Starwood Preferred Guest - Seeking advice on *wood properties in Thailand

Hi All,

I've read many of the threads on Starwood in Thailand, but none seemed to answer my questions. Hopefully you can assist.

Mrs. Bob and I would like to do a trip to Thailand for our anniversary next September.

Tentative plan would have us do 5 nights at one of the resort properties, 2-3 nights in Bangkok, and then 2-3 nights in Hong Kong on the way home. I need advice/suggestions on the resort properties.

We would like to stay at a beach, we'd like to snorkel, but we would also like to be able to go into town, shop, get a feel for the local area. From what I can tell on the *wood website, some of the properties (Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort for instance) seem to have the beach, but are not near a local town. Is this correct? If so, can you suggest another property?

I've also heard that September can be the rainy season in Thailand. Is this correct?

Any suggestions on where we should stay would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Bob

Just returned from Bangkok and stayed at the Sheraton Royal Orchid on the river. Rates are very reasonable--around US $85-105/night. So I wouldn't waste 10K/night on them. Very nice hotel. Rooms are typical Sheraton--with coffeemakers and teamakers in the room. Restaurants, mostly buffet style, have incredible buffets--I usually stay away from buffets, but I enjoyed these. Hotel is connected to a shopping mall, directly on the river. We held a meeting there and the staff was incredible. It's definitely more of a convention/meeting hotel, than a resort. I didn't get a chance to try the spa--the coup intervened in my plans there.

September is rainy season and we typically found that it would downpour in the early afternoon 4pm-6pm or so and then late evening. Early evenings were clear for boat rides, etc.

I suggest Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit for your stay in BKK. If you are looking for a resort in Phuket I would recommend the Sheraton Laguna (has private villas and lots of extras such as private pool area, complimentary appetizers, fruit snacks by the pool, etc). If you want to be on the other side of Phuket at the Meridien I suggest the Meridien Phuket Yacht Resort as opposed to the Meridien Phuket Beach. The Meridien Phuket Yacht Resort is part of LHW, it is a lot smaller with very authentic surroundings and off season there will not be too many people on Nai Harn Beach. The Meridien Beach resort is closer to the main drag although if you are traveling with your wife I'm not sure you yould want to go there anyway. All the other resorts are at least 20 minutes away.

Sheraton Laguna is great for famillies but not so good for couples. Its noisy and has alot of family style events. I think the Krabi Sheraton is better. Its nice and new and quieter. Since neither properties have a real nice beach I think the Krabi location is closer to nice beaches. At Krabi city you can take a cheap long tail boat out to an island or lagoon for private scuba diving.

Sheraton Royal Orchid is good with upgrades but is old. I love SGS, they have a free buffett to plats. This is one of the best buffets I have ever been too.

If its your first visit to Bangkok or if you are a tourist, I would suggest the Royal Orchid Sheraton over the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. Though the rooms at the SGS are larger, the ROS isnt too bad either and every room at the ROS gets a river view.