Author Topic: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR  (Read 51783 times)

Offline israshot

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #20 on: February 12, 2020, 09:08:06 PM »
:) Nice! I guess its all the Kosher food they can come up with without getting a Kosher vendor.
LOL!
That's what I wrote on Instagram.

Offline israshot

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #21 on: February 12, 2020, 11:28:07 PM »

Before I continue with the Conrad Koh Samui I need to put a small introduction.
A few weeks before our trip I was scrolling the threads of all kinds of goodies that DDF'rs were selling on the GFST board. I saw then a thread for Aspire credit ($250 credit at any Hilton resort) selling at 50% and lower. I know that they changed recently their policy for advanced purchase rate which can be one of the factors for this low price but I was still very impressed. I figured that I can pay all the Kosher food and the activities straight from my room folio and prepay the hotel in advance with third-party Aspire credits. Many people might not be so comfortable doing so but I took the challenge, especially that the reward was very attractive. I emailed the hotel in the beginning asking them to charge 2 × $250 and they asked me to fill up a form with the cardholder picture ID and the picture of the actual CC. I filled up everything and ask them to charge me the equivalent amount in Baht. I did it for 6 cards in total ($1500) and then the hotel told me that this is the maximum amount allowed from third parties cards.
I paid these credits between 40-45% each, which is a ridiculous amount for what I can get with them. Since I had the opportunity to get everything for cheaper, I figured I'll spoil my wife with a huge 2 story villa and a separate bedroom for our daughter for our stay. We didn't really need the 2 extra bedroom but mostly for the fact that the villa has a living room and a kitchen (and so much bigger). I emailed the hotel for an upgrade to the 2 bedrooms and they quoted me 10000 Baht inclusive. I asked them to upgrade us for 3 nights out of our 5 nights (I figured that they will be willing to give us the 2 remaining nights for free and it came out that I was right). I also need to mention that when I was prepaying by email, the hotel mentioned that in case of unused credit, they will not reimburse to the credit card but rather they will give me the money in cash with a 5% fee. I knew previously that the hotel was giving cash to their guest and then charging their credit card so this wasn't a surprise but rather a confirmation that it can work the way around (paying first [at 45%] then cashing out [at 95%]).
Because I and my wife signed up in November for the free Aspire credit card, I realized that I can basically enjoy the upgrade and the Kosher meals, etc. at a very small cost as you'll see later. (I might take off this section if readers find it too informative so enjoy it before it's gone...).

January 28th, Koh Samui.
I choose the taxi from the hotel directly and not from (the cheaper) Mr. Samui as everyone recommends on FT because it's actually cheaper with the Aspire credits that I previously loaded to my room folio (that's it, now you know why everything is charged through the hotel directly...). The cost for the ride is 1500 Baht per way or 3000 Baht round trip from the airport to the hotel inclusive (prices in this hotel could be inclusive or before charges and taxes so I'll try to make it clear every time. Usually, when it's not inclusive, it's 10% charge + 7.7% VAT +1% city tax which basically means that you need to add 18.7% on top of the gross amount). I choose the cheapest option for the hotel ride and this was already very nice, a brand new sparkling Toyota SUV with only 6000 KM on the counter!


There were cold towels and free water, as well as a good reliable Wifi (much better than my slow 2G speed from T-Mobile).

The ride to the hotel takes about an hour, there's only one road for the island which is a ring that goes around all the island. The airport is on the east side of the island (near Chabad and main beaches) and the Conrad is on the west side of the island, and basically on the opposite side. Traffic can be slow when too many trucks are on the road as the road can go uphill many times and it slowdowns trucks.
Just before arriving at the hotel the driver has to go up the hill that is very steep and narrow so 2 guards have to coordinate to let only one driver at a time go up or down. (Any driver can go up but you'll probably be very amused to drive the steep hill).




We arrived at the hotel around 2 pm and they took our passports for the check-in process. They brought us cold towels and drinks and we sat in the lobby which is located on top of the hill.




The view from the lobby (or anywhere in the hotel)




The lobby itself is open to the outside and there are few chairs and couches along the glass wall that looks at the resort and the ocean.




They also brought a lizard and a starfish toy for my daughter and she was so happy (especially that she slept so well in the car...).


