We used Fodor's and the very helpful advise from the regulars on this website to plan our trip. We visited Hong Kong, Koh Lanta, Chiang Mai and BKK from 12/13 to 1/2. The trip was wonderful. we had a great time and will definitely return to Thailand. the purpose fo this post is to give our opinion on the regularly visited sites and hotels, etc. The Thai are wonderful people, kind and friendly, it is safe, the food is just great, the bathrooms in thailand are far cleaner than you would even find in teh US even in out of hte way places. The shopping (at least what we saw) was very overpriced unless you were buying trinkets.

Koh Lanta:
We stayed at the Pimalai resort which was lovely. The pluses were the service, the location and the great beauty of the area. The negatives was the distance from the airport in Krabi to resort (2 hours) and the fact that room windows did not have screens. That fact took away somewhat from the enjoymnet of the resort because if you opened the doors to breathe the air and hear the ocean, mosquitoes would come into room. Alternatively you had to stay in room with doors and windows closed and AC on. All in all a great resort though especially if they put in screens.

Chiang Mai: We were picked up by Poon who has very limited language ability but is very nice. You would do well if you know exactly where you want to go (including name of shops etc.) otherwise it is very hard to explain to her what you really want as far as shopping. We felt that she was taking us to some places where she could be getting commissions but could not be sure. I had read from many people's posts that there is great shopping in Chiang Mai. I was very surprised to see the exorbitant prices at the stores. I have travelled widely in India and the material and costs were much better there. In Chiang Mai, a simple lady's blouse costs $40 to sew with material. I thoughT I could find better stuff in the US. Decorative stuff was similarly overpriced. Chiang Mai itself is an okay city, in my opinion kind of run down and dirty without much charm. We ate at the whole earth restaurant which was very good. Antique house was horrible. Lampang was very nice but nicer still was the other elephant conservation site where you go rafting and ox cart riding. The other site was much better and closer. The high light of Chiang Mai was the amazing mandarin Oriental Dar Dhevi. I have stayed at some awesome hotels all over the world but this was something out of the ordinary. It was very expensive but if you are in Chiang mai, you should at least visit or if you can, stay there for a once in a lifetime experience. It was amazing beyond any expectation you can have of a hotel, in every aspect you can imagine, service, beauty, etc. Just AMAZING. If the reader needs additional details, I would be happy to elaborate.

BKK: We loved BKK. It was cosmopolitan and very beautiful near the river. Great selection of things to do and see and wonderful restaurants. My main comment here will be about the Oriental since so much seems to be said about it on Fodors. we had heard rave reviews of the Oriental in BKK and stayed there. Upon checkin our passports were taken (as in other hotels) and we sat waiting for 20 minutes until my husband asked for an update. The person who finally came back to take us to our room seemed distracted and took us to a room with no river view when we had paid for one. The room was changed and we were told by her that the room came with free cont. brkfst. Later a note arrived to say the room did not come with breakfast. We left the room for lunch and came back about 5 hours later to find that our luggage had still not arrived. On the way back to the hotel (very busy and lots of security) my husband was stopped at the entrance and politely asked "Can I help you?" despite being a guest at the hotel. By this time we had had enough and called the manager. After about 15 minutes our luggage finally arrived and the manager apologised about the luggage and the misinformation about the breakfast and the security issue saying that there were some ministers in the hotel which should still not be grounds for what happened. He gave us a free meal at one of their restaurants (the thai restaurant). The next day at breakfast we waited for 20 minutes for our breakfast. The table next to us fared worse and waited for 15 minutes for menus which did not arrive. Finally the husband got up and got the menus himself. Apologies were always made. The Oriental is a beautiful hotel, (nothing compared to the Dara Devi) and eventually the service improved, but for all the praise, I thought it would be better. It could have been the busy time of year (Christmas) but the mark of good hotel is its ability to give good service despite being very busy. The china House was great for lunch (Dim sum) very very good. We went for dinner though and had the Peking duck (highly praised on this board) and although the duck was good, the person who was cutting the duck was a novice and we ended up paying $30 for about 10 slices of the duck. They whisked the rest of hte duck away. We have had duck in Beijing on several occasions and it was not served that way.

As for sites, we did not care for the floating market since it was very commercial with trinket sellers. the Klong trip was very nice though so was the grand palace and Wat Pho. We also ate at Face (Indian restaurant ) and it was fantastic. It is worth the long trip from teh Oriental.

We were very lucky with weather too as it rained only one day in Koh Lanta and the weather in Chiang mai and BKK was very nice.

Thanks for the report!

As to your experience with the Oriental, I am sure Gloria will be calling there to straighten things out so this doesn't happen with the next person.

Thanks for your report, it was very informative. I've been trying to figure out where to splurge on a nice hotel in BKK for our last couple of nights. The Oriental was pretty steep (at least $60+ per night compared to the other hotels we're considering), and my regret that it was out of my price range is now somewhat lessened.

The Dhara Devi and Pimalai sound fantastic! Maybe next time...

