Where are you planning to go in Thailand? It's hard to give hotel recommendations without that information.

As you know, you are traveling at the most expensive time of the year. You can avoid some of that by not going to a beach destination where the hotel prices will be very high and they are likely to have very expensive mandatory Xmas and NYE celebrations.

Browse a local Thai hotel booking website: www.sawasdee.com is one I often use. Note that tax and service charges add 17.7% to room costs, so check on whether that is included in the price. Also, the hotel breakfasts, which are often very lavish typically cost US$20 per person plus tax and service, so getting a hotel price that includes breakfast is usually a good deal.

Thank you!! So, we are hoping to see some agriculture to compare to US Ag. Our friends who live there, we haven't seen since (get this) 1993. We owe a trip, it is LONG overdue. So, let's see. The ticket is already purchased, but (moi)I put off setting up the hotel, b/c we weren't sure where we would stay. Apparently there is a lot to do, but personally, I'd rather take a few days to relax. We're reading a lot on fodors and lonely planet by this weekend. Hope to have more of a plan. First we might reserve a hotel for the entire week, and have that be the home base. The friends suggested 2-3 up in the northern part of Thailand. Reading more, we will have more of an idea to be more specific with the questions. Thank you for the link. Thanks for the tax info too.

Hello
Where are you going to stay? area , what kind of location and province?
Well, if you're coming to spend the night in Bangkok, you can check out this Hotel the location near BTS Nana and Asok (skytrain)
http://www.citrus13bangkok.com/
The hotel look modern and room, they might be abit small but have mini bar at rooftop it's pretty good price in this area, also near the new the mall Terminal21 (BTS Asok) easy to eating nice food there ,You also can take BTS to Siam area an easily.
This for Bangkok.

Thank you!

My home away from home in Bangkok is in the Sukhumvit area. I stay at Adelphi Suites on Sukhumvit soi 8. It is a serviced apartment building. It is maybe two minutes walk to get to the escalator going up to the sky train station (NANA). Great location. Helpful staff. I'm here right now, and will be coming back in mid-December for another 3-week stay.

Thailand is a lovely destination! I am heading home from here on Friday morning, after having been here my 29th time. The people are really lovely!!

wow i love thailand. planning for a visit too.

If you book early enough, you get the Dusit Thani below 150 USD and that's a pretty good deal.

onetwothree... An important thing to consider when booking in Bangkok is the proximity to the sky train (BTS). Taxis take forever to get around during much of the day/night time, as traffic is almost unbearable in the major parts of the city. The sky train zips along, above the traffic. It doesn't go everywhere you might want to go, but it is still a great way to get around! The subway (MRT) is also very useful (although I prefer using the BTS so I can watch the cityscape as it goes along.

Thank you!

12345

Yes, be near a skytrain station!

Happy Travels!

So, our friends in Germany recommended this website: trivago.com. It has a lot of hotels and many that are listed in several of these discussions. The gorgeous hotels are filling up around the holidays. Better prices than what I was finding at the websites last night. When we go, we'll update you on how our trip was.

I'm getting excited. (can you imagine?) Now we just have to find a dog sitter. I am not going to leave the dogs with a kennel.

After reading that we've paid a high price for the holiday travel/flight, hotel costs will be dropped immediately. It might have to be a hostel. Crappola.

www.agoda.com is one of several possible websites.

Happy Travels!

1/2/3/...I don't know why you feel that it has to be either a cheap hotel or a hostel. It's Bangkok and there are tons of accommodations. Think out of the box. Why not rent an apartment? www.airbnb.com.

Airbnb is located up in San Francisco and is well known. I just booked my apartments through them and paid in U.S. dollars. The charge has already been posted. Plus, by paying in dollars, I don't have to worry about currency fluctuations.

I also rent an apartment in Paris, through another agency website, and the owner is a New Yorker. I'm lucky that I can just mail her a check to New York, for her Paris apartment, and it's a done deal. She even mails out the keys to me before I leave home. Then I can arrive when I arrive and there's no check in or check out time.

I haven't used Airbnb before, as I usually stay in serviced apartments in Bangkok, although I stayed in hotels years prior to serviced apartments.

One of my best friends has used Airbnb overseas and has had really positive experience with their listed apartments and has booked again through them for an upcoming trip. He's used them quite a bit. Of course, one needs to be FLEXIBLE, and there are NO guarantees when renting apartments as to how they will be. But, at least, on Airbnb, the agency doesn't pay the apartment owner until after the renter has arrived to the apartment and settled in. The renter has 24 hours, I think it is, to contact them if not satisfied with the apartment or situation.

