28 day trip, how to spend the last 4 days?
 

First off, let me say thank you to the generous Fodors community. I have learned so much from reading the postings of Kathie, Bob, Gloria, Kim, Laurie, James, and many others. Thank you for collectively answering my seemingly endless stream of questions.

Through what I've learned here and also because of on-the-ground realities, such as plane ticket prices, flight availability, and hotel availability, I have come up with an itinerary. The question is: how to spend the last 4 nights, before a final night at the River Marriott. My wife would like to spend it somewhere fairly luxurious and restful as it will be the end of our trip. I'm hoping to spend between $100 and $200 a night on lodging.

Here's a rundown of our reserved itinerary and the 3 main options for the last 4 nights. I am open to suggestions.

12/15 depart JFK on Japan Air
12/16 Tokyo (Ryokan Shigestu)
12/17 Tokyo
12/18 Tokyo
12/19 Tokyo
12/20 Kyoto
12/21 Kyoto
12/22 Kyoto
12/23 Kyoto
12/24 Kyoto
12/25 Siem Reap (Angkor Village Resort)
12/26 Siem Reap
12/27 Siem Reap
12/28 Siem Reap
12/29 Bangkok (River Marriott)
12/30 Bangkok
12/31 Bangkok
1/1 Bangkok
1/2 Bangkok
1/3 Luang Prabang (La Residence Phou Vao)
1/4 Luang Prabang
1/5 Luang Prabang
1/6 Luang Prabang
1/7
1/8
1/9
1/10
1/11 Bangkok (River Marriott)
1/12 fly back to JFK

Our reserved (but not purchased) flight on Bangkok Air departs Luang Prabang on 1/7 at 1:50 pm and arrives in Bangkok at 3:40 pm. I was tinkering with the idea of going to Koh Chang, but the connecting flight leaves at 4:10, which is too close.

Here are some possibilities:

1. Koh Samui. The flight would be easy and getting to a hotel would be easy. I don't know where we'd stay. Perhaps Poppies. I love the beach. My wife isn't a huge beach person, but would find it very relaxing if we found a place with wonderful rooms and good food. (I made the mistake of spoiling her on our honeymoon and taking her to the Turtle Inn in Belize.)

2. We could catch a flight to Chiang Rai on Thai Air on 1/7 and try to stay at the Anantara in the Golden Triangle. I have read so many great reviews on here about that place that I might be willing to sacrifice my beach fantasy. The drawbacks with that plan are: (mainly) 1. on the Anantara website, all the regular rooms are booked for that period, and the more expensive rooms appear to be about $300+ a night, and (less an issue) 2. the flight on Thai Air to CR is about $300 round-trip for two, whereas if we stick with our Discovery Pass, it would only be $200 total round-trip. Plus in Chiang Rai we'd either have to rent a car or have to pay to have the hotel pick us from the airport, and that would be an added expense. But if we could get a decent deal on the room, I think we'd strongly consider going for it as my wife would love the cooking class and the place looks awesome.

3. flying to Phuket. I'm less enamored with this idea, but it fits our itinerary so I thought i'd throw it out there.

One other option is to spend three nights, instead of 4, at one of these places, or maybe somewhere else in Laos (?), and spend our final 2 nights at the Marriott and just pamper ourselves. I am leaning away from this option as I am aiming to spend at least 4 nights in each location so we don't have to rush around.

Thank you so much for all your help. I look forward to seeing what people have to say. Jeffrey

I would vote for northern thailand and the anantara. There is another resort in that area which was a thread a few days ago called Phu Chaisai Mountain Resort and Spa which looks wonderful and has gotten some good reviews on other sites. t's a really interesting area where you can relaz but if you want to do sightseeing or take a cooking class you can. But I have always been ready to leave even the most luxurious beach resort in about 5 minutes so I'm not the best person to ask about southern thailand.

if you want just to kick back i would do one of 2 things....as gloria suggests i would go to anantara if you could get a reservation or

i would just stay in bkk....book into the peninsula for 2 days and then go to the marriott for a couple of days...i would have spa treatments, go to fabulous restaurants, etc and just lay back....we can help you with the restaurants if you want or lastly

take a car to hua hin and stay at the hyatt or sofitel---car will be about $75 and take about 3 hours...

i of course favor staying in bkk....do things like visit the prasart museum which takes the better part of one day with going and coming and the visit...do some unusual things...

bob

I was going to suggest heading by car to a beach such as Hua Hin but Bob beat me to the punch.

On the other hand, I have stayed at the Chewang Regent on Koh Samui and thought it was a nice place to relax. Poppies would be my choice for my next trip there. I noted that you mentioned this place.

