Hi,

Next week I'm heading for a budget trip to Rayong and Koh Samet for 2 nites and I wish to find out the following:

1) Hotel / Guest house recommendations with good location (on budget )

2) Stay in Rayong, Koh Samet or 1 night each?

3) Nice food? any food...

4) Recommended islands / beaches to visit.

Thank you very much.

I like Samet. Last stayed at the Silver Sands bungalows at the south end of Ao Pai; I think our rate was around 1100 or 1200 baht a night. Ao Pai has a decent amount of nightlife, but there are other locations that are quieter and/or cheaper, some as low as 200 or 300 baht. (At least that's the way it was a couple of years ago.) You can walk from one beach to another along the east coast of the island and it isn't too hard to find a relatively secluded beach if you want one. There are MANY restaurants along the various beaches with tables set up where the beach chairs are during the day. Meal prices were quite reasonable and the seafood was very fresh, as you would expect. Samet is very popular with young Thai couples and college students so the island is much busier on Thai holidays and weekends.

Rayong is just an industrial town. There is a sea-front, but in the Rayong-Mahtaput area it's pretty scruffy. There are some resort hotels along there, but I've never stayed in one. We did stay in the Star Hotel in the city centre for a week, when we were buying stuff for the house when it was being built. The Star's not bad, and it's right by a square which has a market and decent foodstalls, so very pleasant to stroll down there of an evening and get gently blootered on Leo at (then) 50baht a big bottle. The hotel also backs onto a big IT centre which is worth looking round.

The fish restaurant on the pier at BanPhe is excellent

Edited January 14, 200917 yr by Eff1n2ret

Jeps Bungalows on Samet, cheap, clean, by the beach and excellent food in the evenings.

thanks for all the replies...