eurotraveller

I should start by pointing out that my boyfriend is laughing at me. We just returned from a 3 week trip and I am obsessed with researching our next one! Doctor, doctor! I have the bug bad (is there any cure for this?)! I can't wait to visit Thailand, my first Asia trip!

We will most likely explore Thailand in February for 3 weeks. The problem is that I will need to convince my boss that I should go in Feb. although I am in the hole with my vacation time. If she won't allow me to take time off without pay I will have to wait until November. Ugh! I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will allow me to go in Feb.

I have been reading and searching the web and I am uncertain about what neighborhood to stay in. I am hoping all of you experts here can assist me in making a decision.

We will probably stay in Bangkok for our first 2 nights and also our last 3 nights. I figured we will splurge a little upon our arrival in order to recover from our flight from Portland, OR. From my research it seems that to splurge in Bangkok we will not have to break the bank. Ideally we would like to keep it at about $80 for our first 2 nights and then spend about $40 for our last 3.

I would also like to stay in a couple of different neighborhoods to get a feel for different areas. We will do most of our shopping on our last 3 nights so we don't have to lug our treasures around with us although we are sure to pick up some trinkets along the way.

We typically like smaller hotels with character as opposed to large resort type hotels. We like to get to know the staff and have the ability to interact with other travelers.

We are beyond the backpacking stage and we would like to avoid the 20 something partying crowd although we love to go out for a few drinks with other adventure seekers.

We don't need a big pool or fancy room, just a nice place with friendly people in a nice neighborhood. We would rather spend our money on other aspects of our trip like diving, kayaking, etc.

With that being said, my questions are:

What neighborhood should we stay in to recover from jet lag during our first 2 nights? Keep in mind that we will be fairly dead to the world after flying for 24 hours. This is where we don't mind splurging. What hotels do you recommend?

What neighborhood should we stay in if we plan on shopping at the end of our trip? This is where we would like to spend about $40 per room. Which hotels do you recommend (I did see the threads about cheap accomodations but wanted to ask this since I posted specific interests regarding the type of accomodations we like).

We know we will visit a few wats but I don't want to get "watted out", so to speak. What are the best ones to see?

Any other advice is welcome as we are newbies on the Asia thread!

rhkkmk

try using this web site...it is organized by street:

www.huahin.20m.com

some suggestions:

chateau de bangkok
centre point serviced apartments--in several areas..
holiday inn silom
holiday inn plenochit
davis hotel might be a choice
rembrandt hotel--good restaurants

try priceline---westin for $75...HI, silom for $45...

eurotraveller

Thanks Bob, but it looks like that is 180 kilometers from Bangkok. Am I missing something? Is there a link to Bangkok that I am just not seeing?

We would like to stay in Bangkok.

Thanks!

orgy7

my sugestion for now is may'be stay in the chinatown/banglampu area first.. this is where the palice and all the historic sites are plus Khao san rd and all the 20-30 something year old travalers are around there. .. it's also a cool area just too wonder around and get lost in, the river is also near by..

negatives is that the skytrain nor subway goes there but you could take a taxi or river taxi into town if you wished.

this area is very cheep so you can find a really nice lux accomodation for less then $40..

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for you last days maybe stay near the BTS or subway lines..

$80 will net you just about any 4 star hotel.. so options are huge..

you could get a good hotel/serviced apartment for about $40-60

what kind of nighberhood experience in the city do you want..
-lots of malls
-near lumpini park, any park
-residental
-red light district
-garment district.
-river side.

http://www.asiarooms.com/thailand/bangkok.html
has hotels listed by location and has lots of maps and some reviews.

orgy7

http://www.asiatravel.com/thailand.html

may'be take a look at
-thai hotel
-trang hotel
-new world hotel

they are located in a fairly quite part of town right near all the historic sites. most of these places have swimming pools and include breakfest. some offer 2 day packages with airport tranfer.

remember for $30 you can get a place simaler in USA/europe for 75++ not lux but good value.

the pics of these placees seeem really nice and they go for about 25 bucks.

glorialf

Small hotels that might suit you are Ibrik Hotel; Silom Serene; Davis Hotel.

Old bangkok Inn which has just opened looks fabulous and sounds like just the place you would like. Here's the website:
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p...0Bangkok%20Inn

Other websites to look at for rates and reviews are:
www.asiahotels.com
www.asiarooms.com
www.sawadee.com
www.tripadvisor.com

glorialf

Here's the website for Ibrik
http://www.ibrikresort.com/

orgy7

there are 2 ibrik hotels and seriously at least for the Ibrik city.. it seems like a rip off. but I must give props too these folks they take a small place (3 rooms) fancy it up a litle bit. slap a big tarif on it and people flock too bcouse it's a boutique.. the property near the river seems like a better value. they both go for about $100...

glorialf

I think a couple of people on the forum have had good experiences at Ibrik. Do a search. And I think you can get rooms for about $80.

laurieco

eurotraveller, all the hotels Bob listed ARE in Bangkok. The huahin site he gave also lists bkk hotels. Try it, they have very good prices.

laurieco

I hit post too soon--click on the link to hua hin hotels and you will then see a link that also gives bkk hotels.

orgy7

wow im impressed with the old bangkok it's a boutique place and it's situated in a great part of town. for those that love wandering around..

orgy7

I checked out the hou hin site and it's all about hou hin and has links too lake tahoe.

what going on?

glorialf

Doesn't Old Bangkok Inn look great? I'd really love for someone to check it out. It's the first place I've come across that might make me give up a couple of days at the Oriental because it seems like it might offer something very different and special.

rhkkmk

take the hua hin site and drop down the box at the top right and choose bangkok city...that will give bkk and other sites...

simpsonc510

The best shopping area is around MBK, Central Chitlom, World Central Plaza and the Siam Discovery/Center part of the city. Skytrain stops include National Stadium, Siam, and Chitlom. You can walk between all of these places quite easily if you want to, and don't mind the heat and uneven sidewalks. If you get a BKK map, you will see that there are many hotels in the area, as well as serviced apartments.

Carol

eurotraveller

Wow! What a nice surprise to see so many replies! Great info. Thanks!

I will check out Bob's link again this weekend.

The Old Bangkok looks right up our alley! I will look into this and possibly stay there so I can report back to others.

Cheers!

Tamara

glorialf

Tamara-
To answer your questions about wats. Don't miss the temple of the emerald Buddha. The other one I wouldn't miss is Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) which you can do in conjunction with a klong ride (a top thing to do in Bangkok). If you want to do more than two wats, next I would say is Wat Pho followed by Marble Temple and Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

Other things to not miss in Bangkok are Jim Thompson House and Vinamanek Mansion.

What kind of shopping do you want to do? Crafts? Knock offs? Jewelry? Do you want to have clothes made? I have a feeling you may not be into the large malls but may prefer another form of shopping.

Are you going to northern Thailand? If so there are some wonderful places to shop for specific types of crafts in Chiang Mai. Some on this list aren't fans of Chiang Mai, others are. I'm one of those that thinks it and the Chiang Rai area should not be missed.

orgy7

RHK theres no down anything when I check out Hou hin site. may'e it's a MAC racist site.

-------
I sort of remember James A saying the site was part of sawadee group.

http://bangkok.sawadee.com/hotels/index.html

Kathie

It looks like you have plenty of lodging suggestions!

For must-sees: Wats: Grand Palace?Temple of the Emerald Buddha complex and the Wat Po (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) next door (this is also the main Thai massage school). Get up early one day and go to the Marble Temple (Wat Ben) to observe the ritual of giving food to the monks.

One other must-see in my book is the Jim Thompson House.