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| I am flying to Thailand soon and not sure whether to book my hotel for the first night now or just wait until I arrive? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vcn Vicki Nicholas Post Count: 4 Msg: #1 169 days ago, July 24th 2008 | I am flying to Bangkok, Thailand soon and not sure whether to book my hotel for the first night now or just wait until I arrive? | I am thinking that after the flight the easiest thing would be to already have a place book and then I can just jump in a taxi. I have also been told that it is better to wait until you are there as I will find lots of people at the airport with good deals. For the remainder of the journey I plan to do everything as and when it happens but would appreciate a little advice on the first night in Bangkok. Also any tips on the best area in Bangkok would be good, I have read some other reviews but I am completely confused with the names and areas etc! Thanks in advance!  Mell Mel Fla Post Count: 5517 Msg: #2 169 days ago, July 24th 2008 | Hello Vicki :) | I have been to Thailand 3 times and never prebooked any hotel room. I never had a problem getting one and for the price I wanted to pay too. Which area in Bangkok to go to depends on what you like. I usually go to the Khao San Road. That is mainly a backpackers area but you would be able to find more upmarked accomodation there too. Be sure to ask the Taxi driver to turn on the meter. Otherwise he will charge you what they call a fixed rate with is always way more than the meter price would be. Mel  Sir Halberd Hal Post Count: 99 Msg: #3 169 days ago, July 24th 2008 | Book ahead of time or not depends on a bunch of stuff. If you arrive real late at night, and you have never been to Bangkok before, it might be a good idea to book at least one night and have a place to head for. The following morning you can find another place to stay at if you want. If your flight arrives during the daytime then you can try for a place on a walk-in. Low season no problem. Around Christmas or New Years Eve it might be better to pre-book. | There are some hotels that you can ask to reserve a room with a simple email and no credit card. At the airport there are hotel booking desks that you can use in a pinch. They do provide hotel rooms but sometimes the hotels are in areas that are less popular with tourists or you can get rooms elsewhere cheaper. Okay for one night in a pinch when it is real late. Also, when you get to the airport you can use the telephone to call up some hotels and if there is a vacancy you can tell them you are on the way and to hold the room for you. (When you use a taxi make sure you have some small bills to pay the driver. Taxi drivers may not have any change for even a 500 baht note, or claim they don't so you foolishly say "keep the change!") Here are some links to hotels that you can use for information. If you need any specific recommendations mention how much you want to pay for a room per night. Don't say cheap, reasonable, economy, middle range, etc. - use a baht figure. My preference is a hotel that is near the Skytrain route (Siam or the lower Sukhumvit area) so you can use that overhead transportation. No Skytrain in the Khao San Road area - but there will be lots and lots of young travelers staying there! http://bangkok-city.com/hotels/index.html http://www.thaiwebsites.com/hotels-sukhumvit-bangkok.asp http://www.khaosanroad.com/ http://www.sawasdee-hotels.com/ http://www.suk11.com/ Good luck.  Cashmere09 Cashmere Post Count: 20 Msg: #4 165 days ago, July 28th 2008 | It actually depends...Do you have any place in mind? | Would you prefer a hotel or backpackers style? Just to share you with what I know... For hotel rates in Thailand, booking through agents is much more cheaper than walk in rates for hotels. If you would like to know more like where to go or hotels I've stayed, I have a personal blog that you can read. And if you are interested, I can give you the link.. :) Brennan Brennan HM Post Count: 2 Msg: #5 148 days ago, August 14th 2008 | I agree with Mel, head straight for Khao San Road. You'll meet lots of fellow backpackers there who will advise you on several locations to stay. I stayed at a Guest House behind the Burger King on Khao San called "At Home Guest House" for about 350Baht/night (Nov, 2007) | Don't accept any of the "deals" that they offer you at the airport. I was warned NOT to do this by a friend who has lived in Thailand for six years. He was right. One of my friends accepted their offer and was totally mislead and screwed around. Head straight for the metered taxi stand and say "Khao San Road" when they ask you where to go. And yeah, make sure they use the meter. To see footage of my trip to Thailand, check out this blog posting: <snip> [Edited: 08:55 - Mell - Removed URL. You can post the URL on your profile page. ] Sir Halberd Hal Post Count: 99 Msg: #6 147 days ago, August 15th 2008 | If you are real young then the Khao San Road area will be okay for you. In the KSR area you will be around a lot of young backpackers which is either good or bad depending on your age. If you are slightly older or mature then perhaps a hotel in the Sukhumvit Road area will do for you. One advantage of the Sukhumvit Road area is the availability of the Skytrain - no Skytrain in the KSR area! (The Skytrain is an overhead local train service.) | You don't mention how much you want to spend per night for a hotel. Knowing how much you want to spend will narrow down any suggestions you will get. Also you don't mention if you are arriving real early in the evening or real close to midnight! There is no "best area" for everyone! If you are kid right out of school or in college then the KSR area may be your cup of tea! If you don't want to be in a cheap hostel with a bunch of noisy drunk kids then perhaps another location would be a better choice. It's up to you! Good luck. jirayu jirayu cheevagarn Post Count: 2 Msg: #7 142 days ago, August 20th 2008 | Yup I definitely agree with Hal. to book a hotel ahead or not depends on the time the you arrive and you gotta be careful about taxi driver as I found that they usually overcharge for the travelers. Khaosan road is the place you can get the very very cheap place to stay and it's about 1 hour or a bit more from the airport. | Sukhumvit is quite busy but I found that there isn't much thing to do for travelers but shopping. Well have a great time in Bangkok. here is the link where you can check for the cheapest deals in Bangkok <snip> [Edited: 13:09 - Mell - Removed URL] Number of Users: 6 | Number of Posts: 7 | |||||||||||||||
