BKK Airport Questions
 

I am arriving into BKK at 11:25 PM and flying out at 7:00 the next morning to Siem Reap and Angkor. All the books say there are two transit hotels inside security. Has any FTer stayed there?

Also, I want to leave a bag at the airport and pick it up on my return to BKK. I know that there is a 24 hour luggage service at the airport. Does anyone know if this service operates inside security so I don't have to go through Thai Immigation? Thanx.

Hello Bratt,

We have the exact same itinerary in February.

We also had this same issue last year when we arrived at midnight and flew out to Bali the next morning at 8:00.

The main hotel at the airport is the Amari. It is extremely convenient and probably your best choice for a quick layover. It is a bit pricey and not spectacular by any means. It is located OUTSIDE of security.

We stayed at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit and had a very smooth transfer both directions.

It is so late that there we got to our hotel in about 30 minutes and returned in about the same time. I don't remember the exact fare, but it was pretty cheap, i.e., under $10US.

No personal experience, but I've only heard bad things about the transit hotel, Louis' Tavern Dayrooms (but what do you expect with a name like that?). If you're going to stay at the airport go with Amari.

Do note that at the times you mention traffic to/from the airport should be reasonably painless (~30 min). Taxis should be in the vicinity of 200 baht -- use the public taxi counter and make them use the meter. (Note: there may be queue leaving at 11 PM, as this is a popular arrival time. Arrange a ~500 baht ride at the limo desks inside if you want to avoid this.) Unless you require a visa, the only problem with going through immigration is the 500 baht departure tax.

while the amari is the closest of the hotels. There are some other hotels near the airport, but not really that close.

I stayed at the Asia Airport and it was mediocre and while it was a closer than downtown bangkok, it wasn't that close.

a quality inn has also opened up out there. you can get a listing of some of them by going to http://www.bangkok.thaihoteldiscount.com/

Note that in bangkok (and in asia) it's often cheaper to book the hotels on consolidators sites like the one above, but not always.

Oh by the way, if you walk outside security, which you'll almost certainly have to, you'll probably end up paying like a $20 tax to leave thailand for siem reap. you'll love angkor but expect to have to have a driver and a guide

[This message has been edited by MrAOK (edited Jan 17, 2004).]

I've stayed at the Comfort Suites BKK Airport when I didn't have the energy to schlep myself all the way to downtown on a short overnight. The hotel is not particularly luxurious but it is clean, convenient and has a decent restaurant for a late dinner. Staff are extremely helpful too. For the US$40 or so that you pay (significantly cheaper than the Amari), its well worth it.

Great idea B747!! Was this Comfort Suites part of the Choice chain? I just had a 4 day marvelous stay at the 5* Shangri-La for $59++ including Am B'fast. Max taxi fee is 400 Baht ($10) each way.

I've always booked the hotel through Asia-Hotels.com which gives the best rates.

http://www.asia-hotels.com/hotelinfo...rport_Bangkok/

I stayed at the Asia Airport last week. The hotel's online site ( http://www.asiahotel.co.th/ ) does have competitive rates (with the other hotel sites). I booked double occpancy for THB 1650 including 17% tax/service charge. Hotel is a bit scummy (worn carpets, scuffed walls, just seems a bit run down) though and shuttles (at least early morning) only run every hour on the 1/2 hour. Had a free ride there and was worth it for the 0605 NW 28 departure.

I'd be tempted to just slum it in the transit area.

As for REP, note the international departure tax & security fee for foreigners is now USD 25 (it's 18 for Cambodians).

I'd advise the day rooms if you want to get some sleep. I haven't stayed in one but I did check them out and they are not luxurious but you do get a clean bed and bath for much less than the amari - which is a notorious over-charger. It will save you quite a bit of time since check/in and immigration can easily add an hour.

Aren't the day rooms within the secured area? The OP hasn't mentioned whether he is flying the same airline and whether he will be checked through - presumably not.

In which case, he would have to go through customs and won't be able to get back in to the day rooms.

Don't stay at the Amari...this hotel is the biggest rip off in Asia (aside from the CKS Airport hotel in Taipei!). For the same price you can get a room at the Grand Hyatt or Conrad downtown. If you arrive that late it never takes long to get downtown and its only about 20 minutes to get from downtown to the airport in the morning. It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the Amari to the check in areas! The Amari just ain't worth it.

You probably can get a site a either of those two for what the Amari wants. I called up a week ago. USD 259.

USD259 is the walk-up rate at the Amari... Only a crazy-man would pay that rate.

http://www.precisionreservations.com/

You can get the Amari for about USD123++.

In my opinion, the Amari is very over-priced. Much better off staying at the Comfort Suites which is only around USD35 including breakfast...

I stayed at the Quality Suites Airport Bangkok last March and was pretty unimpressed. Here are my thoughts from my trip report:

"Quality Suites Airport Bangkok

We chose to spend our last night in Bangkok at the egregiously misnamed Quality Suites Airport in order to facilitate an easier return for our early morning flight back to the States. Even though the hotel is directly across the highway from the airport (thereby ensuring the omnipresent and irritating noise of departing airplanes throughout the day thanks to no window insulation), it took our taxi nearly 20 minutes to get to the hotel thanks to poor road engineering and typical Bangkok traffic, present even on a Saturday afternoon.

The Quality Suites is difficult to locate in a generally run-down and unpleasant area (a fact we would confirm later when our taxi driver returning us from Bangkok that night got hopelessly lost). Other than the relatively close proximity to the airport, convenient for early morning departures, the only two things going for the hotel were its relatively cheap rate (about $58/night; which isn't so cheap when compared to the $47/night Priceline rate we got at the much nicer Marriott) and the enormous size of the rooms. Other than that, the rug was archaic, worn down, and heavily stained, and the room looked like it hadn't been renovated in decades. For those of you faced with a one-night stay near the airport, I'd definitely skip the Quality Suites in favor of the more expensive, but much nicer Amari Airport Hotel (which does offer a 50% discount to walk-up customers with a current TG boarding pass)."

It sounds like others were equally unimpressed with the Amari, at least in terms of value. Kinda puts you between a rock and a hard place, huh? Based on the negative reports all around, have you considered finding a comfortable, but inexpensive option further afield and taking a taxi ride from and to the airport? Bangkok taxi rides are dirt cheap and at your arrival and departure hours, traffic should be light.

[This message has been edited by cAAl (edited Jan 20, 2004).]

Am in Bangkok now after originally connecting in BKK to Siem Reap. The connection was difficult.

My bags were not connected through, so I could retrieve some personal articles. My plan was to get my bags and go back to the day rooms. I was operating under some information I read in another topic here on FT that said if you are connecting and go outside immigration, they will stamp your visa with a stamp that says you will be in BKK less than 12 hours and you don't have to pay the departure tax.
Not true! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/frown.gif

I tried to get some accurate information before I waited in line, but noone, not even the women at the information booth spoke English enough to undertand the nature of my problem. Because it was 1:30 AM after I waited in line to get the above information, I couldn't reach either Bangkok Airways or United to inform them of the bag transfer. Because I told the immigration people I was connecting and just wanted to get my bag and come back inside without paying the departure tax, they wouldn't let me through immigration. They said the airlines would have to handle it.

So, I spent an agonizing three hours not knowing what happened to my bag until the RCC opened at 4 AM, when United confirmed they had my bage and would transfer it to Bangkok Airways.

During that time I learned that the day rooms get full early, there is a decent 24 hour restaurant run by Thai Airways airside, and to always check your bags all the way through if you are connecting in BKK.