rob49

Hi out there! my wife and will be touring later in thai and any help with these hotels would be fantasic:-
BKK Tai-Pan
Chaing mai The Empress
Chaing Rai Wiang Inn
Phuket Karona resort and spa
and if anybody has used Sai from gothailand tours how were things and was it good value?
Thanks for any help.

sharon815

I've used Sai, recommended her without reservation to lots of people (including people on this board who've also used her) and I'm in the process of booking with her again for next December. Just tell me what you'd like to know and I'll help anyway I can.

Scotters

Tai Pan - Good location, about a 5 minute walk to skytrain/subway stations. First impression is that the hotel has seen better days but the staff are friendly/helpful and the rooms while worn looking without much charm are very clean and well looked after. Pool is small and half covered.
Get the deluxe room which is only 300 baht more than the standard.

Empress - Popular and good hotel that mostly has good reviews.

Wiang Inn - Good hotel centrally located and close to restaurants and night market. Rooms are basic but clean. Staff helpful and friendly. Again for the price difference get a superior or deluxe room. Much nicer than the standard.

austine

Stayed at the Karona Resort and Spa in March and we loved it. It is a smaller hotel across the street from the ocean. The rooms (we got the deluxe on the top floor) were spacious and clean and we had a great view of the pool and the beach. The staff was pleasent and helpful. the only drawback was there were lots of stairs to climb if you are place on the top floor but I plan on returning to the Karona Resort again. If you are looking for a really good meal when staying at the Karona look for the (I think it was called) Eurocafe. When you exit the hotel and go down to the street take a left and go about 2 or 3 blocks. It is on the left. It did not have much ambiance but the thai food was wonderful and the presentation of the food was like being in a five star restaurant. Believe it or not the best Tarimisu I ever had was at this cafe. Along with Thia food it offered European food as well but we did not try that. We went there numerous times for the great Thai food.

rob49

many thanks you guys.
sharon815 you have put our minds at ease about sai and we are looking forward to our trip! Scotters thanks for your info on the hotels we will upgrade a little now! sounds as if you have done the same sort of trip we will be doing. Thanks Augustine we will certainly try to find the eurocafe
and we will have a drop of something with a meal and toast you all MANY thanks to you all.{sorry about the delay in replying, iam away all week working}

stitchintime

I have stayed at the Empress in Chiang Mai. It is a fine hotel with clean rooms although somewhat small. It is a little distance to walk to the Night Market and restaurants. If you have a choice, you might try Imperial Mae Ping. It is much closer and easy walk to the Night Market, restaurants and
many shoppint area. For something fun, I recommend Chiang Mai Cooking School run by the owners of the restaurant The Wok. It is about $20-25 per person for the whole day.