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-   -   Timeframe for Completing Trip Planning with Santa Maria TA (https://www.fodors.com/community/asia/timeframe-for-completing-trip-planning-with-santa-maria-ta-974253/)

yestravel Apr 14th, 2013 08:44 AM

Timeframe for Completing Trip Planning with Santa Maria TA
 
I'm curious as to how much time it took people to wrap up their trip planning to Burma using Santa Maria TA. I started working with Karene in the beginning of March. By in large responses have been timely. Pretty much finished the itin within 3 weeks. Then I made a couple date changes which I know requires going back to hotels and confirming availability. Now I have been waiting for a couple weeks to finish which includes an updated itn showing my changes and prices. Karene has said they are updating rates and will get back to me and thanks me for my patience. How long should this take? I have about a month before I take off for a long trip and would like to have everything wrapped up with SM before leaving. Certainly hope this is possible. Appreciate hearing others experiences in terms of how long the process took with SM. Thanks

Kathie Apr 14th, 2013 08:57 AM

Much of the delay has to do with the hotels. Hotels are slow these days to set prices. Even back in 2011, it took time, mostly because of local inefficiencies in communication. Right now with vastly increased numbers of visitors, travel agencies are swamped.

Let Karene know you will be traveling, and give her a date (maybe a week before you leave) when you would like to have all of the arrangements settled. No guarantee she can do it by then, but she should be able to get a new itinerary to you, even if one or more hotels haven't set rates.

shelleyk Apr 14th, 2013 12:38 PM

I started planning my Jan. 2012 trip in August and did not send my deposit to SM until early Dec. We were waiting for updated hotel rates to finalize the trip and its cost, and one of the hotels did not post rates until Dec. 1 for the coming year. I suspect that as Kathie said, the hotels are responsible for much of the delay.

yestravel Apr 14th, 2013 01:03 PM

Thanks to both of you.
@shelley - is that when you wired the deposit? If it goes into the fall and they dont need any money before then that is fine -- just didn't want to try and deal with sending money during the summer when we will be traveling. I will give her advance notice when we near our departure.

bigjohnstud Apr 15th, 2013 08:55 AM

I found Santa Maria to be very professional and to be quick in their replies, so I agree with others that any delay might be because they're waiting for hotels to get back to them.

Ms. Wah Wah was my point of contact and I'm told she's the "boss", so maybe you could reach out to her if need be.

We sent our deposit as soon as we had everything confirmed, and paid the balance in local currency to our guide at lunchtime the first day in-country. They all seemed pretty laid back about it. I really thought Santa Maria did a nice job. While in Yangon, Tom was our favorite guide.

yestravel Apr 15th, 2013 12:35 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that overall they have been very responsive. Based on their emails I have figured delays were based on waiting for hotel responses.

TedStell Apr 15th, 2013 04:41 PM

Kathie and friends:

Your help!

By reading all your posts I was inspired to book a trip to Burma in Jan/2014. Can't wait. However, I tried using Santa Maria to book holtels etc, as suggested, but I got NO response after several attempts. Can someone provide a valid email to contact them. Perhaps I am contacting them incorrectly
Thank you all. Love reading all this info

best
Steven

yestravel Apr 15th, 2013 04:49 PM

[email protected] is the email I have been using,.

TedStell Apr 15th, 2013 04:52 PM

Very kind. I shall try now.

Cheers!

Kathie Apr 15th, 2013 04:55 PM

Be aware that email is not reliable in Burma. Also be aware that your email program may mark mail from Burma as spam - so do check your spam folder. Santa Maria also recommended I get a gmail address, as they have the most luck sending to gmail addresses.

I have several email addresses for Santa Maria, but the one I have used most recently is:
[email protected]

Good luck!

shelleyk Apr 15th, 2013 05:04 PM

I did not send my deposit until Dec for my Jan. trip. They did not want it sent until everything was finalized.

TedStell Apr 15th, 2013 05:08 PM

You're all very kind.
One more thing, I need to stay in the OLD part of Began. Min Thu, my guide (excited!!) wants to pick me up only form the old town. Which hotel should I stay at?

Good quality with Breafest incl.. Maybe $70 to $80 per night?
TY
Steven

Kathie Apr 15th, 2013 05:47 PM

Ask Min Thu for a recommendation, he knows all of the hotels.

TedStell Apr 15th, 2013 05:48 PM

Thank you, Kathie. Your writing on these post is amazing and REALLY useful!

Cheers

chris45ny Apr 17th, 2013 06:46 PM

Check Thande Hotel Bagan

http://www.baganthandehotel.net/

Kathie Apr 18th, 2013 05:48 AM

Chris, did you stay at the Thande? What did you think of it?

chris45ny Apr 18th, 2013 06:39 AM

Kathie: Unfortunately, no, not yet. I'm planning a trip for early 2014. Heavy duty research these past few months. Husband and I will spend at least 28 days in Myanmar. We will be 6 nights in Bagan. I posted a question on TA as I was torn between the Thande and the Hotel at Tharabar Gate. My husband wanted to stay at a place with a pool and location is important to me. Both of these places fit the bill. I ended up deciding on the Thande strictly due to lower price plus it does get good reviews. I didn't mean to mislead anyone-only suggesting to check out the Thande as it seems to fit the bill for the poster TedStell. I'd be interested in Minthu"s take on hotels in Old Bagan. I have made note of this popular horse cart driver #54 along with some names of guides which I got from TA.

I haven't posted much on Fodor's but once everything is in place I will be asking for advice about our itinerary. The Cambodia and Myanmar part is fully researched and planned. Now I'm finalizing Thailand. We will be traveling 3 months to these 3 countries.

yestravel Apr 18th, 2013 08:11 AM

Someone on fodors stayed there and mentioned it in her TR. I believe she loved it as I noted it as I planned our stay.

