Posts Tagged hotels
Booking Phuket Hotels Online
Posted by in Uncategorized on February 6, 2010
As we enter high season in Phuket and the Andaman coast, visitor numbers increase dramatically compared to our low “summer season”. Of course that’s due to the weather. From November to April (on average) the weather is better than May – October. In particular, the Phuket Rainfall Averages show that December, January and February are the driest months of the year. Of course you can get plenty of good weather in the low season too, but in high season you’ll get more sun. I don’t promise no rain, hey, this is the tropics, but the next 6 months is the time to visit Phuket! Plenty more weather information on my Phuket Weather Blog…
Enough about the weather! I hope if you browse this blog you will find that Phuket is a wonderful place. Now, this blog is mostly about the “other” Phuket, not the main tourist beaches, tours, shops and shows. But whether you come here for the beach, a family holiday, a honeymoon, a quick trip or a erm… gentleman’s holiday.. everyone has one thing in common. You need a place to stay. Phuket has it all. You can get a backpackers dorm for 200 Baht, you can rent a villa, and there are guesthouses and hotels to suit all budgets. If you care to search Google for “Phuket Hotels”… you get over a million search results. There are thousands of online hotel booking services. So how do you make a choice?! Might as well stick a pin in your screen and say “That one!”… well, I hope that Jamie’s Phuket can help in making a choice!
Some people will always book direct with the hotel. Others prefer to book everything in a package through their local travel agent. But often, if you want the best rates and the best choice of hotels – an online hotel booking agent can be the best choice. Over the last few years I have experimented with several hotel sites, linking to them from this blog. The recommended Phuket Hotels section of the blog grows slowly and for each hotel there are a couple of options for online booking.
Agoda – not such a common name in Europe or North America, but in Asia Agoda is well known, being based in Singapore. The site is well designed, very easy to use, they offer rewards when you book (equivalent to a discount on a future booking), and guarantee lowest rates. Have a look!
• Agoda.com – Home Page
• Agoda – Thailand Hotels
• Agoda – Phuket Hotels
• Agoda Rewards
Agoda is also available in many languages such as German, Japanese, Russian and many more. You’ll see a language picker at the top of each page.
LateStays – Part of the Asia Web Direct company that was recently bought by Wotif, LateStays specialises in last minute bookings – up to 28 days in advance. Website is very very easy to use, the discounts are often considerable, although you may want to check Agoda too – LateStays does not guarantee lowest rates, but for a late late booking, it’s very very good.
• LateStays.com – Home Page
• LateStays – Thailand Hotels
• LateStays – Phuket Hotels
Have a look at these two – Agoda and LateStays. Plenty more out there if you want to look, but here on Jamie’s Phuket I stick with them when it comes to hotel booking. High season is here! If you are reading, hope you can make it to Phuket soon!
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Where to Travel With Kids on a Budget
Posted by in Uncategorized on January 23, 2010
Of course you can travel just about anywhere with your kids on a budget. Like any travel experience on a budget you need to research and plan well to make the most of your travel dollar. Many places, however, are family or kid friendly and will throw in added extras for the children. So whether you intend traveling at home or abroad, look for places that will cater to your family’s needs.
RV trips are a great way to travel on a budget. In fact, traveling with a car is almost essential for families. It is usually cheaper than buying rail passes or catching taxis everywhere. But more importantly, it gives you that ‘door to door’ freedom that is necessary when traveling with kids.
If you are traveling overseas, have you considered staying in a hostel with your family? This is a much cheaper option than staying in hotels and many hostels are family friendly and have no age limit (except in Bavaria where you can’t be older than twenty six). You can request a room with enough bunk beds to accommodate your family and you can cook your meals in the communal kitchen. Huge savings to be made!
In the USA there are many places to travel with your family on a budget. Consider these options:
1. Camping. The cheapest option around for any travel adventure. Many campsites have activities for kids and if you don’t like the idea of staying in a tent, many places have cabins to rent that are still cheaper than a hotel room. Camping gets you up close and personal with nature and gets the kids outside and running around.
2. What about spending some time at a Working Farm or Dude Ranch? Look around for reasonably priced holidays at these destinations and you will find plenty of activities and atmosphere for kids and adults alike.
3. Head to Disneyland in off peak season for big savings.
4. The same can be said for traveling to Hawaii. Check the packages available in low season and see how affordable it is.
5. You’ll also find some excellent deals in traveling to Mexico. Go for all-inclusive resorts, especially in the low season.
What about if you want to travel overseas? Where are some good places to take the kids on a budget?
* Although Australia is a long way away and can be a bit pricey to get there, it is a very child-friendly place with lots of cost saving adventures to be had for the kids. Australian off peak is different from North America so do some research.
* Europe can be done on a budget with kids. Pick your destinations with the kids in mind. Get them involved in your itinerary. Stay in hostels and travel by car. You’ll be amazed at how much you save and how much you see.
* Some island resorts are very child friendly. In Fiji there are resorts where children under twelve stay and eat for free. Do your research!
* How about a family cruise? Cruises are great because they are all-inclusive, cater for families and you get to explore lots of places. There are some good family package deals to be found with most cruise companies.
