JBG89

we are planning on doing about 3 days each on Taiwan,Singapore,Phuket, Koh Samui, and Bangkok. We are hoping to spend about 70% of our time in semi-luxury hotels (~$200/night) and the remainder amongst the nicest hotels in the region (possibly using rewards too?).

Thanks!

SK AAR

Hotel rates in Thailand are so low that in general it it not worth to use points/miles for a stay. Less than USD 100/nt will get you a a prime 5* hotel room in BKK. Phuket and Koh Samui are more expensive (in particular in high season) but still cheap compared to the US/Europe.

Save some points and money for Singapore - there you will really need them, very expensive

Recarding your itinerary: 3 days in Singapore is too much. 1 or 2 days will do. Unless you fly into/from SIN, skip Singapore. Use more time in Thailand. 3 days in BKK is OK but I would prefer more time there. Restrict yourself to either Koh Samui or Phuket depending on the season (not both) and then stay for 6-7 days; With your itinerary IMO you will use to much time travelling around and check-in/out from hotels.

Taiwan: Why do you want to visit Taiwan? If you have limited time for travelling staying in Thailand will be much more rewarding. You can visit Chiang Mai too. You do realise that Taiwan is far away from TH and SIN?

FAllWay

Considering paying cash in both countries. Sometimes they are low as $1xx usd

JBG89

Thanks for your input! My girlfriend and I are huge foodies hence the stop to Taiwan

Singapore we are just planning on visiting the night safari, marina bay sands, and my grandmother so I agree that 2 days may be enough. Also, the flight from taipei -> singapore -> koh samui ends up being $200 cheaper than taipei -> koh samui for some reason.

It seems that Phuket would be the better option due to weather, we wanted to attend the full moon party december 6th and somewhat planned around that.

In total, our itinerary is 16 days. We were thinking 4 taiwan, 2 singapore, 4 phuket, 3 koh samui, 3 bangkok.

Although we understand this may be alot of flights, we'd like to see an assortment of places and most of the flights seem pretty near to each other and under <$100.

Now that i looked up chiang mai that looks fantastic as well but am unsure how i would fit that in...would it be too optimistic to take 1 day each off of koh samui and phuket and do 2 days in chiang mai?

dd1612

http://en.hiltonhoteldeals.com/discoverthailand

Good deals at Hilton Hotels Thailand.

At Singapore personally I prefer staying at the YMCA on Orchard Road. In-expensive, and close to everything.

SK AAR

Full moon party in Phuket? Is it possible that your refer to the famous full moon party on Koh Phangan? (which is an island close to Koh Samui).

You are going to have a busy schedule... (IMO too many places = too little time each place; almost similar to ppl from US or Asia trying to do all European countries in 2 weeks )

If Koh Samui/Koh Phangan is your destination, I would skip Phuket and add 1 more day in Koh Samui and 3 days in Chiang Mai (although air travel between Phuket and Chiang Mai is easy and cheap).

glennaa11

I think it's too many destinations for such a short period of time as well. You'll spend all of your time in airports and in the air.

However, I will stick up for Taiwan which I really like. I think it's under-rated and there's a lot more to it than Taipei as well. The island has a very interesting history. And the people are very nice.

I enjoy Singapore too. I think it gets a bad rap.

Personally I am not interested in beaches and beach resorts. But to each his own.

I like Chiang Mai a lot. But given how much traveling you are already doing I don't think it makes sense to add yet another destination. Perhaps try getting into the generally slower pace of life in that part of the world. Even a chaotic city like Bangkok doesn't go a million miles an hour.

lin821

Why not Taiwan?

If OP can fly all the way from NYC to Thailand and Singapore, Taiwan is just in the "neighborhood." Not to mention TPE can be an excellent stopover to organize a multi-country Asia itinerary from the States. Visa-exempt entry to Taiwan is just another big plus for OP!

Unless you plan to stay only in Taipei when visiting Taiwan, you won't see that many choices for award stay beyond Taipei. The good news is, per your budget, you will have no problem to find accommodations that suit you while in Taiwan.

If food is your pursuit, other than Taipei, I'll strongly recommend you to explore Tainan and/or Yilan. If you ask me, 4 days are certainly not enough to sample all the delicious Taiwanese food. You'll have to come back for more. Meanwhile, you have a big decision to make as to how to split your time wisely:

The truth is to cover all your targets in 16 days is kind of a rush. If I were you, I would trim down the travel plan a little bit so I might really get to enjoy each destination and spend less time in transit and/or catching flights.

lcpteck

Taiwan is a very nice place.

dtsm

Some thoughts on hotels

Taipei: Les Suites Hotel, Chang-An Lu location. Small and quiet boutique hotel. Next to MRT station and easy ride to eating places.

Bangkok: Oriental Residences, Wireless Rd - they still may have 2+1 deal going, highly rated by tripadvisor, my wife's favorite in LOS

A380 Flyer

Based on my own experiences:

Bangkok: Hansar
Taipei: Park Hotel on Xinyi Road
Singapore: why not Amoy Chinatown? Or Park Royal on Pickering?

Astrophsx

Keep your eye on the promo codes section in the hotel deals section in Flyertalk. There is often $40 off $150 with travelocity or 15-20% off codes for non-brand name hotels. Flip through tripadvisor to see the top 20 ranked hotels for the region and see which are valid with the coupon codes.

rizayosia

Bangkok: Pathumwan Princess Hotel. Near an MRT and in the city centre.
Phuket: This is hard. It depends on your preference. Maybe Moevenpick at Karon Beach. It's quiet, much quieter than Patong, but quite a distance from the Phuket City.
Singapore: I like Sheraton Towers. Near an MRT and there's a food court opposite the hotel. It's near the Orchard Rd too.

A380 Flyer

Can anyone use these codes?

Astrophsx

Yes, though some are to be used by downloading travelocity's mobile app. You would want to check to make sure the rates are as low as they are on their website before using. You can make individual reservations for each night to maximize the discounts, though I have not gone over 3 individual nights.