Terra and Scott RTW

Thoughts we’d try to keep tabs on the places we’ve really enjoyed since being out. Hopefully fellow travellers can get some use out of this. Keep in mind that this is budget travel but we are more of the mid-range budget travellers. Almost every room we get is a double and has its own bathroom. Air-con, tv, fridge, windows etc are all extras that we have had at one point or the other but not always. I’ve thrown out some prices in USD. Of course, these may have gone up but I would think they’d be within $5 USD.

Bali:

Sanur:

FLASHBACKS is the best guesthouse on the face of the earth. We didn’t stay anywhere else while in Sanur. There are plenty of other options on the same street if you can’t get in. You can find it in you guidebooks and in our Bali section. I would definitely book ahead of time. We stayed for probably 10 days or so. A couple of room options and a great cont. breakfast included. Room rates are $15-20 for a double with fan or $35-45 with A/C. All of the rooms are great. The more expensive rooms are REALLY great.

Can’t go wrong with most of the restaurants. you’ll be able to pick and choose as you go.

Amed:

We stayed only at TRESNA YOGA. Right on the main drag through the little villages. It is actually in Lipah which i think is the 3rd village of Amed. Not on the beach side but a short walk to it. rooms are really nice. hotel is only 4 years old. the family that runs the hotel is special. You’ll meet them all! Room with A/C, cold water only double bed, $15-$20

Lovina:

We stayed in the main touristy part of Lovina called Kalibukbuk. There are 2 main streets that head to the beach. We stayed on the first one a few meters from the beach. couldn’t see it but close. The name of the hotel is RINI HOTEL. Great pool. very clean, nice big rooms and a huge patio. didn’t get a/c paid $12-15 USD.

not all of the warungs around are great. I’d use your guide books to pick although I can say we had very few (if any) bad meals in Lovina.

Ubud:

we went with the LP’s suggestion and chose a guesthouse called SAYONG GUESTHOUSE. It is a little tough to find (down an alley off of Monkey Forest Road by the football field), but you’ll be glad you did. We stayed in one of the really new rooms and loved it. big room with a huge patio and within walking distance to all the good stuff. the staff is awesome. paid $15 USD per.

Tons of great places to eat in Ubud. You have to go to Ubud for a few days if you are in Bali. Very close to Kuta, Sanur, Legian etc. can take a taxi there for cheap!

Hong Kong

Had a terrible experience at the first guesthouse. not sure if it was just that bad or if my expectations were out of whack having come from Bali. Also heard very bad things from other couples about their “guesthouses” too. To avoid the risk of recieving angry emails from owners, I’ll just say that any guesthouse that is in a building with the word MANSION in its name is suspect. do your homework. The tough part is that HK is just NOT cheap. these rooms run about $15 per person per night.

We stayed in the YMCA and loved it. Our room doesn’t really qualify as budget BUT they have dorms too. Book in advance as this place is no secret. our room was $100 USD per night. Dorms are only $20 ish.

Food is no biggy. It is everywhere. It is cheap and it is good.

Singapore:

We also went with an LP suggestion and stayed at THE INN CROWD for a couple of days. We had to check out because they were full so we moved into a place right down the street called the PRINCE OF WALES. We’d recommend both places. Inn Crowd is your prototypical hostel/hotel. Lots of people, group meals etc. POW had a cool Aussie bar downstairs and live music most nights. Both places are in Little India. We found little India to be as convenient as anyplace and the food in the area was terrific! We can definitely suggest two places on the same street as Inn Crowd. The first is right next door and called BLU JAZZ CAFE. Good food and great coffee. The opposite direction you’ll find a small Indian place called FAMOUS CURRY. Just go. It is awesome. dorms around $14 per person. doubles around $25-$30 per night

Malaysia:

Malacca

Stayed in an historic hotel on the Chinatown side of Malacca. It was great, definitely middle of the road for prices though. Can’t remember the name. Will have to look it up. I think it was call HOTEL PURI or Putri??? You’ll love it. $25 per night. a/c, tv, breakfast included.

Kuala Lumpur:

Only stayed one night but it was a good place. We looked at several less expensive places that were not very clean and decided on HOTEL CHINA TOWNN INN 2. There are 2 locations, I would assume both are good. No windows but…phone, clean, safe, right in the middle of the China town bussle but you’d never know it. It is in the LP guidebook. $20 per night.

Lots of good hawker food in China Town. I would stronly suggest getting a coffe from the TEA KING hawker stand. he is usually set up on the side street across from the main food court in China town. you’ll see him mixing his concoctions rapidly. it is a must.

Cameron Highlands (Tanah Rata):

Stayed at the HILLVIEW INN. It was fine. I think we paid too much compared to what I heard from some other folks. the rooms were fine but the mattresses were…not fine. really bent and thin. $18 per night. I can’t highly recommend it but I can highly recommend going to Cameron Highlands. We loved it. Nice and cool.

