DSC01189, originally uploaded by uknowthename.
With only 50 days left for the countdown to New Year it is time to make plans on where to bring in the New Year. One of the most happening places to party in Thailand is just off Koh Samui on an island called Koh Phangnan....more details on this shortly.
Indigo Pearl Phuket, originally uploaded by rainbowck.
Indigo Pearl, a theme resort in Phuket will have what it calls a 'White Christmas Beach Party' featuring DJs, fire dancers and a Christmas themed buffet. The festive event is being staged in Arabian-style 'majili' tents on white sand Nai Yang Beach from 8-11pm on December 25, and is priced at 1,990 Baht.
With DJs playing 80s and 90s dance favourites, and a bar serving a wide selection of cocktails and mocktails, the Christmas beach buffet will feature a carving station serving traditional Christmas turkey, honey-glazed ham and roast lamb on a spit, plus a seafood BBQ fiesta including king prawn, lobster, swordfish, tuna and baby octopus.
Appetisers will also include an extensive seafood selection of prawn, crab, mussels, oysters, herring roll mops and smoked marlin, salmon and red snapper, along with cold cuts, grilled vegetables and salads.
Festive desserts range from Christmas pudding, Yule log cake, cookies and gingerbread men to kirsch cream with cherries, chocolate tart, Italian trifle, tiramisu and Drambuie panna cotta, chestnut mousse, cheesecake, lime tart, pecan pie and tropical fruit.
Seeing in Christmas in style, at end of the evening, will see each guest release a White Kom Loy lantern, a Thai tradition.
For guests who book accommodation at the Indigo Pearl over the Christmas period, a reduced ticket for the event is available at THB 1,500net.
View from Cape Sienna Hotel, Kamala Phuket, originally uploaded by Stefan Baging.
Wide scale discounting starting at the upscale and midscale hotels has created a domino effect downward with a continued slide in 3rd quarter Phuket hotel performance. For the period of January through September (nine months) of 2009 versus the same period in 2008 the islands average occupancy is down 18.9%, average rate declined 14.3% and most important RevPAR rattled lower to 30.5%.
Poor market sentiment has led many properties into deeply discounting room rates along with the effects of substantial new hotel supply entering into a market which is vastly seeing a saturation point in the mid and upper tier levels. Back of the already open Radisson Plaza, new hotels coming online include Westin in Koh Siray, Renaissance Mai Khao and Centara Grand Karon.
Based on actual trading terms for international standard properties island wide occupancy year to date registered 52.9%, an average rate of THB 3,786 and RevPAR standing THB 2,002. While there are positive gains in airlift and tourism numbers these are being counteracted with increased hotel rooms and a shifting geographic mix with greater numbers of regional and lower yielding markets like India.
Though 4th quarter occupancies and rates will be lift as high season comes into play, there remains considerable concern for long term rate recovery with 45 new properties now in the development pipeline.This could mean that lower yield markets like India are likely to get bigger in terms of the Phuket business pie.
Diving in Koh Tao, originally uploaded by lloydi.
The Gulf of Thailand is a wide shallow sea that is home to a diverse underwater community of marine life amid a landscape of submerged pinnacles and gently sloping reefs. The best diving is near Koh Tao which is part of the Samui Island archipelago, 65 kilometres from Samui. Of the underwater spectacles, Chumpon Pinnacles is arguably the best dive site in the area with its four towering pinnacles covered with sea anemones. Southwest Pinnacles has soft coral that is a riot of colour and schools of fish. If you do not want to stay at Koh Tao and use Samui as your base, you could explore Sail Rock which is known for its wall dives, underwater chimney and sharks.
If you'd rather snorkel, strike out from any of Koh Tao's beaches. Be careful of the small sharks at Laem Thain. Look to the bottom of the sea at Ao Hin Wong which is famous for its crystal clear waters and Ao Mamuang has staghorns and table coral that is easily accessible for first or second timers.
I think all visitors to a new destination need to orient themselves on the destination. Even in this information age, a lot of us do not have the time to actually do a little research on the destination in line with our needs prior to visiting. We leave it to our travel agent who gives you what everyone else is given...the Samui city tour. This is probably because it is the cheapest of the various tour options and also the safest in terms of recommendation...everyone does a city tour when you arrive in a new destination. But is this what you really want ? Is this really what you really need ? Read on.
The typical tour only travels around a small corner of the south east of the island. It really does not take you around the entire island which considering that Samui is such a small island is easily possible if you do it on your own. Secondly the typical tour includes a monkey show which makes you wonder whether this is all paradise has to offer ? I am all for diving into the coconut water on an island but do we have to be educated on how the monkeys fetch it from the tree ?
No visit to Samui is complete without a visit to the famously aroused "Hin Ta Hin Yai" rocks. A visit to the Big Buddha at the North Eastern part of the island is probably the most valid part of the island tour.
You are better off lazing at your Hotel pool with the occasional dip to cool you down. Alternatively if you wish to explore, hire a vehicle by yourself and do a circular of the island.
joyful, originally uploaded by tana..
Foreign tourists arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport and handled by Atta members, 1 January to 20 October, declined 30.05% from 1,797,362 to 1,257,206. In October instead of an anticipated 140,000 customers, members handled just 89,388. At the same time Online Travel Agents like Agoda and Asia rooms are registering exponential growth. So are booking patterns changing ? Are clients booking hotels and land packages online instead of through ATTA members ? Clearly this should be the direction that ATTA leadership should be thinking in and advising their members to get an online presence.
Exterior Crown Pattaya hotel, originally uploaded by Ashley Monteiro.
Location, location, location but that counts as one reason only. The Crown Pattaya's location on Soi 1 puts it just a hop, skip and a jump away from Pattaya beach as well as Big C, Tiffany/Alcazar and Pattaya's northern quarter nightlife.
Price: The hotel represents great value at the prices it is presently quoting.
3 Star Quality: This fairly new hotel is well maintained, clean and upholds 3 star standards.
Try it for your next MICE group that requests a 3 star hotel in Pattaya when you are hard pressed on the budget.
The Ambassador Hotel. Bangkok. September 2008., originally uploaded by adaptorplug.
Effective 1st November, Accor and the Ambassador Hotel Bangkok go their separate ways. The Ambassador which was to become the Mercure Ambassador is now going to chart its own course. Following the renovation of the Tower and Main Wings, the Ambassador which had raised its tariffs to reflect its increased perceived value, will now start its independent hotel life as a freshly renovated product. It will be interesting to see how the Hotel fares.
Volumes are back but are yields ? Are volumes really back ? Or are volumes just moving around depending upon the hotelier willing to compromise the yield ? It is easy to take brave decisions to increase yields when volumes are up but what happens when following that decision, the volumes disappear because the market is not that hard after all and there is a hotel that has plenty of space next door that is just grappling with its own brave decision a quarter earlier to jettison volumes in favour of yields reading the wrong signals from the "green shoots" they thought they saw ?
So is it really a recovery ? Is the high season really going to be a high season or will it be a continuation of the last three months with a peak over Christmas and New Year ? More questions than answers but aimed at changing traditional thinking patterns.
A glass walled bedroom overlooking a sitting room which overlooks a swimming pool ?
or is it
A glass walled sitting room into a see through bedroom ?
Is that flat-screen television the painting ?
or
Is the painting just unnecessary as if hoteliers feel that they have to complete the room by hanging a painting ?
Hotel Vista Pattaya is questioning a few traditional concepts.
