Accomidation & Island Hoping Questions.

In January I am going to Thailand and surrounding countries. I need some advice on hostels and guest houses. Where to stay and were not to stay.

I am looking for relitivly low cost but not to low. Also weekly rate for Krabi and Phuket.

Also I have heard of bungalows for about $10.00 a night. Is this true and will I expect to pay around $20.00 to $50.00 per night.

Also I would not mind doing Island hopping does any one have any ideas.

Thanks

Accomidation %26amp; Island Hoping Questions.

A great website to start with www.travelfish.org - look at the accommodation in their %26#39;flashpacker%26#39; range.... or %26#39;backpacker%26#39; if you want to go lower in price....

I was there in Dec/Jan and averaged about $30 per night. We stayed in some pretty nice places for that price though! This time around I have a budget of about the same... some places will be $5 per night, others $30 per night... depending on the area we will be in at the time....

For example in Bangkok we stayed at the New Siam Guesthouse 2 for 840 baht per night.... in Chiang Mai we stayed at CM Blue House for 350 baht per night ... both were about the same in quality and facilities....

You can have a look at my blogs for some inspiration at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/reet

Travelfish is fantastic...

Reet x

4how can i get my ex back

Its me

hello im back, how is everyone ???

Its me

Welcome back! How was your holiday?

Useful Maps of Thailand

Hi,

Can anyone give me any useful websites with maps that show street names and where hotels are based? I was wanting them around half the size of an A4 page so I can stick these in a notepad.

Any maps on the following places would be great:

- Ko Tao

- Ko Samui

- Ko Phi Phi

- Phuket

- Ko Lanta

Many Thanks

Dan

Useful Maps of Thailand

Try this!

http://www.siammaps.net

Have maps of some of the places you want!

/Claes

Useful Maps of Thailand

www.travelfish.org has some great maps... they are pretty accurate.

lip stain

sterling or us$

we are travelling to Bangkok and Koh Samui in October are are wondering which is the best currency to take, Sterling travellers cheques or Us$. I know sterling is normally recommended however with the us$ being so strong at the moment would be be better taking us$ cheques?

sterling or us$

US $ is WEAK in Thailand at the moment. Take sterling, either travellers cheques if you must, but some sterling cash to change at the airport, then a Debit card (not credit - Nationbwide FlexAccount is best, no fees, no commission, better rate of exchange, no brainer!) to get more cash as you go along. The rates are much better in Thailand. If you get $ TCs in UK then change into baht in Thailand you will be paying two lots of commission.

sterling or us$

thanks for your reply however we are still confused! The us$ may be weak in Thailand but is very strong in the UK thats why we are unsure as to which currency chqs to take as from what we can make out we will benefit changing sterling to us chqs and then to thai baht when in thailand. You dont get charged commission to get us$ chqs but you do for sterling, typically 3%, i know we will get charged on either to change to thai baht. We dont have a Nationwide account and therefore wont use a debit card abroad as they charge extortionate charges and lower the rates!! Again any help would be appriecated.

The US$ is weak in the UK that is why you get more dollars to the £.

Quite honestly though unless you are talking about huge amounts of money the difference is small.

I calculate on current rates here and taking into account the conversion of sterling to dollars in the UK,you will get 4 bahts more by exchanging £1 compared to 1$.Take into account the commission on the sterling cheques and you will be better of in dollars.

As already pointed out a charge free debit card like Nationwide is a simpler and more convenient method of obtaining funds here.

As I said in my previous post there is no commission, no fees and you get a HIGHER rate of exchange with a Nationwide FlexAcoount Debit Card when you draw cash from an ATM in any country abroad. In March I was offered 61 baht to the £ ';commission free'; in the UK before we went. I got 69 baht to the £ on my Nationwide Debit Card.

It is worth opening a FlexAccount for this. You even get 4% interest on your money while you are waiting to draw on it.

Even though you can get about $2 to the £ at home, the $ has fallen from about 36 baht to the $ to 30 baht to the $ during the past year with rumours it might fall even further. Currently it has recovered to about 32.6. Whereas for sterling the current rate is still about 67.5 baht to the £.

So if you changed £1000 into $ travellers cheques, you would get about $2000. If the rates stay the same as they are between now and when you go, when you change the TCs in Thailand (and there WILL be commission on that!) you will get about 65,200 baht ($2000 x 32.6). If you drew £1000 of baht from an ATM you would get about 67,450baht (£1000 x 67.45) .

3 weeks in Thailand

Hey

I have approximately 3 Thailand any must do%26#39;s? Also what beaches / islands would people recommend?

