Why is it so hard to book rooms in advance?

[boatboy]

Why is it so hard to book rooms in advance?

Is this a usual Thai thing or just the places I want to stay?

We have been trying since September last year to book with a few different places for May-June this year and am either not getting return emails or if I do am being told to try again in March.

WTF !!!, I like to know that I have a room in advance so as to get something else if plan A fails.

[blackgang]

They are not sure they will be there in 6 months, and for damn sure are have no idea of what the Baht will be then so can't give you a daily price.
Advance booking is a good thing I guess, I have never done it for over a week in advance myself, but then I am never sure I will be alive next year either, especially true if you live ion Thailand.
And anytime you get a reply to an E mail from Thailand you can count yourself very lucky as they do not seem to trust computers for anything more advanced or worth a shit for anything other than game playing or chatting with friends during work hours.

[melvbot]

Ive encountered quite a few hotels that dont accept advance bookings. It depends what sort of hotel it is, if its a hotel chain I'd say its a bit strange but somewhere like the Grace Hotel would be different. I would think they get a lot of no shows so they just dont bother and rely on paid web bookings and walk in trade.

[Happyman]

And anytime you get a reply to an E mail from Thailand you can count yourself very lucky as they do not seem to trust computers for anything more advanced or worth a shit for anything other than game playing or chatting with friends during work hours.

So very true!

The only replies to mails that I get from senders within Thailand are from Ex-pats!

[hhfarang]

Try booking through Agoda (online). They are a worldwide online travel agent that gives excellent service (seem to specialize in Asia). Also, their prices (in Bangkok at least) are 30 to 50 percent less than if you book the hotel direct. If you become an Agoda member you also get points that are good for further discounts off hotel stays.

They have excellent customer service and the best prices I've found. Their website includes customer reviews of hotels and good location maps. I've been booking with them for over four years now and haven't had a problem. (agoda.com)

[dirtydog]

You can book here

[Bexar County Stud]

ratestogo.com

Best online rates I've found, and you don't have to pay all in advance as you do with some sites, such as asiarooms.com

Book in advance over the phone in Thailand at your own peril. I only phone book with places I've visited before. I've been burned a few times with Thais screwing up the reservation, and that's enough for me. It really gets me wound up.

[DaffyDuck]

Why is it so hard to book rooms in advance?

Is this a usual Thai thing or just the places I want to stay?

We have been trying since September last year to book with a few different places for May-June this year and am either not getting return emails or if I do am being told to try again in March.

WTF !!!, I like to know that I have a room in advance so as to get something else if plan A fails.

Don't even bother trying to book directly with the hotel - it's usually a hit or miss situation getting any kind of reply, much less a booking confirmation.

Go through an established online broker / discounter where you get the advantages of a confirmed reservation, plus a discounted price, as well as the ability to receive a refund should the hotel disappear, or close its doors, or what have you.

One word of advice about online brokers - make sure that the prices quoted include the 10% service fee, and 7% VAT that usually gets added by the hotels to their already higher prices. Some discounters show a lower price, then add the 17% at the time of booking or during processing of your card. Additionally, some discounters use a more advantageous currency exchange rate - advantageous to the them, not you.

I use, and have never had troubles, with using :

Thailand Hotels, up to 75% Discount

Hotel Reservation Online: Check Availability Worldwide Hotels, Hotel Reviews by Travelers

Bangkok hotels online reservation in Thailand.

(sometimes check multiple brokers for your desired hotel, as sometimes one discounter might have special deals and is able to significantly discount what you are looking for - one time, AsiaRooms was able to get me the same room at almost 50% lower than the best price from AtSiam for the same room! Shop around!)

[Rural Surin]

SOUND ADVICE DAFFY!!

[Bung]

I tried to book a hotel in advance on Koh Chang and was told i had to pay the full price of the time I wanted to stay. I thought this was absurd, is it a normal thing to do? What if it was a roach infested shithole?

