avja

I've read a number of the threads dealing with southeast Asia. Based on my reading I'm planning a vacation next February with 5 stops. I'd appreciate comments on whether my planning could be improved - not the places we've chosen, but the number of days we're spending in each. I'll be staying at *woods in several of the locations but not all. One final point - I'm gold. However, I may have enough stays to qualify for platinum before my trip.

My proposed itinerary (with a travel day between cities):
3 days Hanoi
3 days Bangkok
3 days Chiang Mai
5 days Khao Lak
3 days Hong Kong

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

beta1607

I can't speak for the other destinations but I was incredibly impressed with the W Hong Kong. Look into an SPG50 Rate at that hotel.

Thunderroad

So much depends on your personal travel style and preferences. My own would involve cutting out Hanoi and using Bangkok just for transit, with at least a couple more days in Khao Lak (where I assume and highly recommend you stay at Le Meridien) and dividing the rest of the time between Hong Kong and northern Thailand. (Bangkok has its appeal, certainly, but Hong Kong is more scenic and diverse.) But perhaps that's because I've spent time in Hanoi (though many years ago) and been to Bangkok several times, and because friends who recently went to Hanoi found it disappointing in terms of more traffic and pollution than they'd expected (and perhaps bad weather in February, which is an ideal time to visit your other destinations).

I haven't been to Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai in a long time, but the latter is a smaller city if that suits your tastes. And the Starwood property there gets good reviews.

If you do spend time in Bangkok, you'll have a choice of Starwoods obviously. I don't know which get the best reviews, but more generally staying in a place by the river is nice.

I very much like the Conrad Hilton in Hong Kong, though that's obviously not a Starwood.

One other place to consider, especially if you cut back in other regards, is Luang Prabang (sp?) in Laos. Haven't been there and perhaps it's getting more touristy each year, but folks rave about it.

It might help other FTers a bit if you were a bit clearer about the durations of your stays. When you say three days, do you mean three nights or two in a given place? And when you say a travel day between cities, what do you mean by that?

Anyway, SE Asia (especially Thailand) is a fantastic region with a great combination of fine service, hospitality, efficiency, natural beauty and good value. However you work out the details of your trip, you'll enjoy it.

Happy trails!

avja

(It might help other FTers a bit if you were a bit clearer about the durations of your stays. When you say three days, do you mean three nights or two in a given place? And when you say a travel day between cities, what do you mean by that?)

By three days I mean four nights and three full days. For example, if I travel to Hanoi on day 1, I will be touring in Hanoi and northern Vietnam on days 2, 3 and 4 (and stay in a hotel or a boat on nights 1, 2, 3 and 4). I will fly to Bangkok on day 5 and then tour in Bangkok on days 6, 7 and 8. I will then fly to Chiang Mai on day 9. Etc.

The length of our vacation is set since flights have already been booked (Cathay Pacific in first class). My question is whether I should stay longer in one of the cities and make a corresponding cut in the stay in another city.

This is intended to be a leisurly vacation. I may do some touring on the travel days. However, that would be an extra in addition to the full days.

Hope that clarifies it.

tncjoey

Sounds like a good plan. I'm doing a similar but shorter trip in June with my wife and two girls:

6 Nights LM Khao Lak
3 Nights LM Chiang Mai
3 Nights Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Bangkok
3 Nights W Hong Kong

VanMan

I think it's a good itinerary,but why not split Khao Lak with Phuket 3:2.

mario33

A visit to Hanoi would not be complete without a side trip to Halong Bay.

Thunderroad

Thanks for explaining this. It does make the trip sound a bit more relaxed than I'd incorrectly assumed (which was two full days per destination rather than three). And your plan to tour around northern Vietnam a bit rather than just being in Hanoi makes it sound more interesting. And I might have misled you re the weather in February there necessarily being bad, at least according to the climate info at this site: http://worldweather.wmo.int/ My vague recollection of being there in or around February was kind of cool and cloudy with some rain, but perhaps you'd do better.

I should have asked you whether you and your travel companion(s?) had been to SE Asia before. I'm tentatively assuming not.

Having said all that, if what you want is a leisurely trip I'd suggest cutting at least one destination out of your itinerary. Picking up and moving every few days can be wearing, especially if it involves dealing with packing, immigration, lines, planes, etc. in the process. And as interesting as they are in their own ways, Asian cities tend to be rather bustling and crowded. (Well, that's certainly the case for mega-cities Hong Kong and Bangkok. As I'd mentioned, I haven't been to Chiang Mai and Hanoi for many years, though I suspect your visits there will not be like strolling through Paris.) I'd suggest cutting out Hanoi simply because it would make the trip logistically easier than cutting out any of the other destinations, and putting that time into Khao Lak if you folks are at all beach persons. Barring that, you might consider substituting more relaxed Luang Prabang for Hanoi and/or smaller Chiang Rai for Chiang Mai.

