Recommendation To Stay In July/August With Kidsage 4 & 6 Years Old ?

[MikeRay]

Since I had my own economic crisis I haven´t been to LOS since November 2005.As my MIL just died recently we have to travel this year in July/August.

I´ll have my own car and after the big party I would like to enjoy the rest of my holiday at the beach. Pattaya is a big no-no, but I consider any other location. We´ll have our own car and I´m willing to drive up to 6 hours from Sa Kaeow. My guess is Chantaburi, Koh Chang, Rayong,Koh Samed, Hua Hin and Cha Am would fit, but where will it rain less? Then I will need accomodation for wifey and me plus our 4 & 6 year old kids; I definitly need privacy so we need 2 bedrooms and a pool will be nice. Does anybody have a recommendation up to 50€ per night (9 nights)during that time of year?

Thank you for help.

[scubateacher]

Hi Mike - there is a fab place just below Hua Hin - about 50km south - called Dolphin bay. the web address is www.dolphinbayresort.com: extremely family friendly, right in your price bracket ($46 per night); very safe, very clean, fantastic staff, loads for kids to do and I have stayed there in July/August a few times with no probs.

Yes, it will rain (because it's right in the middle of rainy season) but not as heavily as in other places and the rainstorms are usually over fairly quickly. If it's not raining, there are two great swimming pools for the kids, kayaks, a very clean beach (which is totally free from hawkers or the wall-to-wall deckchairs you see jammed onto the beach at Hua Hin), a lovely garden with swings, play houses etc; bikes for hire...elephant trekking etc, boat rides to feed the monkeys on monkey island...as much (or as little ) as you want to do.

If it IS raining, the hotel has foosball, pool, ping pong, board games etc for the kids; there is also a gym and, of course, a great massage/spa centre with massage both indoors or outdoors.

In addition, the hotel has either rooms upstairs or bungalows around the pool. Some of them are adjoining - for example, I know that bungalows 9 and 10 have an adjoining door (others do too, but I know about those two because we have stayed there!). Rooms are well equipeed with TV, shower etc, large fridge and a safe. Email me if you want pictures/any more info :-)

[mallorca284673]

Hi Mike - there is a fab place just below Hua Hin - about 50km south - called Dolphin bay. the web address is www.dolphinbayresort.com: extremely family friendly, right in your price bracket ($46 per night); very safe, very clean, fantastic staff, loads for kids to do and I have stayed there in July/August a few times with no probs.

Yes, it will rain (because it's right in the middle of rainy season) but not as heavily as in other places and the rainstorms are usually over fairly quickly. If it's not raining, there are two great swimming pools for the kids, kayaks, a very clean beach (which is totally free from hawkers or the wall-to-wall deckchairs you see jammed onto the beach at Hua Hin), a lovely garden with swings, play houses etc; bikes for hire...elephant trekking etc, boat rides to feed the monkeys on monkey island...as much (or as little ) as you want to do.

If it IS raining, the hotel has foosball, pool, ping pong, board games etc for the kids; there is also a gym and, of course, a great massage/spa centre with massage both indoors or outdoors.

In addition, the hotel has either rooms upstairs or bungalows around the pool. Some of them are adjoining - for example, I know that bungalows 9 and 10 have an adjoining door (others do too, but I know about those two because we have stayed there!). Rooms are well equipeed with TV, shower etc, large fridge and a safe. Email me if you want pictures/any more info :-)

If your thinking of going to Koh Samed, To be honest, not a great deal of things to occupy children, also if it rains the roads and dirt tracks are very muddy.

You will easilly find accommodation for your 50 euros per night , this time of year is very quiet, the best place to stay on samed is around Saikaew.

check out this very good site it has everything http://kohsamed.net

[scubateacher]

Have to agree with that - I took my kids to Samed and found it's not really ideal if you have small kids. Very few affordable hotels have pools, mostly because Samed is a msall island and the assumption is that you can swim in the sea. However, there are too many speed boats and jet skis etc to make swimming in the sea a safe idea, and the sea was full (because of the boats & jet skis) of dead fish and fuel.

The roads are VERY bumpy, making any trips to any other part of the island pretty treacherous - we hired a scooter but gave it back after an hour because of the state of the roads. There are a lot of hawkers on the beaches, and the whole experience fell a long way short of what we actually wanted - a relaxing holiday in a safe, clean and fun environment that kids and adults could enjoy together.

There are some good places around chonburi, and this place might be worth a visit: www.swimwithdolphinsthailand.com. Costs 400 baht to swim with the dolphins and, while it certainly isn't Sea World, my kids throughly enjoyed it.

Good luck :-)

[MikeRay]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Dolphin Bay sounds great.