Honeymoon in july... thailand
 

I wanted to start in chinag mai mandarin oriental and then go to a beach
I cant decide wether to go to rayavadee at krabi or the amanpuri in phuket! (for our honeymoon)
i know they are both fascinating, but I dont know if i can get more things to do in phuket.
has anyone been to both hotels?
if anyone has any other reccomendation
tks

I don't think I'd call either the rayavadee at krabi or the amanpuri in phuket fascinating. Both are luxurious beach resorts.

Are you planning on some time in Bangkok as well? Now that's a fascinating city! And you can stay at the best hotels for much less than at the beach. Give us an idea of the whole plan so we can help more.

By the way, consider the weather Phuket/Krabi has an average of 10 inches of rain in July. Check www.weatherbase.com for all the weather statistics.

yes im planning 3 nights at bangkok as well.
I know it rains alot in phuket, but ive read some posts saying its usually afternoon rain and it lasts one hour more or less and then it stops.
I thought krabi and phuket were a very nice destination. I will be going later on to bora bora, so i thought it would be along the same range.

Kathie,
im planning on spending 11 days in thailand
I was thinking 4 nights at chiang mai
3 nights in bangkok and 4 nights in phuket or krabi

I didn't mean that Krabi or Phuket weren't very nice destinations, but they are beach resorts, which is different from being in a city where you have more of the history and culture available to you.. The activities available will be similar to (but not nearly as expensive as) those in Bora Bora. Is this all part of the same trip?

If you're ok with the rain, then that's fine, but I wanted to warn you, as some people feel their whole trip is ruined if it rains.

heheh thaks katie,
im fine with the rain as long as it doesnt rain all day and every day
getting back to which is better
would you opt for krabi or phuket? in terms of beaches
and also amanpuri or rayavendee in terms of hotels and activities?

krabi and phutet would be the same for weather and this year things have been odd so who knows for the coming year...

neither is a fabulous beach destination, imo....they are nice and there are some unique things about each but the beaches themselves are not all that great....

choose your hotel carefully...aman is the lux of lux but the price of price as well....

i would have more days in bkk and less in CM...personally....choose a river hotel in bkk....the penn or oriental in the super lux class...

fyi....your first two days need to be adjustment days as you will be very tired from your long flight...

tks for the info
how many nights in chiang mai should I stay?

Regarding the weather in the South, I lived for some years on Phuket and it can vary a great deal year to year. You can have 7 days of solid sunshine, it could be a few hours rain, of it could be very heavy monsoon torrential rain, you simply cannot tell.
The plus side though is that hotel rates a the lowest at that time, there are a lot of resorts and beach areas, Koh Yao island is what many 'imagine', very quiet, one hour by boat from Phuket, hammocks on the beach, quality resorts, but if it rains you can even get 'stuck' on the island.
There are plenty of beach areas and islands in the Gulf which enjoys good weather at that time, Koh Samui busy touristy island but with some excellent hotel resorts with pool villas etc, even to your very own luxury villas. There are smaller islands and coastal beaches with good fine resorts.
You do not have to spend a fortune for good accommodation in Thailand, something I know other posters will also mention, make sure you decide in your own how how you want to spend the time, how much beach time you want, if you are interested in having lots of restaurants to choose from or if you simply want some comfortable luxury accommodation to relax, enjoy the hotel/resort restaurants, take walks along the beach etc.
Hiow much time you intend to spend in your hotel itself can also reflect where to choose, if you want to get out and about, do some treks or adventure activities you might feel you do not need to hit the very top levels of accommodation.

If you 'do' choose to chance the weather Krabi is more scenic in nature and scenery is a big thing, but again to get to the best beaches it often means a trip in a small boat and then you hit the weather issue once again, it's no fun in a tropical storm caught in a narrow long tail boat!!
Also decide if yuo want to stick to the main tourist areas or if you actually 'want' to get out and see more of what can very loosly be termed as more of the real Thailand, it certainly 'does' exist and reasonable accommodation ( 3 star ) available almost everywhere, but it all comes down to how you want to spend your time.

If you are creative with sleepers and wakeups (see your travel doc), the transition from the US to TL will be easy. On the plane, figure out the TL time and begin your antijetlag routine. In general, sleep when you leave the US for about 4/5 hours than stay up until you get to your hotel in TL. Then crash for 6/7 hours, get up and go.

That way, you can hit the ground, running and not waste any time acclimating. That having said, the trip back might be harder. But, who'll notice at work, eh?