But upon re-reading your posts I now realize the advice I'm giving you here is not what you're asking for. Sorry about that! If you definitely want to stick with these five destinations--and again, there's no right or wrong here, just a matter of personal taste--I'd knock a day or two off Bangkok and spend it in Khao Lak because Bangkok is the least leisurely destination on your list and Khao Lak by far the most relaxed one.

By the way, Cathay F is fantastic. If you're traveling with a partner/spouse/significant other, it's a romantic way to start and end the trip. And even if with just a friend or relative, it's one of the best F experiences out there.

Happy trails!

Rusty65

I think you have it about right.

I think all of the cities can be experienced in 2 full days, so if you wanted to extend your beach stay you could at the expense of the condensed and busy city time.

But 3 days allows a more relaxed trip with some nice side trips - Halong Bay for Hanoi (with possible overnight on boat which also gets you two SPG stays by splitting the nights!) is a must if you are there for 3 days.

LIH Prem

Are you using points or are these paid stays?

It will be worth it to get platinum status before the trip starts.

-David

brahms77

This is exactly my plan when my wife and I are visiting Hanoi at the end of August (first day in Hanoi, second day in Halong Bay cruise, third day in Hanoi and fly to BKK on our fourth day).

OP and I are planning very similar trip, except he/she is doing it in Feb and I am doing it in two trips between late August and most of October (+ Australia). With about three weeks in SE Asia, why not shave 1 day each from BKK and Khao Lak, and visit Siem Reap? I know this can be a bit problematic logistically, but assuming that you first fly into HAN, you could do one-way flight to REP (a bit expensive) and do a two day tour of Ankor Wat and then another one-way to Kuala Lumpur (cheapest way) from REP. Spend one full day in KUL and take a LCC to HKT. After your stay at Khao Lak, head over to Bangkok for two days and after that head over to Chiang Mai or Rai for 3 days. You will return to BKK for your flight back home.

In quick summary (full days):

1) HAN (3 days)
2) REP (2 days)
3) KUL (1 day)
4) HKT/Khao Lak (4 days)
5) BKK (2 days)
6) Chiang Rai or Mai (3 days)
7) HKG (3 days)

Just one more full day added into the itinerary but you get to visit most of SE Asia and most importantly, get to see Ankor Wat!

To keep your cost down, fly Air Asia between REP and KUL (should be less than 100 USD one-way) and between KUL and HKT (about 40 USD one-way).
Within Thailand, if you want to be on the mainline carrier, you can buy TG's discover Thailand fare and for about 300 USD you get three domestic segments, tax inclusive. So, you can do HKT-BKK-CNX-BKK. The most costly segment will be HAN-REP, but at around 250 USD, it's the only way (fastest way) to get to REP.

In REP, there is a nice LM Ankor that treats its guest very well (I sent my mother on her vacation there and she said it was very good!).

As for SPG hotels, here are some recommendations:

1) HAN - only one choice (Sheraton): heard the hotel is pretty decent
2) REP - LM
3) KUL - Three choices, but if your budget allows, go with Westin (Sheraton has the cheapest redemption)
4) HKT - LM Khao Lak (as matter of fact the reviews of this property have persuaded me to stay here in October over the new Conrad Koh Samui - of course there are some cost and logistical issues with this decision as well... but I would have been equally happy to pay extra cost to stay at Conrad - Thunderroad went through with me on my decision making process and helped me greatly with a detailed description of LM Khao Lak ).
5) BKK - LM BKK (usually has cheapest rate aside from the 4P and service and rooms are pretty good). Otherwise, if your budget allows, go with the new St. Regis or Sheraton Grand Sukhumvit
6) Chaing Rai or Mai - LM (only choice there)
7) HKG - highly highly recommend the W. I also stayed at Conrad HK and really enjoyed the stay there. But my wife says W wins this one )

When you have time, check out my TR where I will periodically update with my planning process until the journey starts (link below - "Twice around the world").

nwa330

Personally I wouldn't stay at the W since the location is terrible. I would look at doing the Sheraton instead because of the location. Now the Sheraton isn't the best one however the location is 10 times better in my opinion. You don't want to waste time traveling back and forth from the W. I split my stay between the 2 and wish I had just stayed at the Sheraton.

If I were you I would look at doing the Intercontinental on the FF promotion.

SLC 4217

You should really consider Angkor Wat (REP) an amazing place and a great Le Meridian hotel

traveldog

I second the recommendation for Angkor Wat. Also suggest you consider Ho Chi Minh City (in my opinion much more interesting, friendly and dynamic than Hanoi and my favourite SE Asia destination)

clublounger

EXACTLY what I was going to say!!!!

Take a one night stay on a boat at Halong Bay and you will be forever grateful to mario33 for the suggestion.