neilri2001

Bumping up this topic i would like to expand the original question and ask if anyone has any recent experience of Gulf Air business class as i have found some excellent fares ( around the £1k mark ) for departures from LHR to BKK this Autumn. Like the original poster i have read the online reviews but it seems that most of their problems stem from only having six ( ageing ) long haul aircraft. If one of these is out of action then it throws their entire schedule into chaos. The only other airline to come anywhere near this price are Turkish ( with an horrendous layover ) and to be honest i don

Hi Harvey, In addition to the Thai Style bed the living area contained an armchair, fridge, desk and chair, decent size TV and a small balcony that was shared with two air conditioning units. To be honest the Thai style bed looked nice but wasn't especially comfortable. I tried it once but didn't really use it for the rest of my stay. In contrast the main bed was extremely comfortable. The hotel was about half full when i was there ( late May / early June ) and i got the impression that you could probably negotiate a decent walk up rate if they had the spare capacity. I found the staf

These days i find the Soi 10 / Soi 11 location is the one that most suits my needs being convenient for the beach, Walking street, Second Road and Soi lk metro etc. The Maytara hotel is perfectly(for me ) situated on the corner of Soi 11 and second Road. The hotel has around 40 rooms over four floors with a small pool, a 24 hour restaurant facing onto second road, and a contracted out in house massage shop. Three different price points. Standard rooms with or without direct pool access and two room suites. I took a suite via hotels.com which was £40 per night excluding breakfast. Walk in rates

A second stay at Page 10 and i feel that i need to qualify my recommendation slightly from last year. The hotel was still very busy even though it was low season but was starting to show definite signs of wear and tear. I had to change rooms after the first night as the wet room wasn't draining properly and the smell from the drains became intolerable. The quality of the buffet breakfast had declined markedly from last year and i certainly wouldn't advise paying extra for it. Shame really as the location really suits me. I paid 2200 baht per night for a front facing room including breakfast. A

On my recent trip i stayed at Hilton Sukumvit 23 for 30,00 points per night ( last year was 50,000 ) but i have never seen Hilton Pattaya below 45,000 points per night or 7500 baht up per night if paying cash. I recall reading on some travel related website that they have averaged 88 per cent occupancy since they opened which would explain why they have no need to discount. Most Hilton hotels will give you an upgrade package ( executive room, free breakfast for two and lounge access ) worth around £100 per night if you are a gold member but some will insist on Diamond status. If you can get t

First time at Pattaya beer Garden for me on my recent trip. Very tasty Choochi Gung for 160 baht if my memory serves me correctly, a slightly overpriced Coke lite and very good service from a Lady named Pom

There is plenty of information on car services to / from Pattaya ( i personally favor The Limopattaya.com ) but can anyone recommend a similar service in Bangkok? Last year a Thai friend booked a couple of longer point to point journeys on Grab for me and both of these trips were fine so that is always an option. Personally i prefer not to hire bkk taxis off the street as i have had too many negative experiences. Thanks in advance

News from a travel orientated list that i subscribe to suggests that from 5th October this year FInnair will be using an A350 between LHR and Helsinki. You will need to choose your flight carefully as its not every flight and not every day. Initially the 10.20 out of Heathrow on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday will use the A350. Ex Helsinki it's the 08.00 flight

90 minutes should be sufficient to transit but anything less than that and there is a fairly good chance that your luggage won't make the connecting flight even if it has been checked all the way through.

I call it as i see it. Fisherman 194. You may or may not be a keyboard warrior ( i know nothing about you in the same way that you know nothing about me ) but i certainly am not. I have averaged at least one flight a year to Thailand for the past 24 years travelling exclusively in business class for the past 17 or 18. The Emirates lounges in London and Bangkok were excellent ( and for me the best part of the Emirates "experience" ) but the lounge in Dubai was not. It may have been huge but it was overcrowded with very long queues for a mediocre selection of food and drink. There was a

I had read reviews on travel orientated forums that suggested that whilst Finnair were very good from Helsinki to Asia their business class connections to the UK were anything but. It seems that your experience bears this out. I will still use BA club to Europe and New York but would only use elsewhere if on sale or using Avios or upgrade vouchers. I did read reports that BA were going to be rolling out new business class cabins this year, undoubtedly in response to competition from the middle Eastern airlines. Mind you however many A380's Emirates buy given that Dubai airport was a zoo and th

BA have yet another sale and business class from LHR to BKK is available again for just over £1700. Saw an advert from Trayvale that was advertising business class with Thai on the new A380 for £1725 too. Good news from those who fly direct from London

I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on Finnair Jacko as i am considering them for a combined trip to China and Thailand later this year. Generally reviews of Helsinki to Asia are quite favorable especially on the A350 but Helsinki to LHR and Manchester get fairly poor notices on both service and seat width / pitch.Business is apparently just an economy bank of three with the middle seat not in use

On my latest trip i reconnected with my old Burmese Tailor who used to work out of " Mr Happy " between soi 5 and 6 before it was redeveloped. He is currently working out of Hi Fi fashion on beach road, in the lobby of the J House Hotel just past the Royal Garden Plaza towards walking Street. I had three three piece suits and three shirts in the material of my choosing for 20,000 baht and was happy with the results. The bad news is that he may have to move again at the end of the month as the lease is for sale at a price that is too high for him. He gave me permission to post his contact

Decided to be a little closer to the action for my most recent trip so booked two short stays in the Page 10 Hotel sandwiched around a weekend in Bangkok. Booked through agoda and spent four nights in a superior and four nights in a deluxe room.Paid around 2300 baht per night including breakfast for two against a rack rate of 4000 baht per night. The hotel is situated at the second Rd end of so 10 but is still less than 5 min walk from the beach. THE Hotel is fairly nondescript from the outside but is quite smart in a boutique style from the inside. Officially a four star it probably just abou

I post this review as a public service warning to anyone tempted by the 250 baht a head nightly buffet dinner at the Apex Hotel on second Rd. The pictures in the foyer show an inviting mix of Thai and European food. In retrospect being required to pay in advance should perhaps have been a warning. When I got to the counter there was literally nothing that I wanted to eat. Go back to the cash desk and request a refund. No refunds. Think I might as well at least give it a try. Am brought coke instead of the coke light ordered. Guess what they refuse to change it. The cuisine can perhaps best b

I checked again yesterday and for my dates the " cheaper " 7000 baht rooms are now no longer available so they certainly don't appear to be struggling. For me what i am prepared to pay for a hotel depends primarily on the hotel but also on the location. I frequently pay the equivalent of 7000 to 9000 baht in some cities but for me as cicero said Pattaya isn't (yet) a 9000 baht a night destination, especially when i can easily find a choice of five star hotels in Bangkok at 4000 to 5000 baht a night

I didn thanks Js although its becoming more common for some of the better known chains to guarantee the best rates via their own sites. I often use Agoda and have booked Page 10 hotel with them for this trip at 50% below the cheapest price available on the hotels own website

It's not just the bar fines in Pattaya that are overtaking Bangkok. On my last couple of trips i have been able to get five star hotels in Bangkok much cheaper than in Pattaya. For my upcoming trip on my chosen dates the cheapest room in the Hilton Pattaya was 7000 baht per night without breakfast and 9000 baht up if you wanted a seaview. I think i will stick with my mid range monger friendly hotels for the Patts sector!

BA haven't had first class on the LHR - BKK route for a while. To be honest BA's business class product on this ( and many other routes ) is fairly dated but still great if you can use miles and upgrades. I would consider the seating in Eva Business to be almost as good as first on BA but the food and service is better on BA. If the prices were similar i would choose EVA every time but unless EVA price match BA are coming in around £500 cheaper with these sale prices and you can also get triple airmiles if you pay with a BA Amex card. I had a closer look last night and there is good sale avail

BA have just announced a business and first class sale ex UK. Bangkok Business class can be had for £1734 for late May and early June and pretty much all of July and August. A slightly higher fare of £1867 is available for Early May, later June and much of September. You need to book by March 22nd although presumably the quicker you book the greater the availability. These are pretty good fares for BA.

www.thelimopattaya.com i have used these guys many times and they have never let me down although once or twice they have been a little slow to respond to initial inquiries. Their website has many fixed prices to a whole range of destinations buit i'm not sure of their day or half day rate. If you find out please let me know as i am interested too

It was at least £250 more expensive on the emirates website and with a much more limited range of flight options. It's been many years since i changed planes in the middle East, is the transit fairly painless these days?

I'm travelling over the Easter period so finding a bargain was never going to be easy but in the end i booked Emirates via West East travel ( whom i have used several times before in years gone by ) at a total cost of £1940 with all four sectors on the A380. China Airlines was available at sub £1300 but only on selected dates and with the UK - Amsterdam sectors in economy. Upgrade these sectors to business and want a popular date then the cost goes up to £1800+ which is just not worth it. Eva is still available from selected agents at under £2200 over Easter but whilst it is a fantasti

Has anyone any experience of chartering these meter taxi's by the hour or half day and what rate would i reasonably expect to pay? If i've got two or three things to do would rather travel around in comfort rather than hopping on and off baht buses. On my last trip i used one of the limo companies to take me to an out of town restaurant returning three or four hours later ( the guy just slept in the car in the parking lot ) and was charged around 900 baht. Thanks Neil