[Butterfly]

law of demand and supply,

supply has been cut in expectation of lower demand,

Thai is also fully booked,

[DaffyDuck]

I tried to book a hotel in advance on Koh Chang and was told i had to pay the full price of the time I wanted to stay. I thought this was absurd, is it a normal thing to do? What if it was a roach infested shithole?

Read my post above.

When booking through a broker website, it is common to pay for the entire duration of your stay in advance - some, few, book you a reservation and you are expected to pay when you check into the hotel. Even then, you are expected to pre-pay for your stay.

In addition, some hotels and serviced apartments require you to pay a 'security deposit', which is usually half the cost of your stay -- generally, that can be done via a credit card, by having the balanced placed on it, without an actual charge. This amount is refunded to you upon checking out.

To avoid dealing with a roach infested shithole, do your homework -- a lot of booking sites, and travel sites, provide extensive feedback from other travelers, that you can read. Should be easy enough to figure out from there.

[yatesy2]

They are not sure they will be there in 6 months, and for damn sure are have no idea of what the Baht will be then so can't give you a daily price.
Advance booking is a good thing I guess, I have never done it for over a week in advance myself, but then I am never sure I will be alive next year either, especially true if you live ion Thailand.
And anytime you get a reply to an E mail from Thailand you can count yourself very lucky as they do not seem to trust computers for anything more advanced or worth a shit for anything other than game playing or chatting with friends during work hours.

Alot of good sound advice here. And agree just lob and worry about accomodation later. I usually like to have the first 2-3 nights booked then land and go looking , been duped by too many crap pictures and poorly represented hotels before.

some I use:
www.latestays.com/
www.asiarooms.com/
www.asiawebdirect.com/

And as mentioned by others, most don't know what there doing tomorrow least alone next week. And for me I don't even buy green bananas anymore!

[Marmite the Dog]

I booked and paid for a hotel in P'Lok the a few weeks ago. When I got there on Friday, I couldn't bloody remember which hotel it was, so I had to pay for another one.

COCK!

[NickA]

I booked and paid for a hotel in P'Lok the a few weeks ago. When I got there on Friday, I couldn't bloody remember which hotel it was, so I had to pay for another one.

[boatboy]

OK, its this place in particular.
http://www.phuket-hotel-thalassa.com/index.htm which is not near anything in particular but does have a bloody good looking private jacuzi/plunge pool at a cheap rate



1500bath per night, so figure this will be nice for my last 3 nights in phuket, with short hops to Chalong bay seafood restaurants for dinner and piss drinking, prawns and frivolities in the swimmi bit during the day.

Has anyone been here or know if it even exists as there are no reviews for this place either.

Happy to say that the other 2 places we are staying were promt with their replies and booking confirmations (48 hours)

[boatboy]

I tried to book a hotel in advance on Koh Chang and was told i had to pay the full price of the time I wanted to stay. I thought this was absurd, is it a normal thing to do? What if it was a roach infested shithole?

Been getting this as well, certainly not how I like to do business

Places I have booked in Malaysia for this trip have been done with no deposit down and just bring the confirmation email with us as proof of booking

[boatboy]

Alot of good sound advice here. And agree just lob and worry about accomodation later. I usually like to have the first 2-3 nights booked then land and go looking , been duped by too many crap pictures and poorly represented hotels before.

Fair enough, but if a place is any good surely it may well be booked and then you are left to stay in some second rate shithole, or pay premium price for something else on the day.

[kingwilly]

I booked and paid for a hotel in P'Lok the a few weeks ago. When I got there on Friday, I couldn't bloody remember which hotel it was, so I had to pay for another one. COCK!

That is so scampy!

[Marmite the Dog]

I booked and paid for a hotel in P'Lok the a few weeks ago. When I got there on Friday, I couldn't bloody remember which hotel it was, so I had to pay for another one. COCK!

That is so scampy!

Even worse, was that as soon as we checked in, they gave Bee a map of all the hotels in town and it was about 400m away. I did think about going to the more expensive one but I'm glad I didn't because there was a cat karaoke (well it sounded like cats being strangled) on the ground floor of it.