Kacenka

My husbanad & I are going to Thailand/Cambodia in Feb 2007. Booked everything by ourselves apart from flights from London to/from BKK and 2 nights in BKK were booked by a travel agent.
To get to my point, our travel agent is quoting me £48 for breakfast on top of our stay which is £66 for the 2 nights... Surely we will be able to arrange something much cheaper once in BKK?? I just can't believe the price our agent gave me...

Please help.
Thanks
Katerina

eurotraveller

Yikes! I hope you will be dining on golden nuggets for that price!

I would skip that and just do breakfast on your own.

We stayed in a very nice hotel for $30 USD. It had a beautiful pool, spotless large room and included a delicious breakfast! They have a nice spa. Peter and I enjoyed a his/hers massage in adjoining rooms.

Here is a link to the website:

http://www.auberge-mont-royal.com/homepage.html

The rooms are not as fancy as the one on the photo but they were basic and clean and the hotel is very conveniently located.

Ditch your travel agent and just go with the advice of the helpful folks here! You will save bundles doing the planning on your own!

eurotraveller

Oops! My error. I gave you info about a hotel in Siem Reap and you were asking about Bangkok.

Where are you booked for Bangkok?

You can easily get breakfast for less than that almost anywhere in Bangkok!

Scotters

Yes tell us what hotel. If you use an agents web site, most show the hotel room rate to include breakfast along with the 17.7% tax/service charge.

Cilla_Tey

If the room charge is 66 pounds then breakfast should be much cheaper at that hotel. So don't book via your agent. My recommendation is to have breakfast outside. Chances are you'll be close to small cafes and restaurants nearby or even a market and just make sure whatever you eat has been cooked properly like soupy noodles. Have a Thai breakfast for a change! It'll only cost you a pound or two.

Kacenka

LOL! Eurotraveller! We are staying at the same hotel in Cambodia! I'm glad to hear some positive comments.

Anyway in BKK we are staying at the Amari Atrium Hotel it's a bit further from the city centre than I would like but the hotel looks nice. The agent rate is £33 per night per room, no breakfast...Are you familiar with the hotel area at all? Is there a good range of restaurants in the near vicinity?

Many thanks for everyone's replies and your help.

KimJapan

Does your agent's rate include the 17% tax/service? If not, it may well be less expensive to book using an online agency where the tax and service and breakfast are included in the rate. A review on sawadee.com said it is a 20 minute walk to the Skytrain.

JamesA

This 'seems' to happen often from travel agents, either they don't include the breakfast and sometimes casualy mentuion that 'of course' tax and service is extra!
That is certainbly a high price for breakfast and although you can of course go 'outside' to find breakfast cheap obviously it is far more convenient simply to have breakfast in your hotel, adding their breakfast charge that comes out as, in your currency you say to 114 for 2 night, which would be 57 a night, well, together not too bad but they are certainly not doing you any special deal or service, you can get that including breakfast, tax and service easily for 54 a night.
You might not feel 6 pounds UK is much to bother about but do note again they are doing you 'nothing special'.

http://www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/bangkok/atrium/

That you qwould probably pay 1 nigth deposit and the balance a few weeks ahead of arriving.

JamesA

Outisde of a hotel you can get breakfast from a few pounds upwards, you might even find a cheaper hotel nearby with a good buffet, if you are real 'breakfast people' go for hotel, but otherwise you can find food easily and readily at well below that price.
That breakfast cost is something like B 700 per person, you can alsoways but cereals/milk/ breads etc from outside then if you want a hot dish order by item from r/service, it comes down to if you are really big breakfasters or not.

kaneda

I stayed in the Baiyoke Suite hotel in Bangkok a few years back and a big meal brought up to my room was £2-£3. The accommodation there is cheaper too, but not as cheap as the £5 a night for a deluxe room I am now paying for a hotel 10 minutes walk away.


As others have said, Bangkok is full of cheap places to eat, whatever kind of food you like.

Scotters

The Atrium can be had for as low as 3250 baht (47 pounds)on an agents web site which includes taxes/service charges/breakfast. This is a 10 pound saving per night over the quote that you got. More if it did not include the 17.7% charges.

As for location it is not that bad as it is only a 10 minute walk to the subway station from which you can connect to the skytrain.

kaneda

I forgot to mention that you get a free buffet breakfast (very good) at the Baiyoke Suite hotel. Check out the cheap prices:


http://www.atsiam.com/hotels/bangkok..._baiyoke_suite

Kacenka

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your input. It is very much appreciated.

I just found it a bit cheeky to be asked to pay £24 for breakfast considering the room was £33per night! I just wanted to double check with people who often travel to Thailand that I'm not crazy. ;-)
We will probably see what rates are offered by the hotel or just grab something outside. We arranged all our other accommodations throughout our stay in Thailand ourselves and I should have known better and done BKK as well. Lesson learnt! ;-)
Many thanks.
K.

Kathie

Can you cancel those reservations through your travel agent without penalty? If you can, I would advise you to. Not only can you get that same hotel more cheaply yourself, you could get a hotel that is nicer and more conveniently located for that price. I recommend www.sawasdee.com for booking. Typically, the tax and service and breakfast is included in your rate.

mrwunrfl

people agreeing with you that the price was too high does not prove that you are not crazy

hope this helps!

eurotraveller

mrwunrfl, that is exactly what I was going to say!

Kacenka, I think you will like the Auberge Mont Royal. The people are incredibly friendly, the breakfast was good and the room we had was large.

Kaneda, what is the name of the place you are staying in right now? Where is it? Please tell me more about it.

Thanks!

kaneda

The Interchange Tower, booked through moveandstay. They mainly deal in long term accommodation but do single nights. Cost starts from 9,600 baht per month for a deluxe room (+ electricity costs). It is just off Ratchaprarop (Soi Mor Leng) and has a 7-11 and internet cafe a few minutes walk away.

Kacenka

Thank yous!

Kathie, I am not sure if it can be changed but I will try, is there any specific hotel closer to the city centre that you would recommend?

Kathie

I would choose a hotel along Sukhumvit near a skytrain station. Take a look at the hotels on www.sawadee.com, then ask for feedback here about the ones that appeal to you.