Bill-- I agree that they're fun. I spend a lot of my life debating far more serious issues so it's relaxing to become heated over a "hotel". :-) And, you're right -- no one has to open it unless they find it fun as well.

Laurie...Your fashion sense has NOT been insulted. I and MANY others I know are just sick and tired of the big companies coming in and buying out everyone and then dumping their very one-dimentional fashion sense/style on everyone.TOTALLY fed up. I hear the lament from friends and acquaintances, all of the time. Plus, I'm tired of seeing our own west coast style quickly starting to fade away due to the big companies...from other states... dictating to everyone as to what to wear or not wear and then only carrying a VERY narrow vision of fashion/style in their stores...making it difficult to go against the flow. My mom complains about it all the time. It's difficult for her to find decent clothing at her age. I remember when we were once a very eclectic/funky state. I buy some items at Macy's,too since there are times I have to go to the big department stores and there are times when I have to buy main stream clothes. But, I can mix things with items bought at smaller, more specialized and creative stores to not end up looking like a Stepford Wife. It just takes more work since I have to drive all over to find something different instead of being able to buy it in a department store as I once could do here. Thank goodness for Anthropologie. I prefer T.J.Maxx myself... where I can pick up odds and ends.There's a lot of overpriced junk in Macy's which is why I search for interesting clothes overseas...mostly ethnic...or have pieces made overseas.If I'm going to dish out big bucks for something then it had better be very well made and I definitely don't want to see myself all over town. As far as this topic and the sushi topic goes...well...it's a breath of fresh air from..."What hotel shall I stay at in Bangkok".I almost feel that I'm in the Europe Forum (Paris) where they discuss such things. Smiles.... Happy Travels!

Bill....It's cheaper to get clothes custom made in Southeast Asia than it is to purchase a lot of that overpriced stuff at Macy's. Happy Travels!

Guen - yes your right but thats an expensive plane ride over!

Men have it great- they buy off the rack and if another guy at work has the same shirt on- its no big deal- they laugh about it. Women dread the thought!

Actually my complaint about Macy taking over Marshall Field's has nothing to do with the merchandise. I just think that the store on State Street in Chicago which is a landmark building with tiffany ceilings should be able to keep its name. It's part of Chicago history. It would be like changing the name of Macy's in NY. As a Chicagoan I'm outraged. I don't care what they call the branch stores -- but the one on State Street should stay the name it was born with.

I'm with Guen in doing very little clothes shopping in any department store. Get as much as I can made -- pay a lot less and get things that actually fit, and are in the colors and styles that work for me rather than some 90 pound tall woman (I'm the opposite). When I first started going to Bangkok I only had dressy things made. Now I do casual as well. Right now I'm wearing a pair of cotton pants I had made last year -- Reed (Cotton House) copied a pair of Eileen Fisher pants that I love. Had 3 pairs made in 3 great colors and all 3 didn't equal the price of the original pair. I'm making my list for January.

those who feel strongly about the Field's issue may sign this petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/smf2005/petition.html

I agree with you Gloria! I haven't been to Chicago...only in the airport...but had planned to take a trip there, one day, to experience Marshall Fields. But, it will all become history since Macy's will do to Marshall Fields what they did to our beloved,"Bullocks" here on the west coast. And trust me...once the take over occurs, the store will NEVER be the same. As to those who feel that their fashion sense has been insulted...well...don't take things so personally. Get a thick skin...like Gloria...who has been hit on this board harder and more than ANYONE for staying at the Oriental, but has never come out whining. Although she and I don't always agree on things, to say the least, and we have definitely had our tiffs,...I really like her spunk! And who hasn't been hit by Orgy? I just read it all, laugh hysterically and let it ALL roll off my back! The maddness on this forum surely breaks up a ho-hum day. Happy Travels!

My day isn 't complete unless I can pound on Gloria at least once!

Guenmai, I wasn't really insulted, just having some fun, though I really wasn't sure how to take your comment since it came immediately after my comment about being a Macy's shopper. The reason I shop at Macy's a lot is because I get a 20% discount there, my mom has a lifetime discount (good at Blommies and all Federated stores too) and I find that Macy's has great sales on designer clothes. I almost never pay full price for anything. I also never have a problem finding things off the rack that fit me so shopping is easy. I also need to dress a little more conservately for work being a judge, so Macy's and Ann Taylor (another favorite) work for me. I've had a couple of suits made over in BKK and may have a few things made in Kuala Lumpur but I really hate going for the fittings. I also tend to get things I can wear to work when doing custom but maybe this time I'll try something fun. No harm done, my skin has become quite thick over the years. Looking forward to meeting you in Boston. I hope you wear one of your custom made outfits for us to see. And if I look like a Stepford Wife, well, it's the closest Eric will ever get to having one ;-)

I also enjoy the Oriental v Pen debate, but this one was getting like a political argument--I was afraid Gloria and Bill might (virtually) kill each other! Although I stay at the Pen, I love the Oriental's restaurants and I'm absolutely sure I would love staying there. I just can't see spending the money when I'm perfectly happy at the Pen. One day I will though, just so I can see if I prefer one over the other.

And Guenmai and Gloria, your point about stores being taken over is well taken. I don't like it either when a big store comes in and buys everyone out, leaving no choice and no competition.

Laurie -- wait awhile. If the Pen is doing as well as everyone says and if it continues to get the ratings I would bet that its prices will soom equal that of the Oriental. As long as you love where you are it would be silly to spend the extra money. And I also firmly believe that the more time you spend at one hotel the better the experience becomes.

