butch

We are headed to Bangkok this coming March. We will have 13 days to travel. We plan on a night/day in Bangkok on each end of our travels (have been to BKK x2 before). We've been to the north so this time we thought we'd split our time between southern Thailand and Malaysia . This is where we need everyone's help. Please advise if this itinerary sounds like a good plan or not. We welcome your suggestions.

Bangkok to Penang - 3 nights
Penang to Kuala Lumpur - 3 nights
Kuala Lumpur to Phuket - 3 nights
Phuket to Krabi - 3 nights
Krabi to Bangkok - 1 night

Once we figure out where we are going, we will then work on how to get from point A to point B and where we will stay.

We are in our 50's and 60's -- looking for great food, history, shopping, and relaxation. We don't care about wild nightlife - prefer peace and quite. We do like 5 star hotels - using freq flyer miles to get here for free gives us cash for hotel indulgences.

Thanks in advance --

Kathie

We loved our time in Penang. We stayed at the E&O which is wonderful! There has been a Thai non-stop from Bangkok to Penang, it was daily, but now less often, I hear. You'll want to sample the justly famous hawker food in Penang. I wrote a long report on our time in Penang in 2006. Let me know if you can't find it and I post a link or top it for you.

There are lots of 5 star hotels to choose from in KL. We enjoyed the Ritz Carleton, but the best reviews lately have been of the Mandrin Oriental.

Now you have 3 nights in Phuket and 3 in Krabi, half of your time in Asia. If that's what you want, fine, but recognize that these are international resorts and won't give you much of a sense of history or culture.

Three nights in each place may only mean 2 full days in each location, depending on flights, etc. If it were me, I'd cut one destination in order to have more time to enjoy each of the places.

butch

Hi Kathie. Thank you for your quick response. Let me clarify that we like to use our points at Marriott and Hilton hotels for economical reasons. They are not always the most 'real' experiences but . . .

If you had to chose between Phuket and Krabi, which one would it be? Also, what about Koh Samui? Is this a place we should consider? I have been reading advise from you for many years so I trust you very much.

Ta.
Butch

Kathie

For the beach, March is a month when both sides the Thai peninsula have good weather. If you want to use Marriott points, it would be hard to beat the Marriott on Phuket. I haven't stayed there, but the photos are gorgeous and the reviews from others on the board have been very good. If it were me, I'd choose one beach, so I wouldn't lose my relaxing time going from one beach to another.

There are a couple of Hiltons in KL, I stayed in one years ago that was lovely, and I say that as someone who isn't generally a fan of Hilton hotels. There is also a JW Marriott in KL in a great location (The JW and the Ritz-Carleton are both attached to the same high end shopping center).

In Bangkok, you likely know about the Marriotts, Bob's fave is the Marriott Resort and Spa on the river and there is also a very nice JW Marriott on Sukhumvit. You may also want to take a look at the Hilton Millenium right across the river from the River City shopping center (arts and antiques).

The one place where you will want to look at at paying for your hotel rather than using points is Penang. The beaches near Penang aren't really much, but the historic Georgetown area is really worth the visit. If you can pop for the E&O, by all means do so. When we went, we got the best price from the E&O own website - we paid about US$150 a night for our suite and a fabulous breakfast.

I'm glad my advice has been useful to you!

rhkkmk

two nites in kuala lumpur would be quite enough....look at the imperial hotel, a starwoods hotel....

look at amari vogue hotel in krabi or again the sheraton...

degas

I'd cut out KL and add nights elsewhere.

TravelTwiddle

Between Penang and KL, you may like to drop by Cameron Highlands, Taiping or Ipoh, my hometown. Lots of quiet time, nature, good food and absolutely zero on wild nightlife - except in the surrounding rainforest of course.

lcuy

WE were in KL for two days but only one night (arrived on the overnight train from S'Pore early in the morning, then left on the fancy bus to Penang the next afternoon). That was enough of KL for me. Enjoyed the maya hotel and thought it was a good value.

Three nights in Penang was good. My daughter - who was with me on this last trip- highly recommends Cameron Highlands as well. She spent a long weekend there in April.

gard

Hi

My wife and I have been to KL a couple of times. Here is a trip report with pictures and links that might be of some help http://gardkarlsen.com/malaysia_kuala_lumpur.htm . I have stayed at Traders a couple of times and I have enjoyed that

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

rhkkmk

there is a new marriott courtyard in bkk in back of the four seasons hotel which might work for you too...less points than a full service marriott...

same thing in phuket...there is a new courtyard right on the main street in patong....there are two or three others recently converted from other hotels as well...

the marriott in k/l is also well located...

the hilton or conrad in bkk are also nice places....the hilton is on the river