Guest room at Maison Souvannaphoum

To celebrate, Angsana is offering a special "Maison Rediscovery" package. With a minimum stay of two nights in a Garden Wing room, you’ll get a daily breakfast for two, free transfers, free bicycle use, and more. The offer is good for booking made until 29 April 2012, for stayes until 30 April 2012.

See the Angsana web site for more information about the hotel and to make bookings.

The 'Laguna Grande' room at the Angsana Phuket (photo from Angsana)

The resort offers several restaurants, and will have its own beach club early next year. Since it’s part of the integrated Laguna resort complex, you can also dine at the other hotels and resorts in the complex and charge to your room. There’s also a full service spa, of course.

The official opening date is 1 December 2011. There’s a special introductory offer starting at 6,100 Baht per night, including breakfast for two, for stays between 1 December 2011 and 27 February 2012. If you book two or more nights, you’ll get a 3,000 Baht hotel credit that can be used at any dining outlet or at the spa. For a booking of three nights or more you’ll get a complimentary 90 minute massage in addition to the 3,000 Baht credit.

Visit the Angsana web site for booking and additional information.

The King State Room at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh

The Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh has just unveiled their refurbished State Rooms, and in celebration they’re offering special deals for advance booking. By booking at least 15 days before arrival, you’ll get a 15% discount off the best available rate, free breakfast and Internet access, as well as late check-out and all the other usual amenities.

Visit the Hotel Le Royal web site for more information, or check availability and rates.

Several areas of the resort are already under renovation, to be ready for re-opening by the re-branding date. These include the two special restaurants, Benihana and Trader Vic’s. For reservations and more information, you can visit the Anantara Bangkok Riverside web page.

Room Number 6 on the top floor of La Villa

The hotel has seven rooms (note, however, that they were closing for remodeling in June 2011, so things might have changed). Four of the rooms are in the main building, while the remaining three are in a secondary structure. There is a pool, which is unusual for such a small hotel, as well as a large bar and restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating. There were also a couple of computers in the lobby to use the Internet, and there is free wi-fi available throughout the hotel.

Breakfast is served in the ground floor restaurant. There is no buffet, but a selection of about half a dozen options.

Rooms at the La Villa Hotel may be booked through their web site only.

A standard room at The Quay hotel in Phnom Penh

I had a standard room for my one night stay. These are the smaller of the two room types available. They’re also at the back of the building, so the only windows they have are small translucent panels that let in some light but no view. Despite this, the room didn’t feel at all claustrophobic, which was probably due to the open plan and light color scheme. The bathroom was large, although it was a rather odd plan. There was a good sized walk in shower and the bathroom was separated from the sleeping area mainly by a large translucent panel. The room has both wired and wireless Internet access for free.

The small hotel has a ground floor restaurant and a roof top lounge. There were several options for breakfast, including many unusual selections. I went for something different, a large slab of toasted banana bread with some cream cheese and butter on the side.

For a longer stay, you would probably want the larger rooms in the front. You can find more details and links to booking sites on The Quay Hotel details page.

The lobby building (left) and one of the guest wings of the resort.

"What’s a nice resort like you doing in a place like this?" This thought occurs to me quite often in my travels, especially around Thailand. I arrive in some out-of-the-way, middle-of-nowhere small town, and there it is: a completely out of place resort that’s very nice if not downright luxe. Such was the feeling I had when arriving at Phunacome Resort just outside of Dan Sai in Loei province.

Dan Sai really is a small town; not much more than a wide spot in the road, high up in the mountains near the Lao border. The only reason it’s on the tourist map at all is due to a singular annual festival called Phi Ta Khon, or the "Ghost Mask Festival". If you’re taking in the event, the resort is the best place to stay. For the rest of the year, the only reason you would come here would be to use the resort as a base for exploring the rather spectacular natural scenery of the province.

The resort is laid out in a small valley just about 10 minutes from town. The floor of the valley has been formed into a series of ponds. On one side are the standard guest rooms, lobby building, and the meeting rooms. The other side of the valley is devoted to what the resort calls its "Isaan Village", a group of medium to large traditional style wooden houses which form the resort’s suites.

The bed of the standard room at Phunacome

I had one of the standard rooms. It was very large, with wood floors, a king-size bed, balcony and large bathroom. Wireless Internet access was freely available throughout the hotel. Breakfast was served in the small dining area off the hotel lobby. There wasn’t a lot of choice, but most everything was well done. Guests could also enjoy complimentary coffee or tea at any time of day in the dining room.

The resort also had a few mountain bikes for free use by the guests. I used one on one of the days during my stay. It was easy enough to get around to the other sights of Dan Sai, although the ride back uphill to the resort is going to leave you huffing and puffing a little. During the festival, the resort offered a free shuttle serve to take guests into town and bring them back.

You can find more information and links to booking sites at the Phu Na Come Resort details page.

The spacious living room of the suites at Outrigger Laguna Phuket

All of the new rooms have fully equipped kitchens, separate living rooms and private balconies. The three-bedroom top floor suites have en-suite bathrooms for each of the three bedrooms.

As an introductory offer, Outrigger is running a "Stay three, pay two" promotion. Guests booking at the best available rate for stays before 31 October 2011 will get three nights’ stay for the price of two nights. See the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort web site for more information.

My room at U Inchantree

The hotel has just 26 rooms, in two two-story wings arranged around a large open courtyard. The open air lobby forms another side of the courtyard, while a fourth single floor building offering meeting rooms, a library and other facilities forms the fourth. There is a pool near the river side. It’s long and narrow, making it good for laps. There’s also a riverside terrace as well as the main restaurant, which is near the pool on the river.

Rooms had all the modern conveniences: air conditioning, hot water, flat screen televisions, safe, mini-bar and hair dryer. They also had the unusual feature of an iPod with docking station for listening to music. The bed was large and comfortable, with good firm pillows. The bathroom had a large walk-in shower, but was otherwise a bit cramped. The vanity would be way too small for many people, with almost no room for your toiletries.

The riverside pool and restaurant of the U Inchantree

Breakfast was served in the riverside restaurant, which had seating both indoors and outside. There was a small buffet of fruit, pastries and juices, but the breakfast mains were cooked to order. There is a menu of five or six options you can select from – the Spanish Omelet was especially good – but you can also order exactly what you want. The coffee – or cappuccino if you preferred – was freshly brewed. It was done using a fully automatic machine, but even that is a refreshing change from the usual hotel fare.

Kanchanaburi isn’t anywhere near the top of my ‘POSH destinations’ list, but the U Inchantree is definitely a great place to stay for those visiting the historic and natural sights of the area. For more information and links to where you can book the hotel, see the U Inchantree details page.