GREAT report..
well we are splurging and spending our last night at the Oriental--I hope they've ironed out their kinks by then. I suppose we opted for the Oriental instead of the Penn based on fact that it's on the "right" side of river and has more historical presence. We also have a Penn in NYC...but hmm, hoping we made the right choice! Gloria, perhaps if I mention your name, they'll be more attentive

We travelled across the river to check out the Penninsula and found it to be very nice but it did not have the character and atmosphere of the Oriental. It looked like a beautiful five star hotel you would find in Maui or New York. At such a busy time of year the Penninsula seemed rather empty whereas there was so much going on at the Oriental (maybe too much) with the outdoor bbq and the restaurants etc at the Oriental. If I had to choose again, I would still opt for the Oriental (despite the initial blunders we experienced) because it does have a certain air and history about it that is unique to old landmark hotels.

monsoon, wow, such bad luck at the oriental. i've been there several times, even dressed in shorts, and not once did anyone ask me anything. the most acknowledgement i received was a friendly nod from the security staff.

as for the peking duck, its odd that the waiter did not ask you how you wanted the remainder of the duck prepared. they usually do this and present the remainder of the duck as part of the peking duck course.

try the shangrilla next time. the dim sum buffet is excellent and so was the peking duck.

Monsoon - what do you mean by the other elephant conservation camp? Do you remember the name? (I believe there are quite a few around Chiang Mai.) And are you saying you went to BOTH Lampang elephant camp and another one and that the other one was better? And if so, what was better about it? Would love more details! Thanks.
Karen

Moonsoon, Interesting to hear your very honest views on your trip and experiences. We had a very good experience with Poon and are using her again when we visit Chiang Mai in February. Her English is not very good, but somehow we managed to communicate very well and shared quite a few laughs. We also thought she was excellent for shopping -- She took us to places we wanted to go and also some very special places she knew, including a sculptor who did beautiful elephant carvings and a shop to find a teak spirit house. Did you also eat at any of the Dara Devi restaurants? We loved Grand Lanna, and Fujian is supposed to be fabulous. Interested to hear that Antique House was horrible. We had planned to go there, but now have second thoughts. What was so bad? Food? Service? Atmosphere?

interesting review....why would you ever consider go back to the oriental after that treatment?? as for security, i too have been asked but i murmured something and kept walking...

the penn lobby is never busy and that is why some of us like it...although i do also like the activity in the oriental lobby...the penn has nice outside restaurants as well, didn't you see them?? and the pool area at penn is much nicer...

ken---did you mean shangri-la?? am not aware of dim sum buffet there?? please tell...

as for shopping, i find it interesting that your comments about price and variety indicate that more is available and cheaper in the usa....where do you live?? maybe i should move there...i am in boston and i did not think things got much more expensive than this in usa....almost everything we see in thailand is cheaper, except ready made clothes and designer things in mall shops... $40 for a blouse seems cheap and that would be custom made to fit you not a standard size 10 at macy's....where it also would probably cost $65...

please take a look at gloria's review of the mandarin in CM...so different from yours..,.but of course this is what makes the world interesting...different strokes for different folks...

Sorry to hear about some of your dissapointing experiences. I hope it didnt spoil your holiday?

We had Poon in CM and whilst some times i couldn't always be sure she had grasped what i said, i found her enjoyable company and she even helped negotiate some prices for us in some shops that we chose to go into.Although i had given her a list of the types of things i wanted to buy but i think your point is well made that its a great idea to tell her exactly where you want to go.
Personally i find shopping in Thailand very resonable and great fun, but then i am from the UK and have you seen the prices here lately??
Now we LOVED Antique House 1 but i guess we are all different.

Glad you gave a report on the Pimalai, as that was somewhere we considered but i kind of got the impression the transfer was quite long.

I guess the Pen v the Oriental debate rages on (Bob i'm with you on this one!!!)

X

Bob- you don't need to go to BKK to get low prices- just come to Houston - everything here is much cheaper than in Boston!!!! (just kidding you- but its true!)

bill---but lower than bangkok or thailand?? clothes yes off the rack but not much else

Karen: Yes we went to both elephant camps, Lampang and another called Maetamann Elephant Camp and Rafting. If you go with Poon, she will know. The one we liked better was the Maetamann, as there was more to do there. The Mahoots were very friendly, the elephant ride was over beautiful terrain, throught the river, up hte mountain through forested areas and finally drop off to where you could get the oxe cart ride. We had lunch there and then took the raft down the river (about 45 minutes) which was just beautiful, Poon picked up us down river where the raft dropped us off. As nearly everywhere else in Thailand, the food was good and the bathroom facilities were clean. Be sure to take a sun hat, and apply deet for mosquitoes for any of these outdoor activities.

With respect to Poon, as I said before, you should really know where you want to go as far as shopping, otherwise, you could spend a long time travelling to shops which have very limited selection of items and overpriced. Otherwise, she went out of her way in taking us around to various sites. We had asked her to take us to see a non-touristy hill tribe and she really came through by taking us to a long neck tribe which is rare in chiang mai. It was one of the highlights of our trip to get to see this small tribe and talk to them. I would recommend this if you use Poon.

