Finding A Hotel - Not Pre-booked

[counrikke]

Hi there,

Ive done a forum search but not really been able to find out what I need

I am wondering, whats the likely hood of just flying over, taking a taxi to wherever (in my case, chiang mai / phuket) and looking for a cheap/decent place to stay.

Probably a week at a time, give or take a few days.

and would it generally be cheaper doing it that way? last time I went I prebooked and when I got there, I noticed the prices were different as to quoted on the website and what I had to pay.

and what should I expect to pay for your average 1 bed, fridge toilet type hotel?

Thanks again

[asanee]

in the next week you will get no doubt a barrage of well-meant advice. And also a lot of bisnisseekers and passing bisnis on to friends. BUT the point is: there is no clear answer as your Q is unspecified-what ''cheap'' is for nr 1 is medium for nr 2 etc.

The REALLY very cheap places (tend to be despised by 95% of TV-posters) do not even take advance bookings and are not on www or whatever site. that means: walk in-which should clearly answer your question. They also do not discount-but hey-a discount on a 200 bt room (no AC, of course) cannot be a big one, nah?

In the medium bracket its half/half-some as above-some rely on web, some on both.

Then there is season-as about anywhere in this world tourist places have high and low season. I presume you have travelled before and know what that means. Disocunts tend to be more readily given in low season. In Thaild it often also assumes you book more as 1-2 nights and pay up front, and there is never no money back. Wise people tend to cautiously pay full 1 night-there may be hidden surpsies you would never ever ever thought of-like a disco till 3.00 or a pigslaughterplace starting at 4.30.

Getting a taxi may not work-your driver (and even taxis are non existent in many places-thats tuktuk) will try to steer you to commission paying places far away-giving him more rides to bring you to the sights.

The answer IMHO is quite easy and a year or 5 ago obvious for anyone: buy a guidebook-and see what they list-there will be numerous other places nearby and it will give transprot directions. easy as pie-they say in english.

Also Phuket tends to be far more expensive as average Thaild-and Cmai is easily the bottom end. If you watch your money avoid phuket-and certainly its taxi-maffia.

if you travel backpakcer style-then try another forum, like thailandqa or lonelyplanet.com/thorntree. This forum tends to attract a lot of expats with vested bisnis interests also.

[Mario2008]

What you pay depends on the place, Chiang Mai tends to be cheaper than Bangkok), the date and the kind of service you are looking for. If you want a little better place than the average backpackers hotel/guesthouse, it is advised to book in advance. You can negotiate a better deal than if you just walk in and also through travel agencies you can often get a better deal.

Also don't only look at the price, but also consider if breakfast is included.

[tonititan]

I was also going to ask when you are coming. Like someone else already said, that will make a difference.

Personally, I prefer to book ahead just for the peace of mind. I like to do a lot of research before I travel so that I know exactly where I want to stay. It's really hot here, and I hate arriving at a new place and having to lug my bags around and get all sweaty while trying to search for a place to stay...not to mention having to weed through all the guys at the train station/airport/pier/etc. who are trying to convince you to stay at their hotel. I prefer to brush past them and know that I don't even have to look. Plus, with my limited Thai, it's not always easy to get answers to my questions about the hotels, and I suck at negotiating. It's just an added stress I don't want. I would rather have more time for sightseeing and not waste the time looking around for the best hotel. However, many of my friends don't pre-book their hotels, especially in the low season, and they (almost) never seem to have a problem finding a place to stay. I guess it depends on whether you prefer the adventure and excitement of arriving in new place with no plans, or the relaxation of knowing exactly where you're heading next. I prefer the latter. Maybe I'm just lazy, though.

[SeanMoran]

One useful phrase to add to your vocabulary if you find yourself in a strange part of town with no obvious street signage for 'Hotel' or 'Room for Rent' and you manage to get the attention of a helpful passer-by might be "Long lamb tee nai."

I write it that way because it's easy to remember a 'long lamb'.

It means 'hotel' in pasa Thai. So, "Long lamb tee nai" is a question, "Hotel where is ?".

[Fatboysrule]

I live in Hua Hin and visit BKK about once a month for two nights. As a general rule, I use a website like Agoda or some such website. Use the same one regularly and get to know the standard of the feedback from previous guests.

Generally I stay at 3 star hotels and have never been able to negotiate a better rate then the website.

Hope this is of some use. Cheers

[Tafia]

One useful phrase to add to your vocabulary if you find yourself in a strange part of town with no obvious street signage for 'Hotel' or 'Room for Rent' and you manage to get the attention of a helpful passer-by might be "Long lamb tee nai."

I write it that way because it's easy to remember a 'long lamb'.

It means 'hotel' in pasa Thai. So, "Long lamb tee nai" is a question, "Hotel where is ?".

Hotel is...Roong Reem...pronounce ...wrong rem I think long lamb may be a little confusing, that said the areas you have mentioned there would be many english speakers or those who understand completly if you speak in english