orgy7

lol.. how did I get the reputation for hating lux hotels... I also mix it up when travaling.. 1 day in a $5 guesthouse and the next at a Sheroton or what ever. heck I need a place with a tub too wash my cloths for free..

LM343534frff... I checked out www.asiatravel.com
(which a couple of us on this site regularly use and from quicly punching in Jan dates for samui. only 2 properties came up.. kind of odd.

so what dates are you planning to be outside of HK...

JamesA

If you can get the Amari for $150 it's a bargain, but do check that is not some 'from' price or a start price and end up paying lots more, also check availability.
Decide on which beach, Chaweng is busiest, Lamai next option, Bophut is quieter but easy and quick to get into Chaweng.

I think it will be more an issue of that is available rather than being able to choose, you might get lucky but be prepared for places being full. If yuo use an R24 site you can ut in say 5 or 6 of those within your price range/beach and then ick the box for alternative, you do NOT have to give any credit card details at all to make the booking enquiry, they will come back with which of those 'are' available or if all full others within your range. OThen you have a certain number of days in which to accept or not and only at that time do they want c/card info, so you are not commited at all making the enquiry. The total accommodation is over 120 places , Poppies is a good option but it gets a large % or return business so would probably be full. For a full list:

www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/samui/hotels
then just go for 5 or 6 around the prices/beach range and see availability. Samui is much busier now than before.
Also if you are flying into Bangkok remember that dec 24 thu Jan 4th is absolute peak domestic travel.

JamesA

Just to add from that link their main office is actually 'on Samui' itself so they are in a good position to get availability.

LM3682

We are tentatively looking to fly into Bangkok on Jan 2. Because of the way the flight works out, we wouldn't go to the beach area till the 3rd. Head to Hong Kong on Jan 7th.

marmot

LM, As the mother of a college student I say "Listen to your parents." As a confirmed Bali-phile and American living in Indonesia, I say "You're missing a great opportunity."

Have fun in Thailand and Hong Kong!

hobbes

LM. you could also cosnider a Vietnam beach - they are beautiful and have some great resorts. Will be less busy than Thailand and are very near HK.

LM3682

Okay, so due to all of your helpful information, we're going to go to Samui. We can stay at either the Buriraya or the Nora Resort. Anybody have any feedback? Nora is cheaper

Also, is Bangkok Air the only company we should consider flying from Samui to Hong Kong? Does anybody else fly direct who is reputable? Just trying to compare prices. It's about $200/person right now, one way.

Thanks!

LM3682

Okay, so I lied. I don't know if we'll do Samui now...I just read the tripadvisor.com reviews of the Nora and Buriraya and I wasn't impressed. They don't sound centrally located, the beaches don't sound great. I haven't found availability for anything else...

So maybe I'm back to Phuket now...apparently we can stay at the Katathani for a reasonable price and that got great reviews across the board.
I just have the con of not being able to fly direct to HK...
So are the Samui resorts "bad" enough to justify additional flying time in order stay at the nicer Phuket places?

SJLBK

I don't know where you are looking for hotels, but believe it or not, Expedia has a ton of availability for your dates. Chaweng Regent is coming up at $200/night and that is smack dab in the middle of Chaweng beach, near all the stuff with a great beach.

Bankgok Air owns the airport on Samui, so it is the ONLY airline you can fly into/out of Samui

LM3682

Yeah, part of the problem is we have about 10 adults wanting to go...so a lot of hotels may have one or two rooms, but not five. I've started emailing hotels directly to see if they can offer anything better than the expedias and asiatravels. So we'll see!!

Thanks for the info on Bangkok air out of Samui!

SJLBK

With that many people, have you considered renting a private villa? There are a ton that sleep anywhere from 8-12 people.

LM3682

SJLBk- I did look into a villa, but the few I contacted would only rent for the entire month of January I guess this is what we get for going the peak week and not planning ahead further (although we really didn't have a choice with the our conference in China worked out). Thanks for the suggestions though!

JamesA

10 people won't be easy, for the peak time bookings are made a long way ahead. bangkok Airways only airline flying non stop HKG-Samui, otherwise via BKK, but again Bangkok Airways only airline BKK-Samui.
I think you will have to take what is offered, again there are those booking services that you can make enquiries to find out what is available without having to commit to anything, you can perhaps choose 4 or 5 places and then tick that box for other options and if your choice is not available then they will tell you what they have that 'is' available, all without any commitment on your part.
be very very careful of any site that asks for credit card details in order to make an 'enquiry', use those where you can find out what is available first and then they give you several days to decide, I think you may have to give up on choosing specific accommodation and go for what is on offer.
I thought Amara was available for $150 or did they not have enough rooms?
Nora beach has a lot of good reviews too, those reviews are peoples own opinions remember.

Perhaps as 10 of you, you could go back to original and avoid flights from Bangkok altogether and head to Hua Hin, you can get a 10 seater mini-van for I am guessting about USD 100, so for $10 each from Bangkok Airport to the beach saves you a sunstantial amount over 10 x air fares!!
Maybe try Chom View Apartments, a 2 bedroom duplex/apartment for 4 costs about USD 125 that time

JamesA

You can put in requests without any c/card to find what is available on this:

http://www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/samui/hotels/

Just go for say 5 choices in range/beach ( Chaweng if you want busy ) and tick the box that says you are interested in similar, doesn't costs a cent and see what they can offer you.
or if you choose Hua hin so you don't have to worry about flights do the same, though I still think the new Wora Bura for the price is a bargain.