So get planning and get packed. Plan your family vacation and check out the deals available. Going off peak is the best way to save money. If you are going to take the kids out of school buy them a journal so they can record their experiences. It’s amazing how much they’ll learn by traveling with their family.
This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru
www.stuartstravel.com
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Best of Jamie’s Phuket 2009 – Part 1
Posted by in Uncategorized on January 23, 2010
Wow. 2010 already. Anyone else feeling a bit shell shocked? I have been in Phuket just over 10 years now, arrived in November 1999. No plans to stay, just looking for work as a dive instructor. Fast forward 10 years, happily married, 2 children, lots of bills to pay (house, car, school).. is this not just like any normal life anywhere else? Not quite. I am very happy living in Phuket, although at times in the high season (that’s now!) there is not much time for relaxation – running even a small dive shop needs fairly long work hours, 6 days a week. Family has to come first, so the poor Phuket blog does get neglected at times in the high season. I still try to update this blog about once per week, and the weather blog maybe a bit more often.
2009. Good Year. A quick look back at some of the more interesting places, restaurants, hotels and things to do that were on Jamie’s Phuket last year…
January – as I said, it was just over 10 years ago that I got to Phuket, the main aim was to find work on a liveaboard dive boat – so I wrote something about that : Liveaboard Diving from Phuket. Photo below… me 9 years ago in the Similan Islands.
Next, a review of the luxury Sala Phuket resort, one of the best hotels you can find here. I try not to add too many hotel reviews on the blog, but occasionally, when we’ve not had time to really get out and do anything much, I’ll add in a hotel… always looking for new or interesting hotels to review.
Same with restaurants – although we are getting a bit middle aged and tend to eat again and again at the same places, I try to get to new restaurants and sometimes we find good ones like the Uptown restaurant in Phuket Town, a big local favourite with a huge menu of different noodle dishes.
Also in January, I had a quick visit to the new Phuket 91.5FM radio station which over the year has established itself as probably the No.1 station for Phuket.
February – another new Phuket Town restaurant – Rimtang specialises in local dishes, and another hotel review – Boomerang Cottages in Kata, not on the beach, up on the hillside, and always gets good reviews it seems.
Later in February we headed out of Phuket into Phang Nga province just over the bridge and found a great restaurant called Sam Chong Seafood. Not far from there, the temple of Wat Suwan Kuha which is built into a cave.
March – a quick visit to a temple in Phuket Town – Wat Vichit Sangkaram – eventually I will try to blog all the temples in Phuket! I did a review of the new TravelFish Guide to Phuket, a review of the Agoda hotel booking website.
Found time to try the new Phuket Brewery just outside Phuket Town which has a microbrewery and live music with big name Thai stars performing almost every weekend. We also went to Cape Phromthep – not for the first time but amazingly the first time I had been there for the sunset.
April, come she will. Kamala Beach – I think kind of the forgotten beach of Phuket, still very quiet, it’s just North of Patong, but about 500 times less crazy!
Phuket Town – for me, the best bit of Phuket, lots of hidden surprises, and a few were uncovered in April. First, yet another very popular restaurant with locals called Kaewjai, just a block from the bus terminal, been there for nearly 50 years and my wife and I have been back several times during the year. Then there was the Crocodile Farm… not for animal lovers and I read things about them keeping some animals illegally. Lots of crocodiles. And some tigers, and a few other animals.
Later in April I finally found the not-easy-to-find Shrine of the Serene Light, in the old part of town. Very beautiful old Chinese shrine.
But April of course is best known for Songkran – the traditional Thai New Year. This year on April 13th we loaded up our pick up truck with barrels of water, drove around Patong and the whole family had a fun time – photos here: Songkran 2009 in Patong.
And you also have Phuket Bike Week just before Songkran, I went to see some bikes this year down at Patong Beach and in the JungCeylon mall.
May – I enjoyed looking around the Phuket Halal Expo, held at Sapan Hin, a large recreation area in the south of Phuket Town. Lots of food and smiling faces – the event was to promote Phuket’s large Muslim community.
I like to find simple and not (too) expensive restaurants on the beach – found one at Nai Yang Beach called Batik Seafood. Nai Yang is pretty quiet and there are many small restaurants. A few days later and we ate at another new restaurant called Lakeside, way off the beaten track and run by a former neighbour of ours.
The Big Buddha in Phuket.. still not finished.. indeed we were just there a couple of days ago and there is loads to do.. the main 45m high Buddha is all but ready, but the surrounding area needs a lot of work – photo below taken in May:
June – halfway through 2009 – and I think I better add a “Part 1″ on the title and carry on with Part 2 in a couple of days… way too much to talk about on one blog post! We took a very interesting trip by longtail boat from Rawai Beach to Koh Kaew Yai, a small island just off the end of Cape Phromthep. Stories say that the Buddha visited here before landing in Phuket at Rawai.
And not long after we were at Sapan Hin again for the One Tambon One Product Fair – lots of food, drinks and crafts. There are regular events at Sapan Hin, always worth a visit.
To round out the month, a visit to Phuket Aquarium. We go quite often, entry fee is cheap and we like the Cape Panwa area of Phuket where the Aquarium is located. My kids always enjoy learning about the fish and other marine life from “Dad the Diver” 
Jamie’s Phuket 2009.. Part 2 coming soon
Happy New Year!
