In Reply to: advice on Hotel Krabi posted by Wen on Tuesday, 12. December 2006 at 06:38 Bali Time:
Hi Wen
I think the most important decision regarding Krabi is what time of year you are planning to go. Krabi itself is a bit of an odd place in that the only place worth going (to my mind) is Au Nang. Krabi town is just that a town and other places are too remote and very quiet. Unfortunately Au Nang does not really have a beach worth talking about but there are hundreds of long tail boats that you can hire very cheaply, private or sharing, to whisk you off to a paradise island/beach for the day and pick you up later in the day. Some of them do not even have a bar/cafe. It is quite a site at about 5pm every day to watch all the boats coming back into Krabi. This is where it is important to pick the right season because unless you are an intrepid sailor, which I am not, the sea can by pretty rough in the Thai winter. Best time is from Mid November through to about April.
There are lots of nice hotels in Krabi and it really depends on how much you want to pay. The first time we stayed there we managed to get a good deal on the Krabi Thai Village resort which is a pleasant 10 minute walk to the beach and a very very nice 5* hotel. But of course it does come at a price. The second time we stayed we were splitting the holiday with a week in Krabi and 10 days in Phuket and we went more budget. We stayed at the Heritage which is at the opposite end of the bay and only a couple of minutes walk to the beach. A very good clean budget hotel, only a small pool but very few people spend any time by the pool in Krabi. None of the facilities of a 5* but more than adequate for us.
In Bangkok all the hotels are cheap for what you get. Don't be tempted to go too budget because some of them can be a bit seedy. We only ever spend a couple of nights in Bangkok so price does not make a big impact on our budget. We have stayed in a number of hotels but the one we would always recommend is the The Landmark. This is a wonderful hotel and well situated only 100 yards from a skytrain station.
If you are going to Bangkok there are two musts apart from the usual tourist bits; a meal in Cabbages and Condoms (they have a website so have a look) despite the name it is not sleazy. You need to book. The second is a drink at the Vertigo bar (also have a web site), an open air bar over 70 floors in the sky, don't go on a windy night or when the aircraft are flying low LOL.
Hope this is helpful for you.