At the last minute, I decided to go to Chiang Mai from Bangkok. It was too late to make an internet reservation (and recieve a confirmation), so I went to a travel agent, looked at some brochures and picked the Holiday Garden. Big mistake! Small rooms, non-smiling staff, little interestest in providing a restful, pleasant experience for their guests. More details below.

Very far from the center of activities. I thought, after reading their brochure, they had a shuttle service (very common for thai hotels which are situated outside the center). It turns out, it was only from 8pm -11pm! They have a couple of guys who do "Taxi Service" unofficially, but they are rude and try to ehxtort fares, twice what they should be.

Every morning I was awoken by a security man using a whistle to direct the few vehicles at the hotel entrance, it was absolutely absurd. He could easily direct the few cars that come with his hand, yet he was blowing this loud whistle, like he was a policeman directing traffic in the middle of New York city! It would be funny, if it didn't involve me from 7am to 9:30am every morning!

And when I finally checked out 3 days later, and was going to use one their "Taxi" guy's to get to town to my new hotel. He refused to take me saying, that he had an appointment in 30 minutes (the trip to town is a 10 minute ride). He suggested I walk to the main road and look for transportation there! Did he offer to make a call and get some other transportation? NO. Or to give me and my luggage a lift to the main road? NO. Did the Security guy or Bellstaff guy offer to get me alternative transportation? NO. So they, all three, watched as I put on my backpak, hoisted a duffel bag onto my shoulders, and proceeded to walk with my airline wheelie case down the road that led to the main highway. No offer of assistance whatsoever. To add insult to injury, the taxi person said "have a nice day" as I was walking towards the main road.....

Stay far away from the "Holiday Garden"!!! On a more positive note, I can say that the Ambassador in Bangkok is an excellent value for the price, full services and location, as is the Sunset Beach Resort in Phuket-nice, modern, newer, quiet. Thailand is a fun, relaxing, adventurous and cheap destination! The Thai people are some of the kindest in the world-Have a great time!