Thanks

Vik

3 weeks in Thailand

hai,

the island is Phuket, the beach is krabi

3 weeks in Thailand

You can have a look at my travel blogs for some inspiration... www.travelblog.org/bloggers/reet

I would recommend Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Ko Phangan, Khao Sok National Park and Ko Lanta.

Reet x

Khao Lak Orchid or Baan Khao Lak?

Hi,

We (a family with 2 kids, ages 6 and 10) want to spend 8 nights in Khao Lak in December and are hesitating between a family suite in the Orchid and 2 connected 2-storied cottage rooms in the BKL. The cost is very similar. I understand that the Orchid is much more isolated, but we%26#39;ll probably rent a car, so it is not so important, though it would be nice to walk to restaurants, instead of driving.. Orchid seems to have larger landscaped territory and some kind of children playground (though seems to be for much younger kids).. What hotel has the nicer beach? Possible snorkelling off the beach? Sorry for rambling, but I am truly stuck on this..

Thanks,

Julia

Khao Lak Orchid or Baan Khao Lak?

My opinion would be to go for the Baan Khao Lak.

Both have excellent beaches - the one in front of the Orchid will be much more yours alone (I like that). The Orchid probably has a bigger more kid-friendly lawn area - good place for them to burn off some steam.

If you want snorkeling - there is rocky around about 50 meters out from the front of the BKL - with quite good snorkeling on the far side of it - and also good snorkeling at the south end of the beach that the BKL sits on.

Also, if you want to walk to places to eat - there are many in the immediate area of the BKL and it is only about a 12-minute walk into the main part of La On (Khao Lak Town).

Try the Penang Ped (duck) at the BKL - excellent!

Khao Lak Orchid or Baan Khao Lak?

Thank you, Tedkarma.

Booked a superior suite with 2 extra-beds in BKL :-) Now I just need to wait...

Julia

Good choice in your circumstances, I think.

Julia, How did you book your stay at BKL?

What agent or website?

I am having a very difficult time with booking a room for next February at KL Orchid Beach.

A Thai agent in BKK quoted one price (included VAT/tax/breakfast) but now that I am ready to book the rate has gone up nearly 300 BHT per day %26amp; they are claiming that taxes were not included in the earlier quotes (when they were).

In the US we call this %26#39;bait %26amp; switch%26#39;.

The reservations agent at KLO is offering a higher, full-priced, rack rate w/ %26#39;fruit plate%26#39; but says nothing about tax or breakfast inclusion (earlier emails included this)... which makes his rate much higher.

Also he says it%26#39;s in BHT only %26amp; claims the website booking agencies will not be able to guarantee a specific room (which I need as I am handicapped).

ASIA ROOMS has not replied to 3 emails I sent from their website.

AWDIRECT sent an email that they will not update their rates until October (by that time both of these hotels will be sold out for Feb.) and said I should contact them in October.

Can ANYONE direct me to an HONEST agency that will book our stay in US $ dollars and that will verify that I need a specific room, because I am HANDICAPPED and need a ground floor room.

I actually have the number of the room that I need.

I am VERY disappointed by the dishonesty and that one price is offered, then another, higher one when you say you are ready to book.

ADVICE please.

Have a look at this site:

http://khaolaklovers.com/hotels.htm

It is a well respected agency and has rates for both hotels for next February including tax, service charge and breakfast.

The rates are shown initially in Baht but you can show their conversion to other currencies at the rate prevailing today. However, when you are charged and I think this agency only takes a deposit, you will be charged in Baht and that will be converted at the prevailing rate on your credit card statement.

I doubt whether the agency can guarantee you a specific room. You will, I think, have to rely on the hotel doing that (or trying their best) one a room is booked. Booking systems with individual hotels in SE Asia are not as sophisticated as those with the big chains.

Also I%26#39;m afraid, for all it%26#39;s charm and natural beauty (and I%26#39;m a Khao Lak addict) the rapid recovery of KL post Tsunami has brought about a pretty steep learning curve in customer relations and staff training at some resorts.

Good luck.

Hello Andora,

I am familar with KhaoLak Lovers, they charge in BHT (both Visa %26amp; MC charge a conversion fee of 3%)...

I got a reply from Asia Web Direct %26amp; apparently they charge in US $,

if you wish... which I do as I don%26#39;t want to pay conversion rates.

Have you stayed at Orchid Beach hotel?

BOTH of these websites claim to have 3 category of room; Deluxe, Premier Deluxe %26amp; Family Suite. From what I have seen on the KL Orchid%26#39;s website, there are only two categories of rooms; DELUXE SEAVIEW or FAMILY SUITE.

Is there an entrance to the hotel that has stairs with a handrail?

