One week to Asia
 

If you could go to Asia for one week, and have never been, where would you go? This would be in August (which I realize will be hot, sticky and crowded in most places...but a chance to go to Asia is a chance to go to Asia. A mix of relaxation and culture might be great - - maybe a few days in BAngkok and some in Koh Samui? Open to any and all suggestions. And if you happen to think of places that have Starwood properties, that would be amazing...

Note that this would be leaving from NYC so it's a long way to go...Thanks!

Bangkok is a good option. There are quite a number of excellent Starwood properties in Bangkok. Koh Samui would be nice, though I don't know about Starwood properties there. There is a lovely Sheraton, I understand, near Hua Hin, which is a 2-2.5 hour drive from Bangkok (certainly less expensive than the pricey flight between Bangkok and Koh Samui).

You might also consider Hong Kong as an option or Bali. All would make very nice one week trips.

Thanks Kathie for your note. I think HK and Bali were further so I was leaning towards Thailand out of the three. Any more thoughts would be appreciated!

>>>And if you happen to think of places that have Starwood properties, that would be amazing...<<<


Greetings shothyme. Concerning Starwood properties in beloved Bangkok, I've had the privilege of staying at the St. Regis, Royal Orchid, Sheraton Grande and Westin Grande. The vast majority of those visits have been for work. Of the four, I give the clear edge to my current and primary Bangkok business travel hotel, the St. Regis. (However, I remain partial to five other BKK properties I've always loved for business/leisure stays : the Four Seasons, Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental, the Krungthep Wing at the Shangri-La and a place I haven't visited recently, the Sukhothai. For various business reasons, it's the St. Regis BKK for me these days, and no complaints whatsoever; special friends, staff and rooms. As of late last week, the property was as fine as ever.)

Noticed from other posts you have young children. In that case, will propose the riverside Royal Orchid Sheraton for you. Haven't stayed at the ROS for work in quite sometime, but always experienced joyous times, down by the river. (And fine swimming.)

Wish I could help you with Starwood properties in our fine home of Singapore. (Until we acquired a property in SIN, the Four Seasons was my primary Singapore business travel hotel.) Will say, all of my visits to the public venues of the St. Regis Singapore have been most satisfactory. Beautiful, well-managed hotel.

Wherever you stay, enjoy your week. And, should you need any assistance regarding airline travel, pleased to assist. Warm morning wishes from Singapore,

macintosh (robert)


... Singapore Airlines, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

thailand is a good choice as is singapore

bkk starwood: plaza anthanee is excellent, sheraton grande, not the meridien--bad location, westin is ok... i think there is a new hotel on soi 11, sukhumvit...royal orchid sheraton is older but right on the river and cheap with points..

sheraton krabi is excellent...

le meridien at khao lak is fabulous...

4 pts sheraton bkk

4 Points in BKK is on soi 15. I'll be staying there in July, in a jr suite.

When I lived in New York I often made one week trips to Asia (for business, not pleasure, though) and I can tell you that the jet lag on both ends consumes a lot of energy.

My advice would be to choose one place that you can get to with the fewest flights. From New York you can fly non-stop to several cities. My top picks for cities would be Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore (Business Class), Tokyo. Flight time is variable, but in the scheme of things an hour or two isn't really the issue.

If you don't want a city or want a combination of two environments then you're looking at two flights so you want to make sure the connections are good. Airport time -- transit, security etc, not just the time in the air -- can really eat into a week's trip.

For that reason Bali is a good choice because the connections from New York through several Asian cities are good and because it's a both compact and diverse. You can experience nature and culture and stay on the ground.

There are several Starwood properties in Bali. Maybe not my top picks but okay for a portion of the stay.

Wherever you choose, August is high season in Asia so reserve early and expect inflated rates.

A week in "Asia" is a very short amount of time to try to see a huge geographic area and a huge mix of cultures. Due to the time difference, it will take you the better part of 2 calendar days of travel to get here (if you leave on Saturday morning, you won't arrive until Sunday dinnertime or even Monday morning depending on your routing and destination). You will gain a day on the return (assuming you fly east), which means if you leave Sunday morning you will get to NYC on the same Sunday morning, so that does make up for some of it, but still you will have at most 6 days on the ground. If you travel within Asia, you will need at least half a day to do that. I agree that jet lag may affect you more than you realize; hard to say. So my first suggestion is to add more time to the trip.

I also have to say frankly that coming 12,000 miles to sit on a beach when you only have a 6 days may not be the best use of time. While Koh Samui is quite pretty, the beaches are not the most stunning in the world (the Maldives so far get my vote and the Caribbean has some really lovely ones, frankly prettier than Koh Samui IMO). You also will be missing the chance to see something you can't get elsewhere.

You also might want to consider really once-in-a-lifetime sights like the Great Wall, the clay soldiers of Xian, Ankor Wat, Borobudur, the volcanoes of Java. I agree that Bangkok is very interesting, but perhaps combing it with some world heritage sights may be a better use of time. Bali is a good choice in this repspect but is quite, quite touristy at this point; you need to choose areas carefully IMO (and Starwood would not be where I am talking about).

Also, without knowing your interests, it's difficult to really give good advice. If you are a scuba diver, then going to Yap or Sipdian may be the best use of your week. So do some reading up on various options.

If you want to avoid heat and humidity, a place like Bhutan or the Himalayan areas of Ladakh in India may be better choices for you. It's winter tending toward spring in Australia and New Zealand and you can ski in some places, not to mention just enjoying some good weather elsewhere.

Starwood hotels are quite well represented here, so you should not have an issue in most places.

As a former (native) New Yorker, my vote also goes to Bali...for culture, nature and beach time. Much more relaxing than Bangkok, which is a fascinating city but huge, polluted and super congested with traffic. Plus Bali's August weather is terrific compared to much of Asia.

bali would be a good choice for sure.. aug. is high season there

Thanks for all your suggestions. Bali sounds like a great option, but I don't think we can get there from NYC without at least 2 stops (london, singapore). Would you still say it's worth it? Seems like we could arrive at other Asian cities directly...Bangkok, Singapore...Thoughts? And thanks.

To get to Bali with one stop, you can fly non-stop to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul and some others then connect non-stop to Bali. The Singapore non-stop is great but it's only business. Second choice would be Cathay through Hong Kong on Cathay, which offers good connections.

You may have trouble with flights in August, though. It's a very busy time for travelers -- both vacationers and students.

My top picks for a week in an Asian CITY would be Bangkok, Tokyo, Hong Kong. Maybe Singapore. It's like choosing between London, Paris and Rome. Eventually you have to see them all.

Having visited all the places mentioned at least once for someone going for the first time I almost cannot imagine doing it in a week. But if you are in great health and can take a night flight over and get 6-7 hours of continuous sleep I suppose it is doable. My first pick is Bangkok for 4 full days with a guide/driver and 3 days in Bali with at least 2 with a guide/driver. That may add up to 8 days away from NYC buut it would give you 2 very distinct experiences. Though others disagree I find Singapore only interesting to 1-2 days and Hong Kong about the same (though 20 years ago I could easily spend 4 days in HK. this combination offers beautiful temples and natural beautiful agricultural fields and mountains. If you added 2 full days I suppose I would add Singapore.