Recommendations on trip to Laos, CAmbodia, Thailand
 

My husband and I are planning a 3 week trip to SE Asia for early next year. I have thought a lot about the design of the trip and what will work with our wants and needs. My husband and I are in our late 60s. We prefer to see highlights of these countries in case we never get back to the region again. In case we do return, we can add this trip experience to others
in the future.The plan now is to break the trip up into 4 night segments. It looks like this:

First 4 nights: Arrive and stay 2 nights in Bangkok and then transfer to Elephant Hills Camp.

Next 4 nights: Fly to Chiang Mai in the early evening, which gives us 3 full days and a half day before we leave for Laos.

Next 4 nights: Leave Chiang Mai around 3:15 p.m. and arrive in Luang Prabang around 4:30 p.m. Get into town in time for dinner and night market fun. We will have 3 full days and an evening and half day before we leave for Siem Reap.

Next 4 nights: Fly to Siem Reap around 3 pm, arriving an hour and a half later in time for dinner. We will have 3 full days and a good part of the last day before we leave for Bangkok.

Rest of trip: Fly back to Bangkok in the late afternoon or early evening. Spend 3 days exploring Bangkok before departing for home.

We luckily have lots of hotel points to spread around except for hotels in Luang Prabang. I like staying in town or close to it. Any thoughts on Apsara, Hotel 3 Nagas, or Belle Rive Boutique Hotel?

Also, in Siem Reap, we could stay at either the Courtyard Marriott or the Park Hyatt. Any suggestions to help us make that decision.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I think this isa reasonable plan.

In Siem Reap, I highly recommend the Park Hyatt over the Marriott Courtyard.

Haven't stayed at any of the places you mention in LP, though I know people who have stayed at both the Apsara and Hotel 3 Nagas and gave them good reviews. I hd to look up Belle Rive Boutique Hotel, and it has an e excellent locations as well. I think any of these three would be good for you.

In Luang Prabang: we stayed at the Apsara in December 2014 and would absolutely stay there again. We also had a fabulous New Year's Eve meal at the Apsara restaurant.

Looks like a decent plan. I think that will work very well

We have stayed in both the 3 Nagas and The Apasara. If money is no object then go for the 3 Nagas, a great hotel in a prime location. but make sure you get a room in the main hotel not the annexe across the road which is not as nice. We got upgraded to a suite on the corner with a balcony which overlooked the monks procession route and amazing place for photos and watching the monks.

Also atayed at the Apsara which is considerable cheaper but still a very nice hotel just of the ma8n drag. In the interests of full disclosure, the last time we were in LP was 11 years ago so things may have changed..

3 Nagas is now an Accor property so I would join their loyalty program for special offers and member discounts.

Thanks for the input. I am also considering the Mekong Riverside Hotel, which is at the very end of the peninsula, a bit further than the 3 Nagas, which is pricey at that time of year. Any info on that one?

I also need to figure out where to stay the first two nights in Bangkok. We arrive at the S. International airport on the 2nd, but fly out of Don Muang for our flight to Elephant Hills on the 4th. Originally, I was going to stay at the Le Meridien on points, which is close to the first airport. However, that hotel is not that close to Don Muang. Not sure if we should just stay in central Bangkok, which seems to be mid way between the two or stay near the Don Muang airport for both nights or stay at Le Meridien for both nights and get up extra early to get to Don Muang for the 8:20 flight. It seems like a lot of moving around to stay at Le Meridien for the first night and the hotel next to Don Muang for the second night. Any thoughts?

For BKK, my recommendation is to stay IN Bangkok rather than near either one of the airports. You have enough time to get a taste of Bangkok and eat really good food rather than staying near the airports where there is little to see or do and no good restaurants.

I agree with Kathie stay in Central Bangkok. I would allow an hour to get to or from either airport. Most time it has taken us less time. If it does then that is a bonus. The last two times we were there we stayed at the Sofitel on Sukhumvit and https://hotelmusebangkok.com both very nice hotels but the Muse had the edge for me.

For your final few days in Bangkok, maybe choose somewhere by the river.

I presume you mean the Mekong RiverVIEW? If so, I don’t know the hotel but a quick look revealed it’s location which looks a little bit out of the way from the centre in a quiet part of th town. Probably no bad thing as I believe it is a lot busier since I was there.

Taking your recommendations on staying in BBK and on the river. We were able to use our points at the Park Hyatt in Siem Reap, too. Thanks for helping.