Many first-time visitors to Thailand simply find a nice-looking hotel either through a travel agent or via the web without taking the time to really find out what else is available. It can sometimes be a shock to them when they get there to find out how much better they could have done for the same money. All it takes is a little investigation before booking and a good place to start is to get a broad picture of what types of accommodation are available in your price range.
Due to the relatively low cost of living in Thailand hotel rates are, on average, a lot cheaper than the equivalent standard at many other popular holiday destinations. This in no way reflects on the overall quality which, thanks to the natural charm of the thai people, is often quite exceptional even at the lower end of the market. The following is a rough guide as to what can be expected split into four price ranges of “luxury”, “premium”, “mid-range” and "budget".
LUXURY PRICE RANGE (Over $200 a night)Thailand is well known within the travel industry to have some of the finest hotels in the world such as the famous Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok or the superb Amanpuri with its beautiful private beach on Koh Phuket. This type of accommodation is not aimed at the budget conscious traveller and, although expensive by many people’s standards, it still compares very favourably price-wise with similar establishments in Europe and the U.S. One area in which Thailand often exceeds the standard of other countries is hospitality. With their famous cuisine, easy smiles and exceptional politeness no-one is better at making a visitor feel special than the thais. The combination of price, superb service and the sometimes breathtakingly-beautiful locations of these hotels have made thailand holidays
one of the most popular choices for honeymooners from all over the world.
Among the best LUXURY hotels according to customer ratings are -
BANGKOK : Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok PHUKET : The Royal Yacht Club A Puravarna Resort
KRABI / AO NANG : The Tubkaak Resort(Sawadee R24) CHIANG MAI : The Chedi Chiang Mai(Sawadee R24)
PATTAYA : Marriott Resort & Spa KOH SAMUI : Santiburi Dusit Resort (Sawadee R24)
PREMIUM PRICE RANGE (Under $200 a night) A big drop in price but not necessarily in comfort are the usually Thai-owned up-market hotels. Expect very nice rooms in beautiful or at least convenient settings for a lot less than you’d pay for the same standard in most countries. You can find some superb hotels in this class and the good ones can often rival the luxury hotels especially in the area of hospitality. However, it really pays to read customer reviews as there are also quite a few over-priced hotels in this range.
Among the best PREMIUM hotels according to customer ratings are -
BANGKOK : Grande Sukhumvit by Sofitel PHUKET : Andaman Cannacia Resort Phuket
KRABI / AO NANG : Thai Village Resort CHIANG MAI : Bodhi Serene Chiang Mai
PATTAYA : Dusit Thani Resort Pattaya KOH SAMUI : Nora Beach Spa And Resort(Sawadee R24)
MID-RANGE (Under $120 a night) You can get some fantastic bargains in this price range. These mostly small independent hotels often have everything you need such as aircon, satellite TV, nice gardens, pools etc. There are a large number to choose from in this category and many are very well appointed with wonderfully friendly staff but once again, be sure to read customer reviews as needless to say some are cheap for a very good reason.
Among the best MID-RANGE hotels according to customer ratings are -
BANGKOK : I-Residence Hotel Bangkok PHUKET : Patong Resort Phuket
KRABI / AO NANG : Aonang Buri Resort Krabi CHIANG MAI : Raming Lodge Hotel Chiang Mai
PATTAYA : Sunshine Vista Serviced Aparments KOH SAMUI : Cliff View Resort(Sawadee R24)
BUDGET PRICE RANGE (Under $30 a night) If you just want a place to sleep you can get a clean room with a ceiling fan(instead of aircon) for around 10 dollars a night. For just a little more and depending on when and where you stay its still possible to get quite a nice air-conditioned room in a small hotel with maybe even a swimming pool available. A good place to start looking for recommendations would be in one of the many Thailand forums which can be found quite easily using Google.
WHEN TO BOOK HOTELS IN THAILAND If you are heading to Thailand anytime during the high season it is extremely important to book well in advance. For the well-rated hotels, particularly in the upper price range, its not unusual for them to be fully booked as much as six months ahead. The busiest months are undoubtedly January to March but watch out for April as its the month of the Songkran water festivals which attract large numbers of overseas tourists and create a very busy two week period.
However, if you are forced to leave things to the last minute you can nearly always find somewhere to stay if you look hard enough but it can be quite frustrating trying to find something that suits.
Outside of the high months its unusual for the large hotels to fill up but if you decide not to book or wish to travel around with no fixed itinerary it would pay to find out if any of the many thai public holidays fall during your visit.
BOOKING HOTELS ONLINE - TIPS AND TRAPS The days when you had to choose from a only a few hotels offered by your travel agent are gone. By using online booking services you have complete control over the accommodation type, location and price. It is important to know, however, that each of these booking sites can charge sometimes vastly different rates for the same hotel and it therefore pays to shop around. It also pays to be aware that not all sites have the same reputation for reliability and ethical business practices. For example, what would be the point of scouring the internet for a bargain rate only to find you are not actually booked when you turn up at your hotel? Sometimes this situation can be the fault of the hotel and therefore be beyond the control of the booking agent but a reputable agent will at least offer alternate accommodation of the same standard or give you fair compensation.
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There are many good booking sites but the ones we chose to promote and recommend are HotelClub and Sawadee’s R24 service. HotelCluboffer very good rates for Thailand hotels, always show the full price ***, give instant booking confirmation and have a good record for customer support. They also show each individual night’s rate which can vary substantially. This allows you the option of adjusting your itinerary to make sure you get the cheapest nights that suit you. For last minute reservations HotelCub run a specialist site dedicated to providing big discounts for booking requirements less than one month in advance called RatesToGo.
Sawdee's R24 serviceis a long-established (1996) thai company particularly popular with the foreign community in Thailand due to their low rates and comprehensive listing of thai hotels. A very useful feature they provide is their unique hotel browser with pop-up photos which, once you get used to it, is absolutely the quickest way to browse through hotels to find exactly what you’re looking for. The staff are multi-lingual and being thai means that they can communicate easily with the hotel should any problems occur with a booking.
One other service that is well worth trying is Thailand Hotel Price Hunter which is a free to use hotel price comparison tool that searches faster and includes more Thailand hotels than similar services we've seen. Choose a hotel, enter the dates of your stay and the prices being charged by most of the major booking sites will be listed on a single page. It can be a great time-saver but take care to visit the actual hotel-booking website to see whether the cheapest listed rate is inclusive of tax or not as this information is not always included in the compared prices. They are also reliant on the information provided to them by the hotel booking sites which may not always be 100% up to date and this too can be confirmed by checking the actual websites.
An important thing to bear in mind when hunting on the internet for your holiday accommodation is that usually no single agency offers the best rate all year round. On any given date a different agent may be offering a special for that particular period which means its always a good idea to try at least a few other sites.
Some other websites offering generally good rates for Thailand are :
Hotels.com
Priceline.com Hotels
ebookers.com
Booking.com
InterContinental Hotels and Resorts
*** It is unfortunately very common for hotel booking sites to declare rates without making it clear that tax and surcharges are not included and some of the biggest names in the industry are the worst culprits! Its a marketing ploy to ensure their rates seem to be among the cheapest. These charges are usually around 17% which can be a lot of money if you are booking an expensive hotel. Beware of any site that does not display their rates as "'all inclusive" and especially beware of sites that will not show you all the information you need until you have entered some personal details. Both Sawadee R24 and HoteClub show full rates.