Bob is also right about suggesting the Peninsula along the river in BKK. This is probably the best place I've ever stayed. You can have a wonderful breakfast along the river, watching the city come alive, and then take a dip in the pool, find a spa, take a leisurely boat trip... maybe the day trip to Ayuthaya or something like that. When I'm in Bangkok, I'm usually on the go most of the day, so I don't think of it as being a place to vedge out.. a beach seems more to my liking for that.

Enjoy your trip, which ever option you select.

Carol

(as Bob said, we can advise you on all kinds of wonderful restaurants in BKK if you stay in the city)

The problem you have it that you are traveling at absolute high season. If you are really interested in the Anantara at the Golden Triangle, check some of the booking websites for availabilty and price.

Hua Hin is a good suggestion. For fabulous rooms and spa, consider the Anantara at Hua Hin in the Deluxe Lagoon rooms.

You can always use extra time in Bangkok or in Luang Prabang. Perhaps you could divide your time berween the two.

Yes, my travels sadly coincide with high season. I am a professor so I must schedule my journey around the winter break.

I've e-mailed the Anantara to see if they have anything cheaper, and perhaps I will e-mail Asiahotels.com and see what they say, as they only have Anantara GT rates "on request".

I've also e-mailed Phu Chaisai and am waiting to hear back.

I hadn't thought of Hua Hin as I have heard the beach is not so special, though I've checked the resorts and they do look very luxurious.

Yes, there is the possibility of splitting the extra time between Luang Prabang and Bangkok, though I am already scheduled to spend 6 nights there. The Peninsula picture sounds grand. Thank you for painting it.

singapore or penang?

I have used Bangkok as a place to relax in for years. I would go there after 3 or 4 weeks of adventure (terrible hotels etc) travel which was what much travel in asia was 10-20 years ago. I mean when I went to Angkor there was an inch of water in my room at all times and the the mold and filth was unspeakable -- and that was the best hotel in town. I always stay at the Oriental but have found it (and for many the Penn is the same) a perfect place to veg out. I could relax and have a long breakfast watching the river, go to a spa or a class, people watch in the lobby and do a bit of sightseeing or shopping if I so desired. Talk to staff. Have clothes made in a very leisurely manner. Eat extremely well etc. I'm not a pool person but for people who are you can also do that.

By the way, I get to Bangkok on Jan. 11th so maybe we can meet. I'll be coming from Chiang Mai and should get in sometime in the morning.

we found 4 nites to be just perfect in LP...we did not venture far out of town however....if you do that you could add more time but i think 6 nites is a long time---do you have your pansea res already, because people are having trouble getting res in january already...?? it is however a great place to just relax and pansea is perfect for that....honestly you would never have to leave the place...sit read, swim, walk, sit, read, eat, swim....

Bob, you were right about the hotel availability being an issue. I had looked on asiahotels.com and just assumed rooms were available, but when I investigated the hotel's website, it appears that rooms may be booked on certain days. I have swung into action. Also checking out Villa Santi Hotel as an option, or maybe combining the two if need be.

Gloria, that's wild that you will be in Bangkok on the same day. Where will you be staying? I assume the Penn or Oriental. I have just come from the bookstore where I was reading about some other places in the Chiang Mai/Rai region: suanthipvana resort, kao mai lanna resort. I don't know if they're special or not, but I will investigate further. Perhaps we will be on the same plane from CM.

Alibi13-- I'll be at the Oriental (I'm one of the few who is not a fan of big modern hotels no matter how deluxe and the Penn was not for me)in bangkok and Baan Orapin in Chiang Mai.

Re: any of the hotels that don't seem to be available-- try the hotel directly. Often they don't give rooms to discount sites but have them if you contact them directly -- and often for not a whole lot more money. So just because asiahotels shows no availability don't assume you can't get a room.

I also would vote for the Golden Triangle. Although I haven't yet stayed at the Anatara (I hope to on my next trip) I have been to the Golden Triangle and it's beautiful. You can do day trips to Hilltribes, Burma, take a boat on the Mekong, or just laze around and do nothing. If you can't get into the anatara, there are other places but probably not as luxurious. You can stay in Chiang Rai but I don't know if you will find the luxury there you are seeking. I stayed at the Dusit in Chiang Rai, which is very nice but I certainly wouldn't call it luxurious or give it the 5 star rating it usually gets. You can get great Thai massages there however. The best I ever had was at that hotel.

Bob, Carol and Kathie also mentioned Hua Hin, which is lovely. I stayed at the Sofitel, a beautiful colonial style hotel which may suit your needs. It's not big and glittering or anything like that, it's more understated. My husband and I were there for a few days while I was recuperating from an illness and it was a perfect place to lay around and do nothing. There are 3 (I think) pools which are lovely, where you can lie around and be served drinks and food, and the beach is right behind the main pool. Hua Hin itself is a nice small town with restaurants and shops and the train station there is rather quaint.