Plus, if you get an apartment, you get a kitchen and can have some meals at the apartment. I stay at either individually-owned apartments or serviced apartments on different continents and personally have had no complaints about any of them in the past. I'm adventurous and will give things a try and just stay positive and hope for the best.

Happy Travels!

Happy Travels!

Happy Travels!

i disagree about being near the skytrain as a top priority.. the most impt thing to me is the comfort of the hotel and easy taxi access. skytrain is fast but often not in convenient places

Guenmai~how do YOU go about arranging serviced apartments? (not on airbnb)
Thanks!

Rhkkmk, when I looked the hotel you were in / recommended last night, I noticed it wasn't by the sky train. Hmmm. So, comfort of hotel? OR location location location?

I figure a good night's sleep is great, but the adventure of being there will be the BEST!

by they way, I'm so glad you both wrote. I decided today will be my day to book my reservation. Why not? 6 months before the trip I gave the airline $2 g's to reserve my economy seat. Why not loan the hotel some money for 2 months before I get there. lol. At least I'll have a place to land.

Thanks!!
12345

Most hotel booking sites, except the discounted sites, have full refund dates so why do you want to pay 6 months in advance? Also, most airlines tickets can be reserved without payment so why did you feel the need to prepay so far in advance?

Airline tickets need to be paid in full within a couple days of booking or you lose your booking. That's MY experience, anyway.

Have you looked at "My home away from home" serviced apartment building, which is 2 minutes (or less) to the skytrain?? I always stay on Sukhumvit soi 8 at Adelphi Suites. It's not fancy. It is clean, the staff is very friendly and helpful, and I love the location. The price is reasonable when compared to other places suggested here. I book directly with the hotel. I do not pre-pay. I hold it with my credit card and pay when departing the hotel. I never have to prepay it. I can cancel if I need to, and do not get charged. I'm not sure what the last chance time is for a cancellation... usually 2-3 days ahead of arrival. You might read the fine print on that one.

Carol for me, when using a TA, most airlines I find will require the agent to issue the tickets about 2 weeks before the flight date. So you can book and change or cancel if something else better comes along.

simpsonc510 Thank you!!

I will google, "my home away from home serviced apartments" in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

12345

oh wait. Adelphi.....lol!

OK, so...I just booked.....via "the pl negotiator".

Amari Watergate. Totally random.

I'm pretty sure we avoided the 17% tax, unless, they figure in to the cost. Wahoo. So, I can work on paying off the trip, before it begins.

"onetwothreefourfive on Nov 3, 12 at 9:39am
Guenmai~how do YOU go about arranging serviced apartments? (not on airbnb)
Thanks! "

If I'm staying in a serviced apartment, then I contact the serviced apartment building directly. I've contacted a long list of them over the last month and a half, as at first I hadn't decided if I'd stay at my regular serviced apartment building, stay at a new serviced apartment building, or book a non-serviced apartment.

Personally, I didn't want to have to pre-pay my serviced apartment stay and a lot of the buildings that I contacted wanted it prepaid. I've never prepaid my stay at my regular building and I hope that I won't have to prepay this coming stay if I decide to stay there at the end of my trip. I didn't mind pre-paying the Airbnb stay as I've read the cancellation policy and it's quite flexible. I never know if I might have to cancel or not. I did buy travel insurance last night though, as I always do.

I contacted my serviced apartment building again last week, but haven't heard back from them yet. Some serviced apartment buildings that I contacted I never heard back from. My dealings with booking on Airbnb were a lot faster as the owners were very prompt and all of them, except one, got back to me right away and were on message with me regularly.

Happy Travels!

"Hanuman on Nov 3, 12 at 9:47am
Most hotel booking sites, except the discounted sites, have full refund dates so why do you want to pay 6 months in advance? Also, most airlines tickets can be reserved without payment so why did you feel the need to prepay so far in advance?"

She's booking the hotel for next month, from what I understand. As for flights, I jump on them when I see an airfare that's decent. Flights go fast and if not jumped on, then they can easily be lost. But, I wouldn't book a really high airfare really far in advance. I'd keep shopping around.

I book most of my flights, to Europe though, nearly a year in advance. And when I used to vacation in BKK during Dec/Jan, they were also booked way in advance.

Happy Travels!

You didn't avoid the 17.7% tax and service, it was simply included in the price you paid.

Even better.

This way, the cost is do-able for us, and if we travel to Chiang Mai, we can have a home base without costing an arm and a leg. (just the arm)

Anyway, it wasn't THE best deal, but after reading Guenmai's comment about not settling for a hostel, which I did in China a few years ago, I decided to compromise for a decent 5* place.

