Thank you for Thailand advice!!
Jul 18th, 2008 | 01:01 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
Thank you for Thailand advice!!
Bob, Kathy, rhkkmk, Gloria, Carol, JamesA and Shanek - Thank you all so much for your advice for our Thailand holiday. We arrived home yesterday after a most wonderful 10 days away. We left Auckland and got to Sydney but our onward flight was cancelled, which was further compounded by our kids' passports not having 6 months to run on them...we didn't know they had to. Luckily the NZ consulate in Sydney kindly did it within hours for us. That meant we missed our first night at Marriott Resort and Spa and we changed the order of the holiday then and decided to stay in Bangkok straight off. We stayed at the Pullman Bangkok King Power and had the most wonderful time. We got 4 full days in Bangkok which was just a taster. We all loved it. Had a massage each day, ate fabulous food from Bob's list of favoured restaurants, visited the Jim Thompson House, went on a boat tour of some of the klongs, visited the Grand Palace, visited lots of street markets as well as MBK and Siam shops etc, went 10 pin bowling in top of MBK on the only wet morning, saw an art exhibition, fed an elephant in the street and much much more. We loved the Pullman and enjoyed coming back to it each night. They have a private tuktuk to take you the couple of blocks to the train (it was incredibly hot) but we got taxis everywhere - we enjoyed the sightseeing on the way and the aircon. It was never more than 65 B so we paid them 100 B which is only several NZ$ to go anywhere we wanted - if they didn't hassle us to go to a tailor or jewellery store for 'gasoline vouchers'...Staff at the Pullman were amazing and the hotel was very luxurious - it felt like a sanctuary.
We then had four nights at Hua Hin staying at the old Sofitel. It wasn't as luxuriously comfortable as the Pullman but we felt very special staying in such an exquisite environment with all the animal topiaries and being on the edge of such a lovely beach. It felt very Somerset Maugham. We really enjoyed Hua Hin. I did a THai cooking class at the Sofitel and visited the morning food markets several times. There were things to do with the kids and we had one day just lying around the pool eating ice cream and being served with complimentary chilled lemon grass in bottles to spray on ourselves and chilled water melon. The beachfront has the toruist hotels but the town feels remarkable untouristy. Loved the position of the Sofitel. Had booked at the Hyatt but changed at the last minute. Ate at some lovely beachside restaurants.
Next time we'll go to Chiang Mai and somwhere else in the north and back to Bangkok. We'll probably also go slightly differently on the accommodation second time around - not so luxe, though a swimming pool in that heat is essential for us!
We were fairly cautious with food - ate anything we liked but at fairly reliable looking places. None of us got ill. We also had no vaccinations and seem to be okay so far. I hadn't been so sure about that decision...Two of us did however get very sunburnt.
So thank you all so much for your advice and help - I can understand your love for the country and people - we are all keen to go back.
We then had four nights at Hua Hin staying at the old Sofitel. It wasn't as luxuriously comfortable as the Pullman but we felt very special staying in such an exquisite environment with all the animal topiaries and being on the edge of such a lovely beach. It felt very Somerset Maugham. We really enjoyed Hua Hin. I did a THai cooking class at the Sofitel and visited the morning food markets several times. There were things to do with the kids and we had one day just lying around the pool eating ice cream and being served with complimentary chilled lemon grass in bottles to spray on ourselves and chilled water melon. The beachfront has the toruist hotels but the town feels remarkable untouristy. Loved the position of the Sofitel. Had booked at the Hyatt but changed at the last minute. Ate at some lovely beachside restaurants.
Next time we'll go to Chiang Mai and somwhere else in the north and back to Bangkok. We'll probably also go slightly differently on the accommodation second time around - not so luxe, though a swimming pool in that heat is essential for us!
We were fairly cautious with food - ate anything we liked but at fairly reliable looking places. None of us got ill. We also had no vaccinations and seem to be okay so far. I hadn't been so sure about that decision...Two of us did however get very sunburnt.
So thank you all so much for your advice and help - I can understand your love for the country and people - we are all keen to go back.
Jul 19th, 2008 | 01:06 AM
#6
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
Hi,
THanks everyone.
We changed hotels because the original plan had been to have a night in Bangkok and then go to HuaHin from there - I had been in bed with flu the week before and wasn't sure I was up to appreciating Bangkok so soon after being so ill and after the long flight. I hadn't been able to decide between the Marriott and the Pullman, so the plan had become to stay at both!
When we were delayed in Sydney we missed the night at the Marriott Resort and Spa and decided to hit Bangkok first - the flu was gone and we were looking for some excitement!
The Pullman was fabulous and we'd definately stay there again. The staff were genuinely friendly and personable. The hotel is very modern and extremely comfortable. The beds were wonderful with a down comforter underneath the bottom sheet. The bathrooms and rooms were immaculate and very well equipped and every room looks out over the pool and gardens. The gardens were much lovelier and more stylish than I would have expected from the website. It is set in a kind of gated park with the very modern King POwer duty free building as part of it - there are guards at the gate - weird but it made it feel like a green and spacious sanctuary in the middle of a busy city. They have their own form of tuktuks waiting to transport guests to the skytrain..we never used them, preferring taxis. The surrounding streets are typical - food stalls and barrows, street stalls and massage stores. The breakfasts were superb. The concierge was excellent and booked a couple of good restaurants for us and also a cheap taxi transfer to Hua Hin.
I keep looking at Google Earth looking at images of places we have to go to next time!! Four days was not at all long enough in Bangkok.
Cheers to all,
bridey
THanks everyone.
We changed hotels because the original plan had been to have a night in Bangkok and then go to HuaHin from there - I had been in bed with flu the week before and wasn't sure I was up to appreciating Bangkok so soon after being so ill and after the long flight. I hadn't been able to decide between the Marriott and the Pullman, so the plan had become to stay at both!
When we were delayed in Sydney we missed the night at the Marriott Resort and Spa and decided to hit Bangkok first - the flu was gone and we were looking for some excitement!
The Pullman was fabulous and we'd definately stay there again. The staff were genuinely friendly and personable. The hotel is very modern and extremely comfortable. The beds were wonderful with a down comforter underneath the bottom sheet. The bathrooms and rooms were immaculate and very well equipped and every room looks out over the pool and gardens. The gardens were much lovelier and more stylish than I would have expected from the website. It is set in a kind of gated park with the very modern King POwer duty free building as part of it - there are guards at the gate - weird but it made it feel like a green and spacious sanctuary in the middle of a busy city. They have their own form of tuktuks waiting to transport guests to the skytrain..we never used them, preferring taxis. The surrounding streets are typical - food stalls and barrows, street stalls and massage stores. The breakfasts were superb. The concierge was excellent and booked a couple of good restaurants for us and also a cheap taxi transfer to Hua Hin.
I keep looking at Google Earth looking at images of places we have to go to next time!! Four days was not at all long enough in Bangkok.
Cheers to all,
bridey
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Aug 5th, 2008 | 05:56 PM
#8
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
We are visiting BKK for 3 days in mid-oct (first time!) and our friends in Asia highly recommended us to stay at Pullman King Power. I did some research and found that Pullman is not on BTS or MTR line, did you find that a problem?
