Greetings!

We are a family of four living in Tokyo and we are looking for a warm destination in late March 09 for one week. So far, our ideas are:

Bangkok and/or Phuket
Bali (Sanur?)
Okinawa
Saipan (maybe a week is too long there though?)
Hawaii

We thought of Boracay or Kota Kinabulu or Langkawi but as far as I can tell, no direct flights from Tokyo. With only a week, it would be helpful to find non-stop flights and this is a problem from Tokyo for some of these destinations, especially if we want to keep airfares at a reasonable price. We do have United miles we could use if there were FF tickets available.

Some of you have some ideas for us!

Ok...we have it narrowed down to Bangkok or Bali because those two destinations have direct flights from Narita-any opinions/advice or ideas for hotels?

We have stayed at the Peninsula in Bangkok, and I've read some of the current threads here discussing stays there. Since we have two children, we would prefer(and are sometimes required to reserve) a suite or two connecting rooms, which complicates things too.

Some random thoughts are: March is one of the rainy season months in Bali. Still beautiful and a lot to see and do and magical place, and still good temps, but if you don’t want rain, or overcast skies, you may want to avoid it. You don’t indicate if beach and sun are important, or just warm temps. See weatherbase.com. Thailand is in dry season and is a good idea weather-wise and you know it already as to what to see and do. I still like your Hawaii idea, good weather (of course places like Hilo are always wet but just avoid the rainy side), a ton to see and do (lots of outdoor activities) wonder if you may run into school vacations from US kids from Calif and elsewhere which may raise prices. There are overnight United non-stops to HNL that cross the date line so you gain a day going out, a nice perk on a short trip, although you do lose it going back. (Flights to Bali appear to all be daytime, and there don’t appear to be any Star Alliance non-stops to Bali as far as I can tell; there are some evening flights to Bangkok that may work well with the time change).

The attractiveness of Hawaii and Bali to me is that you could rent a house and have all the bedrooms you want/need, plus a kitchen, living room, outdoor space, your own pool in many cases, etc. This would be cheaper than a hotel for the most part. See vrbo.com for a start. If you picked one island in Hawaii, a week would be fine, but I would not try to island-hop with only 7 days and 2 kids, although it is of course possible.

I think Phuket is a good idea; you can’t fly there non-stop, but it’s an easy flight from Bangkok or Hong Kong. It seems to only add about 2 hours to the overall flight time to get to Phuket via a connection, so you may want to look into this. With kids you might want to look at the Marriott timeshare there, connected to the JW Marriott called something like Phuket Beach club. They are 2-bedroom units with kitchens. Try the hotel’s website, they should give info. Very nice hotel, you can use all the pools and facilities.

Not quite sure what the question is on the hotels; the Penn has suites and connecting rooms, as do most hotels. If you liked the Penn and get a good deal, you may want to consider it. The Marriott Riverside may be a good choice too, great big shady pool (good for kids), nice rooms, good staff, generally can get good prices. Popular on this board too, read some posts.

Please don’t bother with Saipan. Would Okinawa be warm enough in March? I always think that is so far north.

Dear Cicerone,

You are amazing! Thanks (once again!) for your comprehensive and always highly educational comments. I totally agree, but now am torn still between Bangkok, Bali, Phuket and Hawaii! We have visited all but some only very briefly and several years ago. I am dizzy with all the flight and hotel possibilities and prices-will let you know what we decide.

Thank you SO much.
D

I know, big world, so little time....