Our butler was Natt and she was really great towards us the all stay as I will point out endless of time. She told me that we got room 501 as requested in the email. The reason I requested this one is that is the more isolated 2 bedroom and there's nothing to its right.


I told her that we'll appreciate if we can keep the 2 bedrooms for the remaining of the stay and she told me that she will try her best. She took us on a buggy to our room from the reception which was a short ride since the 2 bedrooms are in the high up section of the cliff.


I'm not gonna describe the villa because many here already did but let me just put here a video tour so you can all see by yourself.
"
"



Monogrammed bathtubs, pillows sleepers and bib.












She gave me her Whatsapp number and told me to ask her anything through this channel. She also gave us 8 vouchers for free drinks at Azur bar (by the pool) because of our Diamond status. (Most of the things that I'm writing here weren't new for me as I've read the whole thread in FlyerTalk about this hotel, yes the effect of surprise is nice but I like to know everything in advance and play accordingly).
Although we knew exactly how the room looks like, we were really excited just from the view. It's not just a luxury room that we felt like fancy guests, it's the magnificence of nature opening up in front of your eyes and you can see it from the garden, the living room, the master bedroom... anywhere! It filled me with emotions and excitement, I knew at this exact moment that it was all worth it. (funny story, one of the nights I posted on Instagram a lapse time of the sunset from my GoPro and someone asked me and I quote, "How did you find this specific location with amazing sunset view?" you get my point).
I was pretty amazed that it's already afternoon and we didn't feel tired after only 2 days being on another time zone (because right now, 5 days after the trip writing these lines - I'm still jetlagged...) I guess the excitement kept us awake.
At this point, the Kosher food that I ordered the day before arrived, I went to the microwave, cleaned it and boiled water for a couple of minutes then heated the food.
The way it works with the Kosher food from Chabad; the hotel offers free breakfast from Chabad for diamond members for all the guests in the villa (yes, even for my 18 months old daughter). We can order from the meat or dairy restaurant an item for each. It needs to be ordered the day before, before 11 am. Around 12 pm the shuttle from the hotel stops at Chabad and pickup the breakfast for the following day. Anything you want to order from Chabad (through the hotel or Chabad directly) can be delivered at the same time at no charge. If it's requested for another time or the driver left already, then there's an 800 Baht charge which is the same amount that the restaurant itself charges. The hotel has an older version of the meat menu and 1 or 2 items are more expensive, otherwise, it's the same prices and prices are inclusive but I don't think we got points on this kind of spending.
There's someone responsible for the 2 kitchens and he always can help via Whatsapp. I didn't pay a single time during my stay for the delivery fee and always made sure to place my order on time. When the driver was coming back around 1-2 pm, he had our lunch and dinner and also breakfast for the following day. I asked my butler to always bring us all our food straight when it arrives and not to keep it, we were then storing it in our fridge and warm it up later with the microwave.
We got that day a burger, Pad Thai and a chicken breast salad. The burger was much better than in Bangkok and my wife liked the Pad Thai and salad.


After we unpacked and enjoyed looking for the many aspects the villa has we went for an hour swim in our pool, it was relaxing and enjoyable to see our daughter having so much fun.


We went after to the Azure bar to get the free drinks and sit at the pool. We called a buggy to go to the main pool/bar and they came pretty fast. (Usually, we didn't wait more than 3-4 minutes although the hotel was at 80% occupancy.)




Because every room/villa here has its own pool, no one really hangs out in the main area unless they want to eat in the restaurant. We were in the highest season of the year (right after the Chinese new year), and it always felt empty (besides breakfast).








Back to our villa for sunset


After spending some time there we headed back to our villa and went to the shower. My daughter was already tired so I put here to sleep and she fell asleep in minutes. That was actually a big relief because I was afraid that she will feel uncomfortable in this new place and this is the first time she has her own room beside at home. Turned out that to have the 2 bedroom was a big game-changer for our 5 days. After she was sleeping and closing her doors, we basically had the whole night for ourselves. Yes, even with a baby - isn't as bad as you think...
I had to catch up with some phone calls to the US and then went to sleep for a long quiet night.

Offline Dan

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #22 on: February 12, 2020, 11:58:52 PM »
Fantastic TR so far, keep it coming!

One of these years I'll make it out to USM. Going when you have one kid is smart. Exponentially harder with each additional kid.

