Southeast Asia for a Fantastic Trip of a Lifetime!

We enjoy sharing tips based on our travel experiences, but this time we’re thrilled to share a client’s perspective! Chris and his new wife honeymooned in the Far East. Enjoy highlights from their trip to beautiful Japan and Thailand.

We had an amazing time!! Everything went smoothly, every hotel was perfect, and did an excellent job.

Palace Hotel Tokyo – Best service we’ve ever had! Our room was on the highest floor with a breathtaking view of the palace gardens and city skyline. The location was perfect; all the popular attractions were no more than 20 mins away by cab (and most were more like 5-10 mins away). For our first night, the concierge sent us to a great authentic Japanese restaurant for dinner in the Shibuya district since we wanted to see the famous Shibuya crossing. We had a blast in Tokyo – I would recommend it as a layover for people traveling to Southeast Asia.

The Peninsula Bangkok – Beautiful hotel. Kind of an old-world luxury feel to it. Service was outstanding. We loved staying on the river, and the hotel had these neat boats that transport you across the river for easy access to the city (boat ride took no more than 5 mins). We definitely recommend.

Trails of Indochina did an excellent job putting together our itinerary. Suzie, our tour guide, was waiting for us right at the gate when we landed in Bangkok, and she and Chet, our driver, took us straight to the hotel to shower and change for the day (we arrived at 5am). We loved having our own private tour guide and driver, and Suzie was more than happy to take us to places not on our itinerary (such as Jim Thompson’s for souvenirs), which meant spending more time with us than the itinerary called for. She also took us to a “train market,” where lots of local vendors set up stands along train tracks, so when the train comes (three times a day!) they all have to quickly move their stands off the tracks, then move them back on when the train passes. This was a highlight of the trip and was not on our itinerary, so we really appreciated Suzie going the extra mile. We enjoyed the temple visits, and the floating market was a lot of fun. Suzie also bought us various street foods throughout the two days, which was a very nice touch.

Anantara Koh Pha Ngnan – We absolutely loved our stay at Anantara. The beachfront villa was perfect, as we had our own private pool and were steps away from the beach, which was warm and much more beautiful than any of the beaches I saw at Koh Samui. The honeymoon setup in the room was very cool (“happy honeymoon” written in flowers on the bed, bottle of champagne, etc.). The island of Koh Pha Ngan is much quieter and less developed than Koh Samui, which means all the restaurants and bars (other than those at the resort) are true local spots. We loved this, but I can see how other less adventurous travelers might prefer more options. And if you can’t stand bug bites, I might recommend traveling elsewhere. The hotel coordinated our elephant trekking and zip lining excursions at very low prices and provided us with a private driver to take us to each excursion. Anantara was exactly what we were looking for.

Novotel Airport Hotel – Perfect hotel if you need to stay close to the airport. It was much bigger and more luxurious than we were expecting. The shuttles ran very frequently and the service, like everywhere else, was excellent.

Thanks, Chris – we’re glad this trip was everything you had hoped for and more! Best wishes always!

(photo courtesy of The Peninsula Bangkok)