I was not very impressed with Phuket and 3 nights there was way too much. But my husband and I are not beach people, one day of that is enough for us, we get bored too quickly (although we don't get bored laying around a nice hotel pool, not sure why that is).

I'm not sure where else in Laos you could go for luxury except Vientienne. The Settha Palace in Vientienne is a gorgeous old style hotel and their suites are magnificent. When I was there 2 years ago, we had an executive suite (it was a free upgrade since we arrived there on our 15th wedding anniversary--a very nice touch by the hotel management), and at least then, you could get a massage in your room for $5 for an hour. Another place in Laos that interests me is the Plain of Jars but you won't find any luxury there, you'll be lucky to find a hotel with hot water from what I understand!

Laurie-- Iwent to Plain of jars when I was in laos in the early 90s. We won't discuss the hotel but regardless of that it was one spot that I found somewhat disappointing. If you have plenty of time it's fine but I'd put it on a b list of must dos in laos.

I also meant to say that you can go to Burma for the four nights, Yangon or the Inle Lake area. The Lake View Inn is a lovely hotel on the banks of Inle Lake and the scenery is stunning. You can hire a boat to take you to villages around the lake, a real highlihgt of one of my trips. Or you can go to Yangon, where you can stay in real style at the Strand or one of the other luxe hotels. We were at the Parkroyal and had a suite there and I would stay there again. In Yangon, there is Sule Pagoda and Swedagon Paya, a huge glittering complex that is definitely worth the price of admission and worth going to Yangon just to see that. You will not be able to fly from LP to Burma however, you must connect through BKK, unless things have changed. When we went, we flew from LP to BKK in the morning, had an 8 hour layover in BKK, during which we stored our luggage at the airport and went into town for shopping and a nice lunch before heading back to the airport and Yangon.

Gloria, how disappointing, I was hoping to get there at some point. We were supposed to go there on the trip 2 years ago but cut it out at the last minute in order to spend more time at the Pen. Guess we made the right choice.

Laurie-- There's nothing wrong with it. I just think I expected more. I'm not sorry I went but if time is limited I think you can spend it better in other places. If you can spend a couple of weeks in Laos then absolutely you should go but not with limited time. At least that was my feeling.

i know of one case where they have been waitlisted for the pansea in LP for late january....they had an inside track which may help but appealing to the general manager directly did not help them....good luck...

more lux hotels are coming i have been told

We spent 3 nights at the JW Marriott resort in Phuket in Dec. It is a spectacular resort with a glorious pool. The rooms are wonderful - spacious, with a nook for relaxing and balcony overlooking beautiful gardens and then the ocean, stunning architecture. I think it a perfect place to relax after some hectic sightseeing. I would consider it the best relaxing resort I have staryed at. which includes the Penn in BKK, the Sukothai and Banyan Tree, all wonderful hotels. Of course it's hard to beat the Penn as it's on the river and at the hub, but for relaxing this particular Marriott gets my vote!

thanks everyone for all the suggestions and information. i have heard back from the anantara. because it is the high season, they can offer me a rate of $415 a night, which is a little out of my price range. hopefully i can stay there another time, when it isn't high season. as i have seen kathie tell people i need to remember that this trip isn't the only one i'll ever take, and that if i try to do too much, i will savor nothing. i looked into the marriott on phuket; it too is a little out of my price range (cheapest rooms at $365 a night).

we may be leaning away from chiang rai area. it looks awesome and we found a few places that look incredible, including the place that was once a bunch of tobacco barns. that place looks beautiful and enchanting. hopefully we will get to see northern thailand on another visit, when we can devote more time to exploring leisurely.

koh samui is a possibility, though i still don't have a sense of what it's like there. we're looking at poppies on chaweng beach. we'd love to just plop ourselves somewhere lovely for a few days. i like the sound of the creamy white sand and crystal clear water. i guess i'm worried that samui will be a little too touristy, cheesey somehow. koh chang sounded more up our alley, but the flight times don't work out. i like that samui sounds very easy to get to so it won't be a lot of work on our end. amyway...

another possibility is to stay in luang prabang an extra day, and also spend extra time in bangkok.

burma sounds worth checking into, though maybe it will be too much for this trip. i will look up those websites you suggested laurie.

oh, and by the way, the phou vao is all booked for our days, so now we've got reservations at the santi resort, outside of town. hopefully the distance from town won't be too much of a drag. the place sounds nice though.

thanks for all your help.