A real refuge from the heat of Malaysia. The town is very small, all walkable so you might either walk around and check them out or use the guidebook. I have read really BAD things about DANIEL GUESTHOUSE so be ware.

Penang:

Stayed at two places. First was HOTEL HONG PING. A little too expensive but very nice. We stayed there only one night because we couldn’t get a room anywhere else. I worked out fine. $20 per night.

The second place was called 75 TRAVELLERS LODGE. it in the LP guidebook. the rooms are decent. Penang guesthouses are not that great from what I saw and I looked at a bunch of them. 75 was the best of the lot. The staff is incredible however. Great guys. There are a couple of pictures of Lo here on the blog. I’d call ahead and make a reservation (they’ll actuall take them!) as it books up quick. for a double we paid about $12 per night with a/c and our own sink.

Pulau Langkawi:

we ran into a spot of trouble not knowing that the bi-annual airshow was in town so we had to scramble a bit and paid a bit more than we thought we would but…the AB HOTEL (beach side) was perfect. we were literally 12 meters from the beach and could sit on our patio and see the sunset. our room was very clean. had 2 double beds, tv, fridge, a/c and hot/cold shower for only $18 per night. there are many other options that would be cheaper in Langkawi.

Thailand:

Phuket:

we only stayed in one guesthouse in Patong the whole week we were there. I’ll stop short of recommending it simply because there are so many places you can stay. Patong is literally teeming with them. Keep in mind that you’ll pay a bit more in Patong because it is so touristy. our room at the CHUNG KO GUESTHOUSE had a/c fridge, tv, for about $20 us. The staff and the location were both great.

I would make two recommendations: stay in either Kata or Karong beach and avoid Patong except at night or prebook at a hotel that will give you a free ride from the airport or bus station. if you don’t like it, walk 30 yards to the next guesthouse. it is really that simple

Bangkok:

We stayed at the MERRY V GUESTHOUSE. Really liked it. Great location (right off of Khao San on Phra Athit) has very clean, double bed with a/c (could get TV) for $14 per night. also has a nice/cheap internet cafe in the lobby. the cheapest I’ve found. in the heart of all the action and very easy to get downtown and back. Bus # 57 from the train station will drop you off right across the street from it (and several others). Keep in mind, however, there are a million guesthouses here too. I’d book one night in advance and if you don’t like it, scram. you’ll be able to find one you like in a matter of minutes the next morning. promise.

We ate at several good places. Comme, Ricky’s Coffee and a bunch in the LP guide that everyone knows about.

THe second trip to Bangkok was a little different. We splurged a bit (again) on two more expensive hotels in the Siam Square area. Stayed first at the ASIA HOTEL. It was a nice hotel. All the things you’d expect from a hotel including a fitness room that was a welcome feature. They also include an all you can eat breakfast which we tried to eat by ourselves 🙂 It cost us $40/night if you book it online. it is quite popular so don’t be surprised if they don’t have rooms availabel 24 in advance.

The next place we stayed was only a few blocks away close to the Jim Thompson tourist site. It think that was his name. Anyway, it is called the RENO HOTEL and its was quite nice too. We were paying about $32 US per night there. The rooms were very clean, had most ammenities including a pool. The first floor has been remodeled and is quite nice. The on-site diner and bar are also good but a little expensive. The location is great if you want to get away from the K.S. backpacker area for a bit.

Seim Reap/Ankor Wat

Not that ecxiting as far as accomodations. we went mostly by the book. Stayed at Popular Guesthouse and it was good. Very clean, hot water etc. We flew into SR and were met by LOTS of touts wanting to take us to a hotel and telling us the ride was free or telling us to name the price. I’d isn’t a big deal to let them take you to a few (as we did) or just tell them where to go. it is likely that they’ll tell you a place is full or too expensive in an attempt to get you to go where they get paid a commission. no biggie. if you book in advance, many places will send a car to get you at the airport. most of the guesthouse are very close to the bus station if you travel that route.

most of the diners in SR are covered by the LP and, unfortunately, I can’t say that we had a meal any place that was great. I will, however, highly recommend the little western coffee shop that sits on the main drag of SR. Wish I could remember the name but…we will thrilled to get a decent cup of coffee!