Gloria, I remember when the Pen first opened, you could get a room, with breakfast and tax/service for a little over $100 per night so you're right about the price creeping up. I was shocked to see how much they've gone up since I was there two years ago, when we had a grand deluxe room with breakfast, tax and service for $165/night. I do want to experience the Oriental however, which would bave been my first choice if not for the Pen. I actually wanted to stay at the Oriental when I had a travel agent put together a trip for us to VN, Cambodia and Thailand about 5 or 6 years ago. She booked us into the Pen and all I knew was the one in Hong Kong was very nice. We ran into a couple from California while in Siem Reap who had just stayed in the Pen in BKK and they said it was the best hotel they ever stayed at so I was pleased that it wouldn't be a dump (like the hotel we had in Siem Reap was). When we got to BKK and saw the hotel and our room, I thought I died and went to heaven and we've been in love ever since.

Laurie-- if you want to know what a dump looks like someday I'll show you pictures of my hotel and room in SDiem Reap in 1993 (or was it 1992). There was an inch of water in my room at all times and that was the good part. When I hear about trips to Angkor Wat today I'm thrilled that I was there for 4 days and saw a TOTAL of two other tourists. We literally had every temple to ourselves. But believe me I had to suffer to have the experience.

Gloria, you just gave me my best laugh of the day! Our hotel wasn't that bad (it was the Angkor Hotel) but I was not a happy camper there. I think the worst hotel I ever stayed in was in London, in 1990, called the President Hotel. Great location on Russell Square but pretty horrible in every other way, and they had the nerve to charge $120/night back then. While we didn't have any water in the room, there was a roach in the bathtub, which my husband killed before I saw it.

I remember my cousin and her husband, who went with us, would push their twin beds together every night, and every day, the maid would seperate them. She just never got it. It became a running joke after a while.

Laurie -- I know the President well. Stayed there myself once sometime in the 1980s. Let's say, I never returned. I think the hotel was about $50 at the time but was definitely not a value even at that price ;-) But compared to the place in Siem Reap, many of the hotels along the Karakorum Highway I stayed in in 1996, the hotels in the central highlands of Vietnam in 1995, not to mention the dumps in the High Atlas Mountaisn in the 1980s -- the President was the Peninsula or Oriental of hotels.

Ok, I plead guilty for coming back to this post after not being really positive about the content. I guess everyone has a "hotel from hell" story that only Fodorites would appreciate. Ours was in Pamukkale, Turkey in 1998 - I forget the name of it, a 1950's dinosaur that had never been refurbished. Our original reservation was for a hotel that was in the process of being demolished so we had no choice but to put up with what was available - all part of the adventure of traveling in third world countries.

We were in Pamukkale in 1996 and our hotel was a dump as well. I don't think there was much of a choice. Our room wasn't heated and it was freezing and Eric was running a fever so I asked for some heat, which they refused to give. I very calmly told them that if my husband got worse due to their neglect, I would sue them. Why they listened to me I don't know but they moved us to a room with heat.

laurieco, it might be better if your wear one of those bright yellow/orange jacket that the highway workers wear. btw, the also have airconditioned dining areas. if i'm there when you are, yes, a definite get together, maybe even with orgy.

orgy, wow! so it was the sushi issue, and its still going. lol.

guenmai, what is your favorite arrondissement in paris. i've stayed once for three days in the third...yes, yes, this is the asia board, but this thread has gone everywhere. lol.

Kuranosuke...I have been staying in the 6th almost annually since 1981. Between 1976 and 1981 I stayed all over and tried out a lot of different areas and hotels, of course, in order to figure out where I wanted to end up. I prefer the 6th...north of Blvd. St. Germain, but my $18.00 a night room, in 1981, that went up only to $50. a night in 1990 suddenly jumped to $130. in 1991 after the hotel closed for a year of renovation...as in new wall paper and a toilet in the room instead of directly across the hall from the room...big deal. So,I contacted a close French friend who is a hotel manager of one of the hotels I used to regularly stay at and after she got off from work we walked the whole area and went into hotel after hotel and were given tons of key to go and check out different rooms. That's how I found a new home-away-from-home hotel...after HOURS of walking and looking at places.The one she suggested is the one I ended up in. I hadn't heard of it, before she told me about it. But, she knew what I was looking for. So, I had to move a block south of Blvd. St. Germain, but even the new hotel is a fortune. Paris has gotten absolutely ridiculously expensive...even if the exchange rate were still $1.00=1Euro...it would still be outrageously expensive! The Four Seasons,Paris, last year, on Expedia was going for over $600.a night for a standard room. My new two-star hotel, with an elevator so small that only one person and one piece of luggage can fit in it, was going for 127 Euro, for a small standard room. This was less than a year ago. My room at the Y in Singapore( S$80./$47). is way better than my room in Paris for 124 Euros! Plus in Singapore, breakfast is included. In Paris it's about $17. for...basically... a bagette and a croissant, a hardboiled egg,cheese...which I don't eat... and something to drink. Happy Travels!

Guen-- I'm also a 6th kind of gal. But the prices in Paris and London have kept me away from both places for several years. In fact my only european trips in the last 8 years have been to florence, amsterdam and dublin. And this year I told my dutch frind that if she wanted to see me she would have to come to Chicago -- which she did. Her money went a lot farther here than mine would go there.