Now, we can "chill-out" for a while, and know that at least we are getting to and from BKK as well as staying there without wondering where and how.

Goodnight!

Have you visited Thailand before?

if not check out this list

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/20-things-to-think-about-when-visiting-thailand.cfm?64

I have an up-to-date tetanus, but not the Hep A and B. Looks like a trip to the clinic may be in order. It is midnight here, and my DH is asleep. I'll check to see if he has had ANY shots. Unsure at this time of night. lol.

12345

P.S. I love the help here. and the 1-20. Fab.

I'm not so sure that Amari Watergate is 5* but if you are happy with the deal, that's what counts. The location is good for shopping in and around Pratunam Market, and it across the (busy) street from my fave PLATINUM Fashion Mall. It's a little bit of a hike to the sky train, but do-able. I walk TO Platinum from the sky train station at Chit Lom all the time (thru the huge mall Central World).

Since this is your location, check out Red Sky on top of Central World (top floor of Centara Grande Hotel). Red Sky is a great outdoor restaurant/bar. Good food. Great views. Much more reasonable than Sky Bar/Sirocco at State Tower!!!

Make sure you visit these places while you are in Thailand,

1. The Grand Palace in Bangkok
2. The floating market
3. Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo
4. Nong Nooch Village
5. Bang Pa-in Palace
6. The Ruins

Enjoy your stay!

Hmmm, Christian, I've seen at least 3 threads here where you are listing the same tourist places. Are you promoting them or something???

No, I just want share these beautiful places, since I've gone to each and one of them.

Why don't you write a trip report Christian? You seem to be copying and pasting your "list" on every old thread about Thailand. If you write a report then people read about your experiences in detail.

Thank you for all of your suggestions.

I thought it was 2, but it is 3 weeks away. Gearing up and getting ready. Most of my attention has not been on the trip, as I've been sooo busy at work. This week our work load will slow down, and I'll devote more time.

Some fodors folks have exacting requirements before giving suggestions. We don't have a set plan. My friend from 20 yrs ago lives there. We are going to be shown around via her, and knowing what's what before going is helpful.

the arari is not 5* but probably 3.5 or 4*. it is an ok location. make sure to spend some time in platinum fashion mall directly across the street.

you will not avoid the 17% tax/service.

have fun.

the service fee is included in the priceline cost of the hotel. I think. (I hope)

rhkkmk~ You are right. I looked at the bill. The tax is $150 US. WAH! WAH WAH.

I cry...

Hey, guess what? I'm starting my malaria medication tonight....wahoo.

Hoping to catch up with you sometime in Bangkok!

Where are you going that you need anti-malarials? Only a very small part of Thailand has any significant malarial risk. Did you consult with a travel med professional?

Kathie,
we went to the public health office. They listed the items/ immunizations, and let us choose. I chose it, becuaseo it is like the flu for them. So, it was my choice.

simpsonc510 how can we plan it? I don't know where my friend will take us. As soon as I know anything, I'll post here.

I'll watch this thread, 12345. We'll manage it somehow! Where there's a will, there's a way!

12345, you were offered no information or advice about travel health issues? "I chose it, becuaseo it is like the flu for them." Yipes! Take a look at www.cdc.gov/travel and read the sections on Thailand and the section on malaria.

12345 some of us travel here without any shots at all. I know, some say that is risky. I have never (knock on wood) in 30 trips to BKK had any issues whatsoever. I do have strange allergies, which is my #1 reason for refusing most meds. One of the sickest times in my life was right after a flu shot. I was hospitalized for several days as a result.

I'm sure you will be fine! Do be careful what/where you eat, and drink only bottled water. Avoid ice on the street. Dishes at street stalls are not washed properly, and they are re-used multiple times during the day.

i avoid most ice

Hello!!!

We are still in BKK an maybe I will do a brief version of a travel report after returning home. I have avoided ice, and we are trying to only drink Evian.

Simpsonc510~ So, today is the Jim Thompson House and the Four Season's TEA after 3pm. Do you want to join us? Not sure how to meet. Not sure if you'll have a sign or if we should.

Simpsonc510, 30+ trips??? No diversity? What brings you here so much? lol! We'll check this email around 2:30 today to see if you respond. Otherwise, if you are able to make it, please come. My friend from UWP will join us too.

have lunch at JT house---fab

I am just finding your post 12345. Change of plans for next two days. Maybe can plan coffee on Sunday?

No worries. We are resting, and heading over. This weekend we are going camping of all places. Some other time. I hope to talk DH into going to the gtg in Boston in Oct.

The BOS GTG is great fun. Hope you can come. Enjoy your camping adventure!