Phuket Thailand

BearOfIce · #1 28-01-2007, 23:39

I booked my hotel in Patong 8 weeks ago and received a conformation.
Today, just 5 days in advance, I received this message: “your room reservation is no longer confirmed due to overbooking”.

Now,
will it be difficult to find a decent ~1600 baht room at arriving?
Is it true that this February, Patong will be more crowded than usually?

steve@thaib · #2 29-01-2007, 00:00

That sucks, I think you should tell us which hotel did that to you. Also, as you still have a few days, you might try e-mailing some hotels in advance. You can generally find somewhere once you get there, but it's hard going.

Dr. M. · #3 29-01-2007, 00:00

not good...
you can try latestays.com.
i stayed in safari beach hotel in november. it's a nice place.
quiet, nice pool and very close to bangla and very good service/ very clean and modern rooms. guest/ girl friendly...
if 2500 is not too much for you- go for it.
anyway, i am sure there are are also way cheaper places available on arrival but that will mostly be
guesthouses without pool etc.
as i said. safari is very good. i also booked it on latestays.com. reliable site with instant confirmation.
have fun.
M

Dupree00 · #4 29-01-2007, 01:12

Was your credit card charged?

Dodger · #5 29-01-2007, 01:18

Give us your dates and preferances and I will go check a few places out for you tomorrow, also tell us where you wanted to stay and I will also pop in there to check out whats happening.

Send info by PM if you want to keep it private

klavg01 · #6 29-01-2007, 01:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearOfIce

I booked my hotel in Patong 8 weeks ago and received a conformation.
Today, just 5 days in advance, I received this message: “your room reservation is no longer confirmed due to overbooking”.

Now,
will it be difficult to find a decent ~1600 baht room at arriving?
Is it true that this February, Patong will be more crowded than usually?

You could try the Royal Phawadee Hotel at Sawatdirak road, It is a brandnew hotel and the rooms are 1800 Baht a night at low season, probably now about 2400 Baht a night and near Bangla Road.

Royal Phawadee Village - Boutique Resort - Phuket, Thailand

BearOfIce · #7 29-01-2007, 01:49

Thanks for your help!!
The hotel now recommends two other hotel

Bel Aire Patong
Green View Resort

Good hotels?
Don’t know yet if they can offer any free rooms.
I'm working on it.

Caerphilly · #8 29-01-2007, 01:54

this hotel is on last minute price at latestays.com

hope you get a good discount - good luck

which hotel did not honour your booking?

jenkins · #9 29-01-2007, 03:03

i read somewhere that there is now, a shortage of accommodation in phuket
due too trav companys "block booking " rooms , which means that some of those rooms can remain empty yet paid for, due to last min< change of plans/ cancellations by people who book through t/companys

Crunch · #10 29-01-2007, 16:16

Thats sucky

Would be nice to know which hotel it was.

You could fire off an email to summer breeze hotel, its a popular BM's hotel, but bill (owner) does reply very quickly so youll know if its yes or no fast.

CN Hotel might be worth a go, they have quite a few rooms, but the emails do seem to have a turnaround of several days at the least.
Thats all i can help you with, good luck.

Nicke · #11 30-01-2007, 04:46

I recently had a request from one of my dad's friends, he called the hotel he wanted to stay but they said it was full.

I did however go and check myself and they had rooms available, I booked for him and paid a deposit.

Looks like many hotels now dont want bookings per email or phone, they want a secured booking.

One of my other friends run a guesthouse, althought he thought he was fully booked this high season, many guests never showed up. And he had to said no to many enquiries due to this and still end up not fully booked.

The fact is, lot of bookings is not genuine, and I understand why many hotels prefer online booking (guaranteed payment) or directly made bookings with deposits.

jimholio · #12 30-01-2007, 05:04

Agree, imo it shouldnt even be possible to book any hotels without paying up front, it just makes it harder for everyone else looking.

My gf booked a room for me at a place in Jomtien, she actually booked 2 rooms 1 for her sister and boyfriend too, but they never went so she canceled the second room the same day as they were supposed to arrive. That was kinda wierd to me.

When i arrived i paid upfront for 7 days that time, i ended up staying 4 night as i had to go back to BKK, the hotel even gave me back the money for the last 3 days even though i had booked and paid for it. I did not expect that.

dawsey · #13 30-01-2007, 05:26

I asked about a deposit when booking the K&N but got no reply. That was booking directly with the hotel.
Strange business practice not to want to take at least a couple of nights as a deposit.

Nicke · #14 30-01-2007, 05:44

I asked K&N Guesthouse too recently for a booking, they couldnt even tell me if they had rooms or not, just told me to come back next day.

I also heard from lot of people last months that many hotels dont even reply to emails. To be honest, I think I know the reason, out of 10 enquiries, maybe ONE of them may be a real booking. the other enquiries may tried to book at 10-20 hotels at the same time.

For bigger hotels with staff and time to take care of emails, its wise to reply, but for under staffed hotels they may get fed up with all those enquiries and bookings that is not real bookings, and just go for walk in and secured bookings. (From online reservation websites who do the dirty work)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawsey

I asked about a deposit when booking the K&N but got no reply. That was booking directly with the hotel.
Strange business practice not to want to take at least a couple of nights as a deposit.

MrDK · #15 30-01-2007, 11:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawsey

I asked about a deposit when booking the K&N but got no reply. That was booking directly with the hotel.
Strange business practice not to want to take at least a couple of nights as a deposit.

I booked three hotels for my upcoming trip. Mercure in Pattaya, Hilton in Phuket and Majestic Suites in Bangkok. None of the hotels needed any advance payments, only a credit card in case I don;t show up. 2 hotels have a "before 6 PM on the day of arrival" cancellation policy and one has a 24-hour policy.

aussie dollar · #16 30-01-2007, 12:18

Nearly always use
http://www.phuket-info.com/hotels.htm
Singapore hotels, Japan hotels, China hotels, Australia hotels, Manila hotels

and have never had any problems with bookings and found rates very competive.
Even been upgraded a few times.
as nicke states let them do the dirty work for you

BearOfIce · #17 30-01-2007, 16:44

Its all happily sorted out.

Me and my friend now have rooms at Bel Aire Resort.
Thanks to all and to you Dodger for you offer, we wanted to check this hotel out before I ask for any more help.
And we got a small compensation - free taxi to the hotel from the airport.

We will show up at MTB, probably end of this week.