Bangkok

Flew with Thai Airways from Heathrow, excellent flight and staff would definitely use Thai next year, legroom the best ever. Service and transfers at Bangkok and Phuket very smooth and no problems at all.

There was 8 of us in our party, 5 adults and 3 children.

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel for 3 nights early April. Although this hotel is situated a little way out if the centre it was easy and cheap enough to get a taxi and go in to the centre and was also nice to be out of the way of things.

After a long flight we received a lovely welcome upon arrival at the hotel at 0730hrs. We were told that rooms are not usually ready until 1200hrs but they would see what they could do, we were in our rooms by 0900hrs.

We had booked a superior room but IO think we must have been upgraded,we were amazed at the size of the room with two double beds and bathroom with a separate double shower.

We used the laundry service straight away after a few little accidents on the plane with drinks and was amazed at the service, the items were cleaned and pressed within a couple of hours.

We used the pool a couple of afternoons and surprised that it was quite a good size.

Unfortunately we did not eat at the Radisson as we preferred to go out and try the food, the restaurant next door don't know the name of it was really great value for money, the portion sizes were the biggest I have seen in Thailand and would definitely recommend a visit there. We did have a drink on the 24 floor one night, fantastic views although the drinks were very pricey.

We were very impressed with the service and customer care of the staff and would not hesitate to stay here again.

After a short rest we hit a couple of the shopping centres and got a few bargains. We were not that impressed with the MBK and would not go back there but did like the Central Dept store.

Our first trip the next day we visited the Grand Palace & a Gem Factory, we were truly amazed with the palace and the history. I have even bought a copy of the King and I as I have never seen the film.

In the evening it was my Husbands birthday and I had arranged a surprise night dinner river cruise on the Loy Nava. I booked it on the internet inthe Uk and got a 10% discount, the food and entertainment was lovely and worth every penny, did help that we got free drinks all evening due to a waiter knocking a glass of water all over him and my friend.

Our next trip was the Floating Markets & Rose Garden. I have to say that out of all the trips we did the Floating Market has to be my favourite, it is like Bangkok road traffic jams in the river. The stalls were amazing and could not get over how cheap everything is and the people so friendly.

Before the Rose Garden we stopped off at a Wood Factory, the carvings and furniture made here were fantastic and worth a visit, we fell in love with one of the hand carved drinks cabinets in the shop, and found the prices including the shipping costs to be quite reasonable, I'm still trying to persuade my Husband to buy one.

After lunch at the Rose Garden, the kids had an elephant ride and fed them bananas, we had a go in the paddle boats and watched a traditional thai show. There was lots to see and do at the Rose Garden but unfortunately we did not get time to see it all and will visit again next year.

All our trips were booked with Tour East who were very professional and reliable. The guides really looked after us and were very informative.

On our last evening we went to the night market in Pat Pong and did a serious amount of shopping. I was a bit apprehensive about going to Pat Pong with children but found that there was no need to worry, we avoided most of the red light areas and my daughter and her friend just thought the girls standing outside the clubs & bars were fashion models.

3 nights in Bangkok was not long enough for us there is so much to do and see we planning a return visit.

Phuket - Cape Panwa
Not long returned from 12 days at the Cape Panwa, the perfect location for a relaxing family holiday with a quiet private beach, which made it very safe for our children.

Disappointing

After a warm welcome at the hotel we were disappointed when shown our room as there was only 1 double bed for us (2 Adults & 8yr old Daughter), I straight away asked to be moved but was told the hotel was fully booked, so we had to have a very hard & uncomfortable camp bed put in the room which made the room quite small, but then you don't spend much time in your room any way. We then found that the safe did not work and took 3 days of continuous chasing before it was fixed.

The first night we ate at Cafe Andaman, the food and service was excellent. After a disappointing meal at the Panwa House & Top of the Reef we decided to venture out at night in to the village, as the hotel run a free shuttle bus into the village which only takes a matter of minutes.

Highlights

We ate at the Sawasdee Restaurant next to the Bay Hotel a couple of times, the place was always busy so we sometimes had to wait a little while for a table, so we had a drink in the clockhouse. The food & service was always excellent and paying about £40 for eight of us.

We also went to the Royal Indian Restaurant four times again excellent food and service the best we have ever had, I would definitely recommend a visit here.

We also tried the Hilltop, fantastic views and good meals.

The staff at the Beach Bar, John, Sandy & Jennifer were excellent, by the end of our first day they knew everyone's name and could not do enough for you to ensure our stay was relaxing, they even sorted out our sun beds every morning, it was a shame that the reception staff were not as good.

The beach was lovely and clean and never crowded, it was great that that there was no beach sellers to hassle you. The sea was very warm and inviting just like a bath, although you are not able to swim at low tide. The kids loved the concrete path for standing in the water watching and feeding the fish.
The kids used the pool at the beach most days rather than the one up at the hotel, but did have fun going up and down in the tram.

We did several trips including Phi Phi Island, James Bond Island, Half Day Safari and the Simon Show booked through Tour East who were very professional and reliable and really looked after you.

We hired a mini bus (£15 return) a couple of times through the hotel to go into Patong at night to do some shopping and eat. We found Patong excellent for shopping but very busy and we glad that we were staying at the Cape Panwa.

We were lucky enough to be here for 'Songkran' which was a great experience, the hotel had lots of activities going on during the day with an excellent beach buffet and the kids had great fun with their water guns. We were in Patong the night before and they had already started celebrating early, we bought some water guns and joined in the fun and got totally soaked.

All in all we had a great time at the Cape Panwa and would recommend this hotel for its beautiful setting, location and the peace and quiet, not sure if I would stay here again as we like to try different places.

I'm already checking out places in Chaing Mai and Koh Samui for next Easter.