Help!
Mar 16th, 2002, 02:31 PM
#1
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Help!
We are wanting to reserve some rooms in Thailand and I am finding that there are many websites where I can do this. I want to make sure that whoever we book with is reliable and there are actually rooms when we get there. Has anyone had any experience with any of the following companies? Asian Adventures - Welcome Thai - Thai Travelers - Phi Phi Islandhoppers - Phi Phi Hotels?????? Thanks, I hope someone can help.
Mar 18th, 2002, 06:47 AM
#2
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While I don't have any experience with the agents you mention I just came back from a Thailand trip where we spent five days on Phi Phi and I have some suggestions. I booked my hotel on Phi-Phi directly with the hotel (often they will offer to make transfer arrangements for you but taxi's are always available at the airport, at the ferry docks, at any hotel on Phuket etc. so you don't really need pre-arranged deals). The one internet travel agent I did use for some of our bookings was Circle of Asia and everything I booked including transfers etc was always correct and in order. No matter how you book I would warn you away from the Phi Phi Cabana Hotel. We had numerous problems with them and changed hotels after the first night of our stay (that is the advange of booking directly because otherwise you pre-pay for your room and depending on the details of your booking you might not be able to get your money back and change hotels). First they failed to arrange for our transfer from our Phuket hotel and ferry as they promised and then when we got there they offered us a rate reduction because they said their air conditioning was running a bit warm. In fact the airconditioning was not working at all and they had no room fans or window screens. Their response to these problems was less than accomodating. So we took it upon ourselves to seek out a better hotel and was very lucky to find the "vip" room at the Phi Phi hotel (I think the # was rm 514). Their best room cost 2500 baht compared to the Cabana's good room that cost 3500 baht. I'd recommend the Phi Phi hotel highly if you are looking for something in TonSai the main town. (ask for a room on the upper floors because the lower ones might be a bit noisy with neighborhood construction). We stayed in the main town instead of the remote beache resorts because we were there to scuba dive and that is where all of the many dive operations are located.
Mar 19th, 2002, 11:31 PM
#5
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I used hoteltravel.com to book a hotel in Bangkok. I called the hotel directly to confirm and everything was in order. They charged my credit card shortly after my stay there. I also looked at asia-hotels.com and asiatravel.com, but they didn't have availability for the hotel I wanted.
Mar 21st, 2002, 04:46 PM
#6
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Hi Mary Anne:<BR><BR>Try planethoiliday.com. Booked most of our hotels through them for our trip in December - no problems. <BR><BR>Also used asiahotels.com when we went to SEA. <BR><BR>You could also send the hotel an e-mail and see if they can do better. Most reputable hotels have special internet prices - not always advertised - you have to ask. <BR><BR>Enjoy your trip.
Mar 22nd, 2002, 10:49 AM
#7
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Mary Anne;<BR>Hi! I booked my hotel through Asiatravel.com - I was in contact with Mark at this company - He was excellent. I just faxed over the credit card form to fill out for reservations. He in turn sent it to the appropiate hotel and all was said and done. I did email the hotel direct , just to firm up everything before I travelled 1/2 way across the globe, and everything was perfect. It's always good to ask if they have any specials - I received an upgrade and free airport transfers by asking the question to Mark @ asiatravel.com and was very impressed by their prices. Another service you may want to look into is TRAVEL INTERLINK -(800) 888-5898. They are based out of LA - so you can actually talk to someone on the phone vs. email. I booked a hotel w/them in Bangkok and prepaid, received vouchers from TRAVEL INTERLINK and everything was perfect, once again. I saved a considerable amount of $$ this way. Make sure you get a quote with the taxes and hotel service charges included. Most hotels in Thailand also include breakfast and some even include airport transfers. Good luck and have fun - It was THE BEST travel experience I have have ever had. I am returning to Thailand this year. Can't wait for that foot massage!!!! - SUE
Mar 22nd, 2002, 11:55 AM
#8
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In Oct/Nov 2000 I booked with Asiatravel.com. had no problems at all and stayed at three hotels in Bali (sheraton Nusa Indah, Balisani Suites, Novotel Bali tanjung Benoa, and one each in Langkawi, and Penang (Parkroyal in Batu Feringhi). I did book the Sheraton Perdana Resort in Langkawi, malaysia direct with Sheraton.<BR><BR>Last year in Oct/Nov 2001 I booked 4 different resorts in Phuket, Amari Coral Beach, Kata Thani, Ocean Garden Resort and Ao Nang direct with the hotels - two of which requested prepayments through third party agencies and the other two were not pre-paid. Again I had no problems at all.<BR><BR>In Oct/Nov 1999 I visited Singapore. I booked direct with the hotel, Mandarin Marina, and got an even lower rate because I called them on the telephone and got a last minute special.<BR><BR>In Oct/Nov 1998 I visited Hong Kong (Hyatt Regency in Kowloon) and Bangkok (Grand Hyatt Erawan) and on that trip I got a great package by booking through Cathay pacific Airlines.<BR><BR>So I've tried internet agencies, direct booking with hotel via email, direct booking with hotels via telephone, and I've used an airline package deal as well.<BR><BR>Last three years I've also stopped in Hong Kong on the beginning and end of each trip. In Hong Kong I stay at the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel in Kowloon. I usually book direct with them by email.<BR><BR>I will recommend Asiatravel.com as I used them with no problems at all in 2000.<BR><BR>Michael