I never know what mixed drinks/ingredients are OK to order, would love to hear more about that.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #23 on: February 13, 2020, 12:03:47 AM »
Awesome!
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Offline CR

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #24 on: February 13, 2020, 08:57:28 AM »
Amazing trip report, brings back memories of our trip to the Conrad Koh Samui. We were actually in the same villa / 501 as well. What a great experience!

Offline israshot

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #25 on: February 13, 2020, 10:30:45 AM »
Amazing trip report, brings back memories of our trip to the Conrad Koh Samui. We were actually in the same villa / 501 as well. What a great experience!
Hey, someone wrote me the same thing yesterday on Instagram .

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #26 on: February 13, 2020, 01:01:39 PM »
Hey, someone wrote me the same thing yesterday on Instagram .

Wasn't me  :) , but they don't have that many 2 and 3 bedroom villas - as per the manger we spoke to in the summer.

Offline iluv2travel

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #27 on: February 13, 2020, 10:13:22 PM »
One of these years I'll make it out to USM. Going when you have one kid is smart. Exponentially harder with each additional kid.

Or you leave them with a babysitter  ;).

Offline Z56

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #28 on: February 14, 2020, 12:34:14 AM »
Hey, someone wrote me the same thing yesterday on Instagram .

👋🏻
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Offline lakewood34

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #29 on: February 14, 2020, 01:41:41 AM »
Fantastic TR so far, keep it coming!

One of these years I'll make it out to USM. Going when you have one kid is smart. Exponentially harder with each additional kid.

I never know what mixed drinks/ingredients are OK to order, would love to hear more about that.
that's only true when they are younger once they are older (mid teens )it can actually be easier as they help with everything

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #30 on: February 14, 2020, 09:49:59 AM »
Amazing trip report, brings back memories of our trip to the Conrad Koh Samui. We were actually in the same villa / 501 as well. What a great experience!
How did you book it?

Offline israshot

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #31 on: February 14, 2020, 09:56:22 AM »
How did you book it?
Why don't you read here?

Offline Hjay

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #32 on: February 19, 2020, 07:44:30 AM »
Wow reading this makes me want to go back Koh Samui - I was there in the summer (at the W) & loved every minute.

Did you request them to monogram you those items or they did that on their own??

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #33 on: February 19, 2020, 07:48:15 AM »
Wow reading this makes me want to go back Koh Samui - I was there in the summer (at the W) & loved every minute.

Did you request them to monogram you those items or they did that on their own??
They do it without asking (I did request them to give me new one at the end of the stay after house keeping took them for cleaning, they brought me new ones  before leaving the hotel). I'm not sure if it's only for 2+ bedrooms (and royal villa) guests.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2020, 08:46:47 AM by israshot »

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #34 on: February 19, 2020, 08:52:57 AM »
They do it without asking (I did request them to give me new one at the end of the stay after house keeping took them for cleaning, they brought me new ones  before leaving the hotel). I'm not sure if it's only for 2+ bedrooms (and royal villa) guests.
I'm assuming you get to keep them?
"JS [is] a fetid cesspool of unvarnished linguistic manure, with lots of useless drivel and post-padding." -Moishebatchy

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #35 on: February 19, 2020, 08:59:56 AM »
I'm assuming you get to keep them?
Only the sleepers and the Teddy bear. The bathrobes and pillows have just initials and they belong to the hotel, (they make sure to write it for the bathrobes). The bathrobes that I really wanted to bring home were from the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, they are so soft and made with silk inside, a real dream, but they didn't have enough.

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #36 on: February 19, 2020, 09:35:40 AM »
Amazing TR!

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #37 on: February 21, 2020, 01:20:13 AM »
Wednesday 1/29.

We woke up not too early and happy to realize that the little one slept in her own 'suite' for the whole night (or maybe I slept too deeply). We didn't have any plans for the day other than to be in the pool and relax. (We know by now how it is to travel with the baby after traveling to France 3 times, London, Israel, Miami, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands. The biggest lesson is that we can enjoy our vacations with her with no issue but to not push too much on activities).


#Influencer

Like every morning we begin our day with a coffee but unlike every morning, there was a great 180° view with 5 islands just for us.
We went then to breakfast at Zest (locate it in the map up thread) to get some fruit and juices (yes, we doubled dip on the breakfast ). I met there with Nicolas the Hotel chef and we had a chat about Kosher, Jewish guests, etc. I then realized that he was the one I was in touch with prior arriving at the hotel for the Kosher meals. He came 2 years ago to work in Koh Samui and he's down to earth's kind of guy.