I need a handrail if there are stairs.

The hotel reservations manager was concerned about the entrance stairs... I%26#39;m wondering if there is a railing or not?

Sorry,

I%26#39;ve not stayed at either only paying a cursory visit to the Orchid and a good tour of the BKL as we are considering it for pssible future use. The Orchid looked nice but is in a remote location with no restaurants or bars in the vicinity and a taxi necessary to get to KL. Didn%26#39;t get close enough to comment on entrance/handrail.

As I recall there were no stairs to the entrance to BKL which is close to restaurants, bars and shops both along the beach or the highway.

Hi,

I%26#39;ve contacted the hotels directly - via the reservation forms on their sites - and got fast and informative replies from both of them. The reservation was eventually done by fax.

For both of the hotels, the internet agency sites (sawadee and hoteltravel, if I remember correctly) reported that the room type I needed was fully booked for the time period.

Regards,

Julia

Arandora,

The BKL is handicapped accessible... so there are no stairs, they ramped it after they rebuilt it after the tsunami. The handicapped accessible rooms are, according to their website drawings, very far from the beach w/ NO view of the sea. THAT is the problem for me.

We want to be able to see the sea from our verandah.

I have no problem w/ a remote beach... which is why we%26#39;re preferring the Orchid, we have, literally, thousands of Thai restaurants in L.A. because thousands of Thais live here... the food is very cheap %26amp; authentic... so eating out is not something that is important.

We plan on renting a car, we love to self-drive... to explore the national park nearby... so there will be no taxi to to town, as

we will rent %26amp; drive for a couple of days.

Has ANYONE been to the national park just east of Khao Lak?

Did ANYONE do the speed boat excursion to the Similan Islands?

Is there one that has snorkel FROM THE BEACH off of one of the islands?

Did ANYONE do the boat tour of Pang- Nga Bay? How was it?

Thanks Julia,

I%26#39;ve been dealing w/ the resort directly... they charge in BHT so that means Visa/MasterCard charges a 3% to convert...

ASIA WEB DIRECT will charge in US $ or other currencies... and it%26#39;s a bit cheaper...

Since you have children be aware that many folks have commented on rip currents along the coast... there is no lifeguard... if you %26amp; your family do not know how to recognize what a rip tide looks like from the shore... there is a website that has a good description w/ photos if you scroll down...

鈥logspot.com/2007/04/some-tips-on-not-drown鈥?/a>

cute myspace

The Metropolitan in Bangkok

I have read a lot of good reviews of the MEtropolitan in Bangkok, but It looks a bit far away from the city centre. Can anyone who has stayed there tell me how easy it is to walk/ travel by trains to the cshopping areas from the MEt? I am planning to go to BKK on our honeymoon in September. Thanks!!!

The Metropolitan in Bangkok

The Metropolitan is a 10-minute walk from Lumphini Subway Station. Walking out of the Metropolitan turn right and walk to the corner (Sathorn Rd. and Rama 4 Rd.). You can transfer to the skytrain in one station in the Hua Lamphong direction (Silom subway station to Sala Dang skytrain station). I have never actually stayed at the Metropolitan, however I have inspected the premises for a conference. Frankly, I think you%26#39;d be much better off staying at a serviced apartment on Lang Suan or around Silom. The Metropolitan describes itself as ';modern simplicity'; or something like that. Emphasis should be on ';simplicity.'; The rooms look basically comfortable, but surely nothing fancy. Again, I%26#39;ve never stayed there so I suppose the resident reviews would be more helpful, but the location is not ideal. Did you consider anything by the river, such as the Peninsula, Oriental, or Shangri-la?

The Metropolitan in Bangkok

Thank you for replying, magicbinthai.

We have thought of staying at the peninsula and the other river hotels, but was concerned that being on the other side of(peninsula) or along the river makes traveling to central bangkok a bit troublesome. Our other options were sheraton or grand hyatt erawan. we are on a honeymoon and don%26#39;t mind spending a bit more so long as it%26#39;s easy access and upmarket.

The met is my favourite hotel in BKK, but there are so many to choose from. Location is not a problem, a five min walk to the sky train or 2 min walk to underground, taxis are cheap although not very practical due to traffic. The como spa is heaven, and the rooms very comfortable, I always take a met room (very cheap on the hotel web site).

I personally do not like the stuffy style of most BKK hotels, and although a big Peninsula fan, I really do not like the Pen BKK. If you go to the Met check out the Vertigo bar at the top of the Banyan Tree hotel just next door, it is a fantastic spot. Otherwise the river hotels are a good alternative, as you can get around by boat and avoid the traffic jams.