my husband and I are going to overnight in Bangkok en route to Cambodia in November 2005. I've read reviews of many of the airport hotels ... but don't want to pay the steep price of the Amari.

Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to do this? maybe it would be better going a bit further into town to get a half decent hotel. We arrive at midnight and fly out the next afternoon. But on the way home we come back to Bangkok and are treating outselves to two days at the Ibrik.

Thanks.

Given that you are not leaving for Cambodia until the next afternoon, I would definitely stay in town at the hotel of your choosing.

Stay in town. Do a search on this forum. People ask this question all the time.

i too would stay in town to assure a good nites sleep in a good bed...one of the sukhumvit area hotels makes for easy access to the highway the next day...

if you are stuck on the airport i would suggest the following:

miracle grande
rama gardens (new wing for slightly more money)
sofitel central---about 1/3 of the way into town and located at a large mall..might be your best choice..
not suggested---the choice properties--i think there are two

i agree about amani. although i have not stayed there...

my choice would be the marriott resort and spa because you could spend the AM at the wonderful pool and the ride to the airport is about 45 minutes although i would allow 1.5 hours...

hotel site: www.huahin.com.com
all inclusive hotel rates by city and then by location

sorry---amari, not amani

I stayed at the Asia Airport Hotel when I arived in BKK at about 10:00pm and had a 9am flight to Laos. The hotel was $40 for a double and the room was fine. It was clean and even had a balcony. There was a decent cafe on site still open when we arrived and they had free transport to the terminals. And the rooms were completely soundproofed so no jet noise.

I would also like to hear what is the closest (time in a taxi wise) besides the Amari? We do not arrive until almost midnight and out flight out is 7:30am the next morning. I was considering the dayrooms at the airport but if I can find something else really close I would rather do that. Any suggestions?

If your departure flight is at 7.30 am then I am assuming that you will have to be at the airport around 5.30 - 6.00 am latest. Traffic at 5.00 - 6.30 am in Bangkok is nonexistent and you can get to the airport in about 1/2 hours even from the Oriental by the river.

The closest to the airport would be the Amari airport hotel(as Bob has mentioned) which has a landbridge connecting directly to the international terminal.

the rama gardens is probably the next nearest but the traffic in the morning might not be good even at that hour...the miracle grand might be better....asia airport hotel i have never heard of?????

Asia Airport hotel is a few kilometers directly norht of the airport on the same road or highway. It is situated in a mall, Zeer Rangsit(well known for electronic goods like Pantip mall).

I've used Rama Gardens before and it was fine. I really dislike the Amari.

Check out asiatravel.com. You can find the best deals on hotels through them. I have been using them since 1999.

i looked up the asia airport hotel...it looks basic but decent..worth a try

thanks so much for the help, my main concern is shortest taxi ride. I have heard with some of these you have to be careful because they are not on the right side of the road and in order to turn around to go in the correct direction to the airport can take up a bit of time.

I've stayed at the Asia Airport Hotel a couple of times a few years back. It's bland and a little depressing before or after a nice vacation. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere and always seems empty. Decent sparce basic room and the staff members were all friendly.

They have a free shuttle that picks you up after your flight if you reserve ahead. Truth is though, they are never there on time. Then when you do see them, they spend a lot of time waiting for other passengers to pick up. Takes a long time.

After that, you have to loop around the highway and that takes 15-20 minutes, even though it looks very close on the map.

So you can see, unless you're just looking for a cheaper place, it's not worth it to stay by the airport. I know a taxi can get me to any downtown hotel in less than 30 min. door to door. I can get to the Davis in I'll never stay by the airport again.

Should have been "I can get to the Davis in around 15-20 min. when I arrive late at night."

I will be staying 3 nights at the Peninsula then thought I would switch my last night to the Rama Gardens as I have 6:40 am flight on a Saturday morning. Should I stay at Peninsula or go to Rama or is there a better suggestion with very quick transport to the airport? I'd prefer not to have to wake up at 4 am for my 6:40 flight.

Well, if you want to pay Penninsula prices, the executive floor of the Amari Airport Hotel is excellent and you will get to sleep in an extra 45 minutes. We have stayed there on at least 4 occasions and never been disappointed. There is a separate check-in for the Exec Floor which saves a lot of time - also they will bring you breakfast in your room at 4 AM or whenever. The hotel is connected to the airport by a skywalk so you could not be any closer. I am assuming you are going in the near future as the location of the international airport is changing some time later in 2006.

This 6:40 am flight is on 1/7. We got a decent deal on the Peninsula and looking at the Amari it seems hard to pay the same price. How long would you say it would take to get to airport from the Peninsula to get 6:40 flight?
Any idea how long from Rama to airport?

I would say it would take 20 - 30 minutes to the airport from the Penn.,.to be on the safe side. Every time we went to the airport from there (4 times) it took 20 minutes...we were always surprised.