tips for booking Bangkok hotels on web?
 

Can't find anything that gives better deals than Expedia. Have one that equals the best price for one of the hotels I had been looking at. Leading Hotels Worldwide, which I found through a recommendation in one of the current posts.Have tried Asiatravel and found a good deal for one of the hotels. Planet Holiday gave rates way above the rest. Asiarooms were also quite dear.<BR>I am looking for accomodation for next July. Would it be better to leave the booking till nearer the time?

What hotel's are you looking at? I booked all of mine either through the hotel's site or that of their parent company. LHW gives the absolute worst prices, full rack rate. The nice thing about booking directly was that they only require a credit card guarantee, no deposit and very generous cancellation policies.

David<BR>The Royal Orchid,Siam City and Peninsula(if there are any good rates!)

We thought the peninsula looked like a very nice hotel for the $$ but since this is a once in a lifetime trip decided to fork out the extra bucks and stay at the Oriental.<BR>good luck!

Last week, Orbitz was showing the Royal Orchid for $85 a night for the middle of January.

I booked the Peninsula through circleofasia.com and got the best rate around. It was inclusive of breakfast and tax (very important!)

I often use asia-hotels.com to book. For the Royal Orchid, I got the best price on a suite from their 1-800 number.

I stayed at siam city and it was really nice, but of course I usually stay in places which has the selling point &quot;HAS FAN&quot;.. but seriously it won the best hotel in bangkok 2 years ago.. on a total value scale.. <BR><BR>www.asiatrvel.com is good, I've used them twice.. <BR><BR>asia-hotels.com is also a good dicounter <BR><BR>asiarooms.com, I just found this site. <BR><BR><BR>

I use the following:<BR><BR>www.huahin.20m.com<BR>or<BR>www. bangkok-online-hotel-reservations.8m.net<BR><BR>Much cheaper than likes of Expedia etc

There's far more selection in hotels than what's available of the web. Go to your local library and do some research, using guidebooks. post questions about good hotels on forums like this - then book it yourself via fax. Here is a link to some bilingual fax forms:<BR>http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/hotels/faxforms.php<BR>not everything is on the internet, and you often get overcharged. if you don't want to do it independently, go through your travel agent, they have access to more hotels and deals than the internet. with the internet you are often paying for the &quot;convenience&quot; and not getting the best price.

I have never found rates from travel agents cheaper than I can get on the net. Easy to find a good 3 star hotel in Bangkok for around $25-30 including tax/service, no problem. Stick with Thai based internet booking agents with rates in local currency and the deals are there!

Apologies - actually Braden is right - the best deals are found with Thai based booking agents - I was thinking about large international chain hotels who have web booking - overpriced no matter how you book them. I'd also recommend staying in a Thai owned place - not only do you support their economy, but they are often more &quot;Thai&quot; in character.

surfergirl<BR>I know what you mean about chain hotels on the internet. I booked the Marriott Resort and Spa and its rates on the net would have meant spending &pound;440 for our stay. Booking through Asia Travel we are spendding &pound;185. So, it doesn't even have to be a Thai owned place to get cheaper rates.

We got very good rates. They price in Thai currency but you can then just click to see the prices in other currencies and that is what you pay, the prices were so cheap, some beach bungalows were about A$25 a night, that I guess is about US 12, very cheap and very fast.<BR><BR>www.thailand-holidays.8k.com

If you live in the US, a website that has you pre-pay in US$ may be your best deal. Most credit cards now charge a 3% premuim when they change from a foreign currency to US currency. The hotels I booked that charged my card in US$ did not have that problem.<BR><BR>By the way, do check lots of resources, as no one website always has the best prices. Sometimes the best price may be at the individual hotel's website.