN

HUa Hin Beach 2010

     Once again, I do not seem to be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labors.  As successful as The Tavern in Bangkok has been, I decided to branch out and get involved in another enterprise......this time in the relatively small beach town of Hua Hin.  About a two hour drive southwest of Bangkok, this area is home to the King's primary residence as well as hosting some of the nicest golf courses in the country. I chose Hua Hin over the other well known beach resort of Pattaya because it is quieter and there is not the "in your face" nightlife/bar scene that makes Pattaya a hotbed of partying rather than a place to relax.

      I have been to Hua Hin many times over the past 14years and have seen some extensive changes with both a more modern infrastructure as well as a greater variety of bars and restaurants to choose from. I also wanted to be within walking distance to the beach. So after some research and investigation, I decided to take over the All Nation's Guesthouse which is one of the oldest guesthouses in Hua Hin.  Being the oldest has some good points and some bad points.  The bad point being that it is one of the oldest guesthouses in Hua Hin! Of course that means construction, lots of construction.  The biggest drawback is that there are ten rentable rooms with four total bathrooms. Now I am not going to share a bath and I don't know of anyone who would. That means dividing the bathrooms and knocking out new doorways so that each room enjoys a private bath. That will be the biggest challenge. For now I have redone the restaurant on the first floor and will be having our reopening party for the new All Nations Lodge and Cafe (note the name change) on May 15th.  For some pics of the original building, you can visit www.allnationsguesthouse.com and some pics of the renovations are below.

Picture of the new bar                                        Picture of the bathroom enlargement 

      Glass Front Being installed    

The TAVERN, HUA HIN                       

   Of course, I couldn't just take on one project at a time and so I  purchased a small bar in the nightlife district about three blocks from the All Nations and am renovating that at the same time! It will be called The Tavern as well and is being constructed as a replica of the Tavern in Bangkok. Not an easy task and of course, once you start ripping out walls, new problems present themselves.  I hope to have The Tavern open around July 15th but that may be optimistic as you can see by the construction pictures below.

Installing New Floor After Gutting                                                                           Beginning the new front wall

New Front Wall Finished

THE NEW SIGN GOING UP!

        And so...........wish me luck.  This old body of mine is not used to this physical exertion, and the hot season is in full swing as well. I've lost twenty pounds in the past month which is a good thing. The unanswered question is whether it will kill me in the process. Will follow up with more pics as things progress as well as some beach shots.

JUNE 15. 2010

    Well, things continue to progress and our official opening date for The Tavern Hua Hin is July 1st with the big blowout opening party set for July 4th......an auspicious date wouldn't you say? Since most of the staff in Bangkok want to attend I decided to close the bar in Bangkok for two days to allow both shifts to come. As you may infer from the pics below, The Tavern Hua Hin is actually a bit more spacious than the one in Bangkok and in some ways nicer with wood panels lining the atrium and two big screen TV's. I tried to get away without any weight bearing posts, but that proved impossible.  Nonetheless, the two necessary posts are not in the line of sight of the TV's which is a big improvement over Bangkok's pub. I'm hoping for a good turnout. Many of my regulars in Bangkok have promised to attend, but we'll see. The next pics will be of the finished bar as well as the party.

Atrium Cut Through

Reinforcing Steel Beam being Sized

Dtae After The New Concrete Bar was Poured

Gypsum Drop Ceiling being Installed

     On the other front, The All Nations Lodge renovation is going slower than expected, but it is a huge job for the work crew involving the removal of concrete and tile walls over four floors and construction of new walls and baths including the upgrade of electric and plumbing systems.  I figure with luck, September 1 may be a possible opening date of the hotel.

          Penthouse Bath Walls                                                                  Normal Baths

OPENING PARTY of THE TAVERN HUA HIN

JULY 4th, 2010

     Believe it or not, we made the opening date of July 1 and the party on July 4th but not without a few tribulations. On the morning of July 1, after a month of listening to the builder tell me that the water on the bathroom floor was coming from assorted fixtures that were not hooked up, I decided to investigate for myself. The result of my assessment was that one of the joints inside the wall was leaking, probably from someone forgetting to glue the joint. The fix necessitated jack hammering a groove in the wall to find the leak, fix the leak, patch the concrete surface and replace the wall tiles.  Thank god it was the "soft" opening and not the day of the party.

     After discussing it with the staff, we decided to close the bar in Bangkok on the 4th and 5th so that everyone could come to Hua Hin and enjoy the party.  Turns out it was a wise decision as the customer turnout was bigger than expected and we would have been short staffed if we had not brought everyone down to the beach. Needless to say, as with most of our parties, we went through a huge amount of food and the bell got a good initiation.  I lost count after the tenth bell ring. In fact I don't remember much after 9 PM!

       So now our big job is to get the regular clientele that The Tavern in Bangkok is known for.  Although Hua Hin is much more seasonal than the capital, I am  confident that our Air-conditioned pleasant atmosphere will draw a regular crowd.  Inasmuch as we are one of the only pubs that opens early and has food late, a specific niche market is anticipated in short order!