capetownfolk

Please would you advise me. We are planning on being in Chaing Mai - in 30 Dec, out 3 Jan. We have proisionally booked 2 rooms at Yaang Come through Exotissimo, and are being told that a New Years Gala Dinner at $68/ head (x 5 people) is compulsory - am i wrong to be irritated by this? It seems expensive, and my 12 and 16 year olds may not want to be there and certainly will not eat $68 of food.
I do not seem able to check out their prices for myself as their bookings don't go that far ahead - a comment I've seen here a lot.
If we don't stay there where else could we stay of a similar calibre or should i just be quiet and get on with it?

capetownfolk

Kathie, your recent trip report about the lengthy and bland dinner atthe Yaang Come resort is not making me feel any better about this set up

Gpanda

The bogus Gala dinner is a standard add-on in Thailand for NYE. You will have to be creative to avoid it. Perhaps you could transfer somewhere else for on evening. Just be glad it's only $68. Some are well in excess of $100 per person. Very few have reported that they were worth the price.

JamesA

Unfortunately these compulsory New Year's Eve Dinners are pretty much every hotel anything 3 star and above, and many below as well, I can tell you though that USD 68 ( about B 2,380 ) is not so bad compared with many hotels, plenty are in the B 5,000+ range!
It's real anoying, but you would probably find almost anywhere would be having at least B 2,380 for New Year's Eve. The only plus factor is that some do put on good shows and other entertainment, it's not just a meal.
I think it's something you will have to just swallow as you are going to find similar or more elsewhere.

You could down-grade to other accommodation like Baan Orapin or somehwere that didn't have the compulsory dinner/show for the 30th and 31st and then check in to Yaang Come on 1st, when you think overall the amount that you would 'save' would be a very substantail amount.
I bet if you had a family vote to decide whether to spend that or if everyone could have that for unconditional shopping/New year treat, we'll I'd take the money(!)
I am sure Baan Orapin would arrange to book you into some great riverside restaurant place or something ideal to celebrate NY eve.
Or save the money and take some 'substantial' gifts to some local charity places on New Year's Day.

JamesA

I was posting at the same time as the Great Panda, anyway you can see great minds think alike!
USD 340 is a 'sunbstantial' amount of money, you could well find you would have a far more memorable NY Eve at some Thai pl;ace along the river or somewhere, save $250 and either let eveyone buy themselves some NY gift, or, almost certainly the owners at Baan Orapin would be going to the temple on NY day so go along with them and take some worthwhile gifts which the Monks distribute, nice thing to do as a family and good for the kids to experience too.

capetownfolk

Not a bad suggestion James
This new yar past we were in Naples Forida and the 7pm fireowrks on the beach were perfect - my children were sleeping by 11pm! Our days are so full we don't do the late night thing - gosh i sound old - I am not really!
So it seems to be everywhere - I did notice that Hoi An on Xmas Eve also "included" gala evening - grrr
Mybe for 31st Dec we should head up to Chiang Rai for the day and sleepover there - any hotel suggestions for that area?

Gpanda

James-the G in Gpanda stands for Giant, not Great. I've applied for great-hood, but Bob is blocking the procedure. Another gross inequity. More reason for the Panda Preservation Society to be fully funded.

JamesA

There are also more boutique places that don't levy NY party charges, like Manathai,

http://www.beachsiam.com/manathai-vi...hiang-mai.html

You've got about 120+ places in CM to stay at a rough guess, it comes down to the sort of luxury level you want.

capetownfolk

Good morning all
Luxury level of Yaang Come looks good - lets aim for that level
One day inChiang mai we are supposed to be driving upto the GoldenTriangle area tp spend the day - yes I know it's not enough time - would it be an option to goup there on 31st December and instead of driving back to Chiang Mai stay over the night in that area - what about at Anantara? looks stunning and the relative isolation would probably be really nice for 1 night?

MichaelBKK

The Anantara would probably have a more expensive dinner than YCV - it's run by the same people that are selling a $150 hamburger in Bangkok.

I think the idea of staying somewhere else for the 30th and 31st sounds good. Staying with 'out of town' theme, maybe you should have a look at Kao Mai Lanna.

KimJapan

We had a couple of dinners there when we stayed in Dec 2005, and the food was very good. The manager selected dishes for us, though. When we stayed, there was no mandatory dinner for either Christmas or New Year...that may have changed? I do see mention of it in their pricing in sawadee.com.

I found them quick to respond to my e-mail inquiries, usually within an hour, sometimes instantly. You might just send them and e-mail about their pricing and about how "compulsory" the NYE dinner is. At any rate, $67.00 per person is cheap compared to others I've seen. And they are quite the norm.

Anantara's compulsory NYE dinner in 2006 was 7600 baht for adults, and 3800 baht for children I found on a reservation website...MUCH more than YCV. So while I think that we are going to enjoy our 5 nights at the Anantara this summer, I would think twice or three or four times before booking for New Years there.

capetownfolk

Latest update
You are quite right Anantara is more expensive for both their stay and their "compulsory" dinner
Exotissimo got back to me and suggested Rachamankha - cheaper than YCV and no compulsory dinner - it looks very nice and trip Adv gives good reviews so it looks like that is the solution
The only problem with moving hotels too often is that we need to consider that moving 70 year young grandma and 12 year old boy - who's jut made new friends - is not always easy - so staying somewhere for 4-5 days is ideal - anything for a peaceful life!

capetownfolk

Oh dear - made a mistake
The price i was quoted for YCV was for a 2 bedroom suite - not 1 bedroom as I thought, so TCV works out to $1340 with dinner for 4 nights (5 people) compared to $1880 at Rachamanka with no dinner
Oh well - at least it will give me something to write/ laugh about

KimJapan

When we were looking for places to stay in Chiang Mai, the Rachamankha did not allow children under age 10. Pretty sure that is still the case...which to me means that it is more an adult place than a family place, and it would be unlikely that your kids would make friends there. Our daughter, then 7, did make several friends at YCV. The price you got for a 2 bedroom suite at YCV is very good if it includes the dinner and daily breakfast for 5. It's a great place to stay...we liked it.

glorialf

If you can live without a swimming pool Baan Orapin is a wonderful to stay in Chiang Mai and a great place for kids and families. I wouldn't stay anywhere else now that I've found it.

Kathie

Having looked at the rooms at Rachamanka when we were there in November, I wouldn't stay there. Rooms are austere which some like and others don't, but the mildew in the bathrooms and the general lack of cleanliness put me off. The restaurant, however, was the best we ate at in CM.

capetownfolk

The price at YCV includes breakfast and the "compulsory" gala dinner for 5 - not dinner every night - which we prefer as we want to try other places - Thanks Kathie one of them will now be Rachamankha
I will no doubt have more specific questions nearer the time - appreciate everybody's support - makes things much easier and much more fun