Bel-aire Princess Hotel Reviews

We began in Bangkok at the Bel-Aire, which is fine for a short city break. A little tired in places but staff great and location good too. Bangkok is simply mad there is no other way to describe it. I would recommend not trying to walk too much as it's not easy to find places, better to go by taxi. Lumphini night market was really good, loads of stalls, more than enough for one visit. Also lots of food places too.

Next stop Chiang Mai. The pace is a lot slower, and it's cheaper too. Amari is very nice, very friendly. We spent a couple of late nights in the bar outnumbered by the bar staff and musicians. Night market is huge, we would have liked more time in the furniture/wood carving bits which is in the main building itself. Elephant trekking is super, the show maybe a little too contrived but being with the animals was wonderful.

Going to Ko Samui we wished we had taken the direct flight instead of via Bangkok. Bangkok Airways are great though, free food and drinks while waiting at the gate.Samui is very chilled and life at the Boathouse and Choeng Mon especially so. There are several nice beach bars and the atmosphere in the evenings with tables on the beach is lovely. Having said that Bongoes and one other are going to be knocked down and replaced by a new 5 star hotel next year so that may change things a little. The sea is not so good for snorkelling here, better go on a day trip out to one of the islands.

All in all a wonderful time, the Thais are lovely in nearly all cases and you can't really go wrong. Shopping kept the teenagers happy, prices are very cheap for most things. If you are having any doubts, don't.just go

Travelled with Emirates, great seat back entertainment, free drinks, not much leg room. Changed planes in Dubai for a welcome stretch of legs and a smoke. Duty free there is great, £5.00 for 200 cigs.
Unless you want to break into your holiday money early, dont use the Irish bar, 1 small glass wine and 1 lager = £12.
Finally reached Bangkok, and were surpised and pleased to be picked up by private car, a Mercedes, with our own tour guide! He made sure our check in at Bel Aire went smoothly, got us upgraded to a deluxe room on 12th floor which was honestly one of the best rooms I have ever stayed in, 2 giant beds, whisper quiet air-con, and a bathroom out of 'House and Home', we didnt pay any more for it but I would recommend paying if neccessary, definitely felt like 5*. Pool lovely and warm and clean.

Bangkok itself is amazing, smelly, humid, busy but I loved it. Not for families with kids though, would not recommend due to heat, traffic and sheer volume of people on the streets all day and night.

Hotel in fantastic location, plenty of food and drink places close by. Golden Palace is a must see, Siam Square for shopping - clothes extremely cheap but think they only go up to a UK size 10 or XXL in Thailand!
Felt extremely safe wandering about at night, one thing did amuse me though.. for the 4 nights we were there I was the only British/white woman in ANY of the bars we went to, they are full of young Thai girls and middle aged (hopefully)single European men. Seriously. A bit seedy really. We were actually stopped from playing pool, we guess this is the way these girls are picked up as the tables are either 2 girls playing, or 1 girl and her white male 'friend'.
Don't let this put you off though, we encountered nothing but friendliness throughout.

We then flew Thai Air to Krabi, once again picked up at airport. Andaman Beach Resort is gorgeous, blends into the landscape. We were in a standard room which we thought was the lowest priced, it turns out the bungalows are - we looked in one, they are tiny with no privacy whatsoever, one couple had to 'upgrade' to the rooms we were given. The Villas look lovely, if youre a bit flush then stay in one - we didnt cos we were on a budget. Hotel food very nice, plenty of fish dishes plus nice wine. Most hotel guests tended to congregate in the Irish bar down the road as the Hotel entertainment is very low key - as it should be in such a lovely part of the world. Oh yes, havent mentioned Klong Muang/Krabi. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. We took a boat trip with the lady on the beach - name slips my mind but she is always there. The islands and scenery are breathtaking, I cannot describe how utterly staggering it is.... just go!

Summary

Bangkok - fab fab fab! Forget New York and its rude citizens, head to the Far East.
Klong Muang Beach, Krabi - heaven, tranquil, beautiful.

I have written a few reports on this site, and have always added 'Wouldn't go back, worlds too big' but in this case will make an exception and would go back... tomorrow if I could. The best place I have ever been to... yet!

Well what can i say, i booked this holiday as a surprise for my husbands 40th birthday. If i say it was fabulous i would not be doing it justice.

We booked with a company called travel mood, and they were fantastic, we have never travelled long haul before so we were a bit wary, we travelled with EVA air economy class, and i am glad we did as in the evergreen class all the seats were taken while in economy we all had plenty of empty seats and could really sprawl out, (tip: travel long haul at night you will get to sleep as they turn all lights out and window shades are down and it helps you avoid jet lag.)

We got picked up at the airport by private car it was fab, when we arrived at the hotel, well we I cannot get over the class of hotel we stayed in the belle aire princess was just great the staff were second to none, and the rooms were like staying at one of our 5*'s it is well worth having a meal in one of the restaurants in the hotel, they are not expensive and the food and service is exceptional. Dont bother taking beach towels as these are provided for you, and there is a hairdryer in the room. I well recomend the tours to the buddha temples and the river kwai also the floating market (although we didnt go to the market) be prepared for a 12 hour trip to the kwai but it really is a must see and you get your monies worth.

also for eating out try foodland it is a supermarket with a type of restaurant at the back and you can see them cooking everything in front of you and it is the cheapest place in bangkok (we found) for 2 starters and 2 meals we were paying no more than £5.00 for the lot well worth it.Mind you everything is cheap i cannot tell you how good the food is. We then travelled to phukett and stayed at the horizon beach resort hotel that was just as fab, i still cannot get over the class of accomodation it really is worth the money.

i cannon praise travel mood enough for sorting out the holiday at a fantastic price, everything was as they said it would be in fact it was much better. I would recommend travel mood to anyone travelling long haul we will definately be booking with them again they are cheap (but not like a nylon suit)!!!

We stayed for 15 nights in this hotel as we were visiting family who live in Bangkok. The staff are wonderful here, nothing is too much trouble for them and always smiling. The room we stayed in was cleaned daily, including bedding and towels. We were on the 6th floor overlooking the swimming pool. The actual decor and furniture was a bit dated but clean. Food is buffet style. It's cheaper to eat outside of the hotel where you can find decent, tasty Thai meals for less than a fiver. Loads of restaurants catering for every possible taste, English, Indian, Italian etc. Hotel is situated on Soi 5, a street off the main Sukhumvit Road which has loads of stalls, shops and restaurants.
Bangkok is a shoppers paradise. Huge department stores and shopping malls all over. I've never seen so many shops. You can bag a bargain too as many things apart from electrical goods are cheaper than the UK, particularly clothing so make sure you bring an extra suitcase!

The Sky Train is cheap and quick and importantly has air con! Taxis are also air con and fairly cheap. The most our taxi fare came to at any time was £2 but be warned, the traffic jams are something else!!!! We didn't travel in a Tuk Tuk as we wouldn't have felt safe. The car drivers are like maniacs.
If you like animals, then you will love the safari world. Absolutely brill day out and well worth it. I even held and fed a tiger. The shows were amazing.

The weather was a constant 35 deg and extremely humid so we were glad of the air con in our room. We would recommend this hotel and Bangkok for a memorable break.