MO Dara Dhevi: Yes we tried the food at the Grand Lana on Christmas Eve. The atmosphere was magical, the Thai dance was stunning and the food was great. We also had breakfast at the hotel but did not try the Fujian although I heard that it was very good. Our villa was really a two story house, with kitchen, garden, running brook, outdoor furniture etc. It was set among other villas in an area that was made to look like an old Hutong neighborhood you would find in old Beijing. Horse drawn carriages pick guests up from their rooms and the entire hotel looks like part palace, part park, set among a working farm. During breakfast you sit in an area overlooking rice paddies with farmers working in them, water buffaloes,etc. On two occasions, a farmer sat on a buffalo playing the flute in the distance. It was unreal. Every imaginable thing was thought through carefully in the decor of the rooms, and the service in every respect was beyond anything we had experienced in any other five star hotel in the world. Very unfortunately, we did not use the spa, but the structure is a work of art that is mind boggling. (The roof of the spa was hand carved based on the roof design of a burmese palace. I can't say enough about this place. I have stayed at several palaces converted to hotels in India which are spectacular but the Dara Devi is something else and its website does not do it justice. You got to see it to believe it.

Antique house: the service was good, but the food was not. Maybe we did not order the right things. We did not care for the atmosphere either. One place Poon took us to was the Good Earth restaurant or something like that very close to the night market which was excellent. it had a very nice ambiance set in a garden like setting and the food was very good (both an indian and thai selection)

Bob: We live in Los Angeles and I generally don't shop from Macy's for clothes. I generally shop from the California Mart, Loehmans, where they sell designer clothes and other high end labels at reduced prices. I also shop at sale times at Neiman Marcus or Saks. There is greater selection, fabulous designs and lower prices based on my shopping style in Los Angeles than I found in Thailand. Clothes aside, we looked for silk items in chiang mai and found the prices exorbitant by Indian standards where I have previously had beautiful silk curtains made. Jim Thompson Store in BKK I found to be most overrated. They had nice silk makeup bags and other things made of silk at unrealistic prices. The only people I saw loading up on items there were Japanese tourists. Seeing the stuff they were selling and the prices in the regular store, I did not even bother going to the outlet which may have had lower prices but considering teh distance from bkk and perhaps a 20 or 30% discount, it was still not worth it.

As far as decorative stuff, we were again stumped in Thailand. Poon took us to the Celadon factory, although we bought a few items, it was not a bargain by any stretch of the imagination. We also visited the much talked about Sop Moie in Chiang Mai, they had nicer stuff but they were asking for nearly $100 for a table runner with 6 place mats. I could probably pay a similar price in Neiman Marcus for something better. As for wooden statues and carvings, the prices were a little less than Los Angeles withouth having to haul these large items from Thailand. So all in all I personally did not find shopping a bargain in Thailand.

I also had a blouse made at the cotton House at the Oriental Plaza in BKK for about $35 which turned out very nice after a couple of fittings.

bob, yes, its the shang palace in the shangri-la hotel. excellent dim sum buffet that you order from the menu. if you go, try the shrimp shumai in bird nest soup. i was a guest, but i think it cost 850b pp, including a fruit drink(i had the watermelon drink).

since i'm writing about restaurants, heres two more that the gang here might want to consider:

d'sens: french restaurnat atop the dusit thani hotel. excellent executive two course lunch. i had the foie gra for appetizer and the crispy rock lobter for the entree. also included is a bread basket of four different breads, and the best butter i ever tasted. jean-yves(manager) said it comes from a region just outside of normandie, where they have the best cows. you get a small choc. moussee for dessert. 850b.

la piola italian restaurant at the end of soi 11 suk. just past the bed. small family own rest. run by mama angela. two set meals, a full course which includes a meat or fish entree, or the lite meal. i went twice and had the lite meal, which was not exactly lite, but delicious. the anchovy-garlic dip with warm olive oil was fabulous as a dip for the fresh crisp vegetables, and as a spread for the various breads. papa angela was busy outside the rest. smoking and oogling at the ladies entering the q bar. 850b for the lite meal.

Bob - BKK is cheaper on a number of things than Houston of course! But Houston is much cheaper on a number of fronts than Boston. Housing, food, services, cars, and on and on and on.

but bill, bob has a playoff team, while houston gets the number one pick. lol. maybe bush country gets another bush.

We (meaning Texas) also have the college football champion- Go Horns!!!!!!!!!

kuranosuke:
OK, just saw the d'sens menu online and it looks great...will try it next month in bkk. Only thing no spam
Aloha!
ps are you sure that wasn't orgy7, not papa angela oogling?

ht, easy to get to. i think its the sala daeng bts stop. go for lunch, as its not so crowded. ask jean to explain the menu for you. a fine frenchman, who loves green papaya salad from the street.(married to a thai lady).

sry, no spam. just great food, fantastic view, excellent service, and knowledgeable wine steward.

It's unfortunate that you had that experience at the Oriental. I had the opposite experience in Aug 2005. Everything went very smoothly and I even checked in hours before official check-in time and with no problem. I asked for late check-out....as to go for a fitting at the seamstress... and it was not a problem and there was no extra charge. My problems were definitely with the Pen back in Aug 2004. Happy Travels!