Phnom Penh

many guesthouses here as well. If you take the the boat down Tonle Sap, it will dump you off right along the riverfront. you’ll be met by a ton of touts (see Siem Reap) if you’re packing bags, it isn’t a bad idea to get a cab and let him drive you to several guesthouses for $2. it worked for us and we found a nice place with a riverview, fridge, ROOMSERVICE, and hot water for $15/night. it was right on the river and very close to everything. if you come by bus, it is a short taxi ride to the same area. you can certainly find cheaper hotels in the same area. no restaurants stick out but the riverfront does have many choices.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

the bus from PP was great. actually showed up ahead of schedule and dropped us off right at Pham Ngu Lao (sp?) in front of Canadian 271 guesthouse. This place is in the guidebooks. We stayed there because we read about it in the books. It was great. We splurged a bit because it was Christmas. For $23 per night we got a great, clean room with A/c, cable tv, hot water, stocked fridge AND a computer in the room with free internet all day. you can also get a cheaper room with the net if you’d like.

like most of the backpacker areas, there are tons of places to stay and you can certainly find less expensive options by walking a few 100 meters. no problems. we met people staying for $6 in a double room and said it was fine.

We moved a few days later as the Canadian place “forgot” that we made a reservation after our return from a tour to the delta. The new place was called Phi Long guesthouse and it is just around the bend from Pham Ngu Lao. It was good too. our room was very clean, had a fridge and cable tv, air con, hot water, a little balcony, the net downstairs and cost $12 per night for a double. the bed wasn’t very comfortable but…it was $12 a night.

Mui Ne

took the bus. that sucked. got into town about 2 hours later than advertised AND the driver lied about where we were getting dropped off. he said we were in the middle of Mui Ne when, in fact, we were still on the outskirts of town. funny how that works. they dropped us off in front of a guesthouse that “was the only one not sold out.” of course that was a bunch of junk. we hauled ourselved down to a guesthouse down the street. woke up the attendant and crashed for a few hours. I don’t even remember the name of it.

My recommendation, however, is for LUCY GUESTHOUSE. It is in all the guidebooks but is not described well enough. The LP guide says it has only 4 rooms. It probably has 20 or so. I would highly recommend this spot. the rooms are small but very nice. clean, with ac (you won’t need it), hot water, a great on-site diner, an even better bar, swimming pool and it is right on the beach. you won’t be disappointed. i believe the cheapest rooms are $14 per night for two people and breakfast is included. trust me on this one. you can also rent a motorbike here and book/reconfirm bus tickets. run by a very sharp european, most of the staff speaks good english.

Hoi An

Stayed only at TRUNG THIEN guesthouse. very near the central area. location was perfect. the room was fine. very clean. tv, fridge, hot water etc. and only $7 per night. the room was a little musty but plenty of incsense covered it up. I’m sure you could find more expensive, better appointed rooms in Hoi An but…saving money on the hotel allows you to spend more at your favorite tailor!!

We can recommend the TAM TAM tailor highly. She came recommended to us by friends and she did a fine job on our very small order.

MUST recommend one restaurant in Hoi An. You have to try the LaBale Well. This place is in the guidebooks so if I’ve butchered the name, you’ll have to forgive me. It is one of THOSE places that you just have to go at least once. they have a set menu of the do-it-yourself spring rolls with bbq pork. they give you more food than you could possibly eat. it tastes great and the staff is unforgetable. they’ll actually sit with you and roll your spring rolls for you. it is priceless!

Ha Noi

We flew from Danang and took the $2 bus from the Ha Noi airport to the Old Quarter. Our LP guide was missing the map for this part of town so we had no idea where we were. the bus driver dropped us off at a guesthouse owned by (i’m assuming) his brother. we turned it down and were then met by a guy on the street wanting us to go to his “hotel.” I”m usually weary about these guys but Terra said she had a good feeling. She turned out to be spot on. The CITY GATE HOTEL is great. I don’t think it is in the books yet as it has only been open a few months. it is right in the Old Quarter on Thanh Ha street. very easy to walk to all of the esentially. the owner, Mr. Hung (the guy on the street) is great. The rooms are very clean, have shower, ac and heater, hot water, cable, fridge, breakfast is included for around $15 per night. They can also book tours. www.citygatehotel.com.vn

NEW ZEALAND

Christchurch

Only stayed at STONEHURST this time. As the guidebooks will tell you, it is great. A little more expensive but very nice. We had a double room with all the amenities for about $90 NZ per night. A bit more than we wanted to pay but it was well worth it after the long flight from Asia. Everything in Christchurch is accessible by foot so anything in the general downtown area is fine.

We’ve since been staying exclusively at hostels and I can recommend the following places in each city. All were clean, safe etc.

Kaikoura – can’t remember the name of it right now.

Picton – The Villa. book early if you can. has quite possibly the nicest hostel kitchen in the world. really. also has a great BBQ and a hot tub

Abels Tasman – aren’t too many to choose from here. most people are hiking/kayaking and camping. We stayed at the …

Barrytown – All Nations Hotel is the only accomodation I am aware of. It is not a luxury spot by any means. If you want to have a great time partying with the locals there is no better place. If you’re in the mood for a really clean spacious, quiet room stay in Westport or Greymouth.

Franz Joseph –

Tags: Recommendations

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