View from the breakfast




After breakfast, we walked to the stand of Oceana Samui  next to the breakfast, one of their workers was there but she works exclusively at the Conrad as Oceana is the official company that takes cares of the water sports activities and speed boats. We knew already that we want to go see Angthong National Marine Park. We decided to go the next day (Thursday) for the VIP boat which is a tour for 14 people. Going with a baby, that was the minimum we had to get. (There are boats of 30 ppl+ for much cheaper). The price was 4500 Baht per person (after 400 Baht discount because we'll not eat the food) and free for the baby. This was our only outing while in Koh Samui and we were ready to spend the whole day for it. From our past experience traveling with our daughter, we knew that we could manage for (only) a one-day trip.
The planning will be to go with a van to the Oceana pier on the opposite side of the island early morning and to pick up some passengers on the way. From the pier, we'll take the speed boat (with a double engine... it's a thing…) and go to a few places along the national park.
When we came back to our villa after breakfast, I asked our concierge to come to discuss a few things. She confirmed to me then that we'll get the upgrade to a 2 bedroom Villa for the last 2 days complimentary but we'll have to move to another Villa (then on Friday she told me that we can keep the 501 so my plan worked out perfectly). I spoke with her about Kosher food and the way to handle it (and to make sure that I'll not pay the delivery fees…).
We spent that day in and out of the pool and had also great food from Chabad (the lunch was always very fresh as they are picking it up at 12 pm and deliver it around 1).




Delicious chicken breast sandwich

*During all our regular days on this vacation, we were able to maintain a good schedule with our daughter for the nap and sleeping time, so we were planning our days accordingly.
After the nap, my wife wanted to get some pictures at the beach and the pool area and to grab also the free drinks (I like that it's not limited to happy hour time like in other hotels, because when you travel with a baby, the more flexible - the better). We went to the pool area and dropped our daughter in the turtle club. The club is a tiny room with a big TV, a ball pit and a table with chairs for arts & crafts but every time we went there weren't more than 3 kids so it seems like it fits the guests' needs. The staff is exceptionally nice and really impressed us. We thought we'll stay there to play some times with our daughter but then they offered us to leave if we wished to and they will take care of everything!



We went to take drinks, spent some time in the cabanas and then went to the beach area.





LOL!

The 'beach' is not a real beach, they added lots of sand a few years ago to cover all the small rocks and coral, during the afternoon the tide is high and the beach becomes even smaller. During our stay, we saw only a few people swimming/snorkeling there.
I took a Kayak to get some pictures of the cliff/resort and my wife went back to the Turtle club.
Here are the pictures:

Our Villa at the top left



The beach area





When we had to go back to our villa, our daughter didn't want to leave the club… she definitely had a great time there. This was our first day that we were able to relax the entire day since we left our house on Saturday night. The pool in the villa is huge (the 2 bedroom's one has an additional corner on the length), you can make lapse and make a party too. We brought a big inflatable and a small one for our daughter. It wasn't her first time in a pool but this time she was at the age that kids begin to enjoy it the most, even with a non-heated pool.


The Bangkok Post newspaper delivered to our Villa


Sunset's swim


I set up the GoPro before sunset to get a nice Timelapse, gave the baby a bath and put her to sleep in her room, a long day is awaiting for her the next day.
"
"
(This video is from Tuesday evening)



Dinner


Turndown service



Thursday 1/30.

We woke up early, heated up some food and packed for the trip. I davened in the garden with an unobstructed view to the ocean, "...'מה רבו מעשיך ה".
Our driver was waiting for us and we left at 7:45. It was a big van with a nice decorated inside and with water bottles for us. We drove 40 minutes and stopped at the Vana Belle hotel.
An American couple in their 50's came in and we drove another 20 minutes to the pier. We had a chat with the couple, they come from Michigan and he works for GM, they were on a 2 years mission in China and came on vacation to Koh Samui right before the Virus outbreak. GM advised them to not go back and they had to go back now to the US without a house or regular winter clothing…
We waited in the lounge area for other people to join and then walked to the pier to take the boat.



The boat was large and clean, there are seatings under a roof and seating at the front of it to enjoy the wind and the view.



Waiting for the crew



At the center of the boat, there was a huge cooler full of water bottles and soda.


Here

We left around 9:45 and had first a stop at the Belmond (if you stay there, you get VIP pickup because it's on the boat itinerary/way to the national park). Half the boat actually was filled up at the Belmond and we were a total of 14 visitors including 2 children. One of the guys that came from the Belmond seemed to me Israeli or middle eastern, so I approached him and he told me that he's (Christian) Lebanese and lives currently in Paris. We had a nice conversation in English and French, he told me also that he was waiting to get his french passport to go to Israel. The boat ride was beautiful, every mile there were different small islands/rocks popping out of the water, each one with a different shape and some with very interesting ones. Our daughter wanted to walk all the time and go up and down the small steps heading to the boat front. Everyone was smiling to her, overall was a very relaxing atmosphere with lots of understanding. The ride took about an hour.
Our first stop was at Mu Koh Angthong National Marine Park.
There were only 3 long-tail boats so there weren't many people there.


We had the baby carrier (brought specially for this trip and also for the bike at the Waldorf) and that made it much easier for the steps to go up the rock (it was much easier and shorter than last summer at the Masada hike, but back then the package was lighter ).






More steps...



At the top, there was a beautiful view of the green lagoon and we took some pictures.


Then the steps bring us down to be about one level higher than the lagoon.


On the steps to go back to the departing point, our very nice guide gave us a twist in our path and I loved it.

When we headed back, a big boat (ferry) was approaching the island, the boat can't come too close to the island so all passengers have to transit with long-tail speedboats (make yourself a favor and avoid these ferry kind adventure in Thailand, especially in a virus outbreak season).


Some islands along the ride:












Our next stop was in a nearby island/rock with rich coral and some caves, very good for snorkeling.


I didn't pin the snorkeling location on the map but it seems like it's on the northern point of my timeline path.

(this timeline is not so accurate because I turned off the data towards the end of the trip)

My wife doesn't like so much snorkeling which made her a perfect candidate to stay on the boat with the little one the time being her father will play with the fish and his GoPro. The company provided us with snorkeling gear and life jackets.
There weren't many fish or any special ones but the coral was very rich and alive, we saw a school or two of fish. It was my first time snorkeling under a rock and it was a really good experience. Because there are some holes on the top of the rock, the sun can go through the water depending on the time of the day, it will be usually around 11 am for the place we went and I can imagine how clear and see through the water would be, but we were there an hour later and the clarity wasn't so bad.










"
"

"
"

We swam back to the boat and my wife and the baby joined me for a nice swim in the ocean. It's such a pleasure to see your baby not afraid of the water, and best of all - she was pointing on the small fish passing by .




They had to feed the hungry passengers on the boat so we headed to this restaurant.

More beautiful islands on the way.











(The ghost face)




(On the left rock, you can see a monkey face facing the right)

On our way there way our captain saw from far Dolphins, they were near to the shore of a rock/island and another boat with french tourists was also there watching them. First, they were pretty far but then they slowly swam closer to us. All the passengers were on their toes watching with lots of excitement. One of the Dolphins was pink! But unfortunately was too far to capture it with my phone. My wife was thrilled, and our daughter was really excited to spot her favorite animal (her plush/lovey is a Dolphin).

(A few months before our trip my wife was searching about activities near Koh Samui and found out that there are pink dolphins there, we didn't follow through with this idea but it was still sitting in the back of her head).
We went then to the island with the restaurant, the restaurant has a few sitting areas, some tables didn’t have tablecloths and some had. Our group was seated in the tablecloths’ section (VIP…) and ourselves, went on the side to sit on a single (without a tablecloth’...) table to eat our snacks and bread. On my way to the bathroom, I saw the kitchen with lots of flies and other insects… we are lucky to eat only Kosher! This island is apparently where all the groups come to eat and the food is paid by the boat companies that bring the guests, with different menus. We stayed there for about an hour and went back to the boat.
Our next stop was in a beautiful place where there's a very narrow sandbank created from two islands' shore next to each other. They had there lots of kayaks but the baby was sleeping.




I took her on the baby carrier while she was still sleeping and walked towards the sandbank. I made my way in the shallow water and on the ground between the foliage and trees, all the way making sure that the baby will not move too much so she can sleep properly. