Fabulous visit in Cambodia and Thailand
Thailand
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Oct 10 - Oct 31, 2026
The trip itself was fabulous. Everything went smoothly in Cambodia. The hotel we stayed in was great. The sub-contracted tour agency in Thailand (Exotic Voyages) provided great transfers and guides. The guide in Bangkok, Ms. Kanyapat, was probably the best guide we’ve ever had. She was thoughtful, insightful, and knowledgeable. She even communicated with the Chiang Mai guide and their main office, to ensure a couple of special requests, that Kien was supposed to arrange but apparently hadn’t, were able to happen.
That’s our only complaint with this trip. Kien was great during the planning and booking process, making valuable suggestions. We exchanged emails in early December 2026 (primarily between the 6th and 9th) about my wish to visit a Red Cross office in either Bangkok or Phuket, and the need to arrange our orientation meeting the Thailand Mountain Trails (TMT) in Chiang Mai prior to our days of hiking.
Neither Ms. Kanyapat nor our guide in Chiang Mai were aware of the Red Cross request. Ms. Kanyapat arranged for us to visit the Bangkok Red Cross office. While in Bangkok, I received an email from TMT advising me that our orientation had not been scheduled. Ms, Kanyapat immediately contacted the Exotic Voyages main office and the guide in Chiang Mai. While I set the appointment, Exotic Voyages made sure we got to the TMT office.
Kien dropped the ball. I reached out to him during the trip about the TMT orientation and he didn’t get back to me until after we had met with them. His response time during the trip was not good (as compared to our Japan agent, Eleanor, who got back to me very quick.
Hotel Reviews
Very nice hotel. Extremely gracious staff. Comfortable rooms. Nice pool. Great breakfast.
Nice rooms & pool. Friendly staff. Good restaurants nearby. Good breakfast.
Unique and luxurious. The boat ride to this hotel was a bit daunting the first time, but approaching the Floathouse was magical. The room was amazing, floating on the river with a porch to watch the current flow by. The room itself was great, with center bed, romantic mosquito netting, nice ensuite. The food at their restaurant was fabulous. Only drawback is that there's no on-site pool. Have to walk to the nearby sister-resort to swim - which we didn't do.
Great location, walk to massage, restaurants, night market. Clean & comfortable. Provide a drying rack for cloths, bathing suits, etc. Good food at their restaurant and breakfast. Nice pool. Only issues were that they don't serve any alcohol, not even at their restaurant or pool 'bar'. They do allow guest to buy alcohol and bring it in, and even said their staff would go get it for guests. Other issue is that the pool closed at 7am - kind of early. Would have been nice to take a dip after a long day of sightseeing and dinner.
WOW! What an environment. Just magical right from arriving a the lobby. Great rooms with private outdoor lounge. Great pool. Great 'private' beach with activities and bar service. Primary restaurant had great food and neat environment. Staff very friendly and helpful. Would love to go back. Only recommendation is if they could run a shuttle to/from the market a few times a day.
Beautiful resort. Great landscaping. Good restaurants. Helpful staff. Public beach just outside and across a street from the rear of the resort. Weren't aware of this or that there were many small eateries and shops there. Pools closed too early. Our room was amazing with a private patio and large outdoor bathtub.
Activity Reviews
Great experience. Learned a lot about the Lanna culture. Really enjoyed the cooking class. We made fantastic food. Highly recommend this experience to anyone who enjoys cooking and authentic Thai food.
Very interesting and entertaining, though a little repetitive and the food was just so-so. We were taken to this event directly from the airport which made for a very long day.
The sights on this outing were amazing. Our guide was informative. Loved the lunch at Srah Srang Village House. Probably one of the best & most memorable meals of our 5-week trip.
Went to some really interesting places. Great driver and guide.
The floating village on the lake was quite and experience and not for those who only want to see the pretty-side of the country.
Our guide in Bangkok was probably the best guide we've ever had in all of our years of international travel. She was full of information about everything we saw, but didn't overwhelm us. Would have perhaps like to have skipped a temple or 2 and seen a museum or other types of sites.
Nice environment to bike ride, in a park with no cars. Bikes need to be updated.
Railway market was fun. Our guide navigated through the market expertly. Got us greats seats to watch the train go by. Floating market was fun. Wish the guide had joined us to help assess the products being offered, their reasonable value and assist in negotiations. We got terribly ripped off on an item.
Interesting and eye opening. Wasn't aware of the extent of the Australian prisoner-of-war situation.
What a day! One of the highlights of our 5-week Asia tour. Our guide, Bigg, was fabulous. Fun & knowledgeable. Loved the up close & personal nature of the Elephant Encounter. Just an unforgettable day.
Nice bikes and great guide. Didn't feel comfortable bicycling on the roads of Chiang Mai with all of the traffic.
Sparse fish and crowded sites. We tend for quiet, authentic experiences rather than large group, commercially run activities. We were on a boat with 40 guests. Our boat was not the only one at the snorkel sites or beaches. There were few fish and a lot of dead coral. We were provided with breakfast, lunch and dinner or so-so quality food.
Our guide customized the day to meet our interests. Visited the Giant Water Lilies, but didn't do a private photo shoot as it was booked out for several hours. At the half-buried Buddha temple she engaged us in some of the rituals that we had only been told about at other temples. Took us to a cat cafe. Had lunch at a Michelin restaurant.
Wat Po should be on everyone's list.