@Chris-when will u be in Burma? we'll be there late Jan and into Feb.

shelleyk Apr 18th, 2013 08:22 AM

When I went to Myanmar I was considering the Thande Hotel as it was suggested to us by SM. Based on my research, I decided to go to the Tharbar Gate Hotel instead, but when I was in Myanmar I went to the Thande Hotel, just to see if I made the right decision. I concluded I did make the correct decision for us. Tharbar Gate is newer, is closer to restaurants, is in a more central location and is a more upscale property without being over the top. What Thande has going for it is a nice view of the river, but that is it IMHO. There was about $30/night difference between the two hotels. I think no matter where you stay in Bagan, you will have a wonderful experience, but I wanted to give my perspective on the 2 hotels.

Kathie Apr 18th, 2013 08:30 AM

Thanks for your comments. I think the Thande is worth considering, it is a lower price and the river view is lovely. My impression, like Shelley's is that the rooms are not as nice and the location a bit out of the way for restaurants. Do give us a review when you return.

Your comment that your will spend "at least 28 days in Myanmar" makes me think you are not aware that the visa is for 28 days and there are no extensions available. There are reports of people who have overstayed their visas, but it is not something I would want to do in Burma!

Let us know if we can help more with your planning.

chris45ny Apr 18th, 2013 12:37 PM

Kathie-Unfortunately I do know about the 28 day limit. Initially we were at 33 days so I had to drop Mrauk U, mainly due to all the uncertainty as to if it would be open to foreigners, when we were to travel. No way of telling that far ahead. Silverswimmer, the destination expert on TA for Myanmar told me I'd be ok with a day or two over with a fine of $3 per day. Right now we are at 28 days with day 29 being the day we leave Myanmar.

The reason I chose the Thande is that there was a big difference in price for the dates I put in. I used the same dates for both hotels, tried to choose similar quality room. I couldn't use our actual dates as too far ahead for the system. If the travel agent comes back with close prices for the two of them then I may opt to go with Tharabar. There was a recent posting on TA from someone who just returned that said out of most of the time they were there the pool at Tharabar was unusable. Pool is a big deal for my husband. We plan to go out early in the morning, return for 3 hr. pool/lunch break, then go out again around 3 pm. I got the following info from booking site agoda.com: Dates I used were 8/4/13-8/10/13-6 nights

Tharabar deluxe room $123.25 per night , price does not include 15% hotel tax, does include free breakfast and free cancelation before 7/28/13.

Thande econmy $56.52 per night, superior $78.26 per night, price does not include 15% hotel tax, does include free breakfast and free cancelation before 7/28/13.

There is a big difference in price-around $45 per night and for 6 nights that's about $270 for us for the Thande superior room. I figured we wouldn't be spending the majority of our time in the room and both places get good reviews so it all comes down to money for us.

If money was no object Id stay at the Bagan Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary!

yestravel-Sorry to hijack your thread. Hang in there with SM. It has a good reputation and is one that we are looking to get feedback/prices. Right now the only firm date we have is that from 1/30/14-2/8/14 we will be with our daughter in Phuket. There is a possibility we may be in Myanmar after that.

Kathie Apr 18th, 2013 01:21 PM

Well, the pool issue is new. We used the pool at Tharbar Gate every day! The river front rooms at the Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary were fabulous - but a real splurge. My experience was that the travel agent could get us better prices everywhere. But a couple of years ago there was almost nothing in Burma on agoda, just a few places and agoda's prices weren't good. I'll be interested in your experience. Note that the travel agent price generally includes tax & service and breakfast.

Yes, you can overstay for $3 a day - and silverswimmer is very knowledgable - but people have reported difficulties staying at hotels with an expired visa or getting on flights. If you are flying out on your 29th day it will not be a problem.

TedStell Apr 25th, 2013 03:17 PM

Dear Burma Friends:

Well, I've emailed Santa Maria 9 times (I feel like a travel stalker- LOL) I've gotten NO ans. I am using my Google email so I don't think that is the issue.

What to do? I am asking for Jan 2014 -- too early is is that why there is NO ans. What to do?

Anyway, is there another reliable Burmese travel agency? A SANTA MARIA alternative? I am most worried about booking my Yangon (the capitol)---to --- Bagan flt. and Balloon Over Bagan flight.

Thank you and perplexed,

TedStell

yestravel Apr 25th, 2013 03:38 PM

I will be in Burma in January also. I began working with Santa Maria in the beginning of March. The email I have been using is [email protected]. There is another psot here that had some other email addresses to try.

520 Apr 25th, 2013 07:59 PM

Here are two that others here have used with good results:

Myanmar Shalom Travels and Tours/ www.myanmarshalom.com

and Shan Yoma Travel and Tours/www.myanmartravelagency.com/greeting.htm

and quite few others have been mentioned in various thread about travels in Burma

Good luck!

TedStell Apr 26th, 2013 05:18 AM

thanks 520

Kathie Apr 26th, 2013 06:09 AM

Ted, do check you spam or bulk mail folder to make sure g mail hasn't marked any responses as spam. Be aware that with the vastly increased numbers of travelers to Burma, many agencies are just swamped.

natandmiriam May 3rd, 2013 10:00 PM

I understand your frustration Ted, after about 10 tries (spread over several weeks) I've long given up on Santa Maria.
I have had replies from Kyaw Khaing at One Stop Myanmar and also Myanmar Shalom. However, I have learnt that while we are anxious for replies, it seems the Burmese think several days between communications is just fine. Maybe their blood pressure is better also!!!


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