Travel Tips - Thailand

Lodging

For my stay in Bangkok, I chose to stay at the Luxx Hotel booked with Expedia. I honestly wish I had more good things to say about my stay with Luxx Hotel, but it was a miserable experience. While the staff was so kind and friendly, the accommodations were atrocious. There was mold all over in my hotel room and it had an accompanying smell that made it difficult to breathe normally. Additionally, the shower did not work and sprayed in three different directions. There was no noise buffer between rooms, and you can easily hear people open and close their balcony door (which can be closed with a VERY loud bang that woke me up at several points each night throughout my stay). There was no AC in my room, and while it wasn’t overbearingly hot, it was not cool enough to sleep in. The WiFi was spotty and did not work so I was unable to attend work calls and as a remote worker, this was a huge problem. The hotel is down an alleyway which did not make me feel safe as a solo female traveler and the whole hotel looked just rather run down. After the first night of my stay I couldn't stand the smell and the front desk so kindly let me upgrade rooms with no charge, which I greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, the toilet had trouble flushing, there was no hot water, and the balcony didn't seal so there were mosquitos everywhere and I woke up with countless bites. I really hate to leave bad reviews, but this was truly a horrendous stay, and I would HIGHLY recommend you look for accommodations elsewhere — this is NOT a luxury hotel, and I would not stay here again.

 

I greatly enjoyed my stay at Viangluang Resort booked with Expedia! This hotel was located in a great spot within the gated of Chiang Mai and so everything was within walking distance. There were very cute restaurants and shops nearby as well! The staff were very pleasant and helped me with every inquiry I had in a timely manner. The accommodations were pristine and luxurious as well, I was very impressed with the property! I would recommend booking this property for your trip to Chiang Mai.

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For my short time in Phuket, I chose to stay at the Maikhao Palm Beach Resort booked with Expedia on the northeast part of the island. Overall, I greatly enjoyed my stay here! The property itself was very unique and beautiful, it was gorgeous! The room was lovely and well-maintained. The only thing that I did not love about this resort is that the area around it was rather run-down, meaning the walk to the beach and neighboring spaces were not enjoyable. This hotel is great for people looking to stay near the airport but is not close to Phuket city or the south part of the island.

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Transportation

For my travels from the United States, I had to take a whopping 16.5-hour flight from San Francisco to Singapore before eventually flying into the city of Bangkok. For booking your flight, I recommend using Google Flights on incognito mode. In cities in Thailand, for transportation to and from the airport, I would recommend booking a taxi via Grab which totals to about $10-$20 (ish) each way depending on what time you go and how far your accommodations are. Grab is very similar to our Uber in the United States, and I found it very easy to navigate! I did not find Bangkok to be a very walkable city, but I believe that was due to where I stayed, relatively far away from the city center. Chiang Mai is a definitely a walkable city, and in the Old Town of Phuket is walkable but otherwise Grab​ is the best approach.

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Activities

There is no shortage of incredible things to do in Thailand but here are some of our favorites: 

• Indulge in a private day tour away from the bustling city of Bangkok to the floating market!

• Visit the wide variety of "Wat"s (temples) across different regions in the country -- my personal favorite was Wat Sam Phran.

• Volunteer (ethically) at an Elephant Sanctuary