We visited Chiang Mai, Krabi and Bangkok. Overall, Kim Kim did an outstanding job booking our itinerary. Hoa Tran was our trip designer. Hoa and the rest of the team did an outstanding job.
We researched different agencies comparing different cities, hotels and excursions to fit into our budget and our goals for the trip. Kim Kim / Exotic Voyages was not the lowest cost option, but they presented the best hotel options and offerings. Hoa was very patient with us throughout the process. We went through at least 8 iterations of our itinerary before settling on the final plan and decision. Hoa was helpful and responsive throughout the process.
We started our trip at Chiang Mai. We were greeted at the airport by our local guide, Ms. Kanyavee (Mona), and the driver. The team promptly took us to our hotel and made sure that we were settled in. Mona was clear in guiding us through our the plan for the Doi Ithanon excursion. At Doi Ithanon, we saw a few waterfalls, saw how local villagers lived, and had a chance to enjoy a very nice lunch during the trip. At the end of our trip to Chiang Mai, Ms. Mona made sure that we got through our check-in for our next flight. She was super helpful with making sure that our luggage passed the inspection process.
After Chiang Mai, we spent three days in Krabi. On one of the days, we went to Hong Island on a speedboat. The speedboat ride was amazing. In terms of snorkling, the water was nice and warm. However, we only saw small fish, sea urchins and sea anemones. Our hotel had amazing food. On our last day, we asked to see if the driver can come a little later so that we could grab breakfast before we left for Bangkok. Hoa was accommodating and helped us make the change.
Our last visit was to Bangkok. We arrived around 1 PM. Despite that, our local guide, Ms Ae, got us checked in early. While our excursion into Chinatown wasn't supposed to start until 5 PM, Ms Ae took us to visit the local mall. We got in a quick bite, haircut, and shopping before our excursion. Make sure that you add Terminal 21 to your list of places to visit. The food court had a broad offering of food for ridiculously low prices. We ate for a party of 4 for about 500 bahts. Ms. Ae then took us to visit Chinatown. Our visit included two stops at Michelin starred restaurants. The noodle at the restaurant was one of our favorite dishes.
We visited the floating market and train market the next day, along with a visit to the Wat Pro temple in the afternoon. The markets were a treat. Wat Pro was also great. On our third day in Bangkok, we visit the temples at Ayutthaya. It was a nice excursion, but it was a 90 minutes ride from Bangkok. If we had known that you can visit an elephant sanctuary and ride elements, we would have added that to the itinerary. Note that the elephant sanctuary at Chiang Mai is about a 5 hours excursion. You can do a much less intensive event at Ayutthaya for less time.
On our final day, we were on our own. We wanted to keep one day for shopping in Bangkok before our departure. We also squeezed in dim sum at Sui San restaurant. Our tour guide then picked us up at the hotel to take us to the airport. Ms Ae made sure that we got through the check-in process, helped us with our VAT registration and directed us to the right gates before she left. Note that Ms Ae called the hotel manager on our behalf to allow us an extra 2 hours before check-out to give us time to shop in the morning.
Our local tour guides were phenomenal. If we could give them a 6 rating, we would. They not only provided us with incredible insights into the culture and history, but went out of their way to make sure that our stay was comfortable. They intervened with local businesses when we needed help communicating with them. Our trip would not have been as fun without them.
Finally, Hoa checked in with us constantly throughout our trip. She made herself available to us to help with anything we needed.
The Kim Kim team was incredible. We would highly recommend them. We will use them for future trips.
Hotel Reviews
De Chai The Colonial Hotel & Spa
Chiang Mai
De Chai The Colonial Hotel & Spa has some nice features such as the Koi pool that greets you when you get there. The hotel is close to outside laundry services, hotels and shops. The downstairs restaurant was clean and provided good breakfast.
The staff were courteous, friendly and helpful.
The rooms were clean, however, there are a few quirks that require some getting used to. As it is common with Thai hotels, the bathroom and hallways were not air conditioned so the temperature in those spaces were much warmer than the rest of the rooms. The walls to the bathroom were glass with wallpaper covering. This means that if someone goes to the bathroom in the middle of the night and turns on the lights, you get a glow from the wall. Finally, some of the lights and the AC were controlled by a control panel that took some getting used to.
Given the cleanliness, location and the overall condition of the unit, I would recommend this hotel to travelers.
Location
The hotel is close to multiple restaurants and shops.
Cleanliness & Comfort
The rooms were clean, but the control panel to control the lights and AC took some getting used to.
Solitaire Bangkok Sukhumvit 11
Bangkok
Our room was small and musty. Overall, it wasn't a comfortable living experience. Additionally, the hotel TV didn't have access to many cable channels. It also didn't have access to Netlix or other streaming services; therefore, we ended up using our laptop to watch TV.
The hotel restaurant offers a variety of food options. However, while there was a lot of food, the quality wasn't great. The Asian "baos" din't taste fresh. The orange juice tasted like Tang. The other fruit juices weren't better. The pancake machine cooked up pancakes that had a rubbery texture.
The gym offered decent equipment, but the room is way too warm.
Authenticity & Character
City hotel that is close to amenities
Location
About 10 minutes walk to the Sumkhivit subway. There are 3 7-elevens within 100 meter of the hotel. There are lots of bars and restaurant options nearby.
Staff
Staff were friendly and helpful
Cleanliness & Comfort
Room was small and musty. Additionally, they need to upgrade their TV options.
The Varana Krabi hotel provides a luxury, fitness oriented, and a beach front experience for anyone traveling to Krabi. The SALA restaurant offers a great breakfast food option. In fact, we would come back to this hotel in our future trips to Krabi.
Authenticity & Character
The hotel provides great fitness options.
Location
The hotel is right across from the beach. It's easy to take advantage of the water. It also offers a 50 meter pool so you have good options for swimming.
Staff
The staff were very helpful in making sure that we received what we needed. When our snorkeling tour vendor was late, they went out of their way to offer to call locally to make sure that our trip was going as scheduled. On our final day, we asked the hotel staff to bring our luggage to the front desk to facilitate the check-out process. The bell person not only did that, but loaded our luggage into the van that was taking us to the airport while we were eating our breakfast. The bell person drove his golf cart to the restaurant to pick us up to take us to the front desk for our check out. We didn't call for the service, but he heard our schedule and made sure that we were taken care of.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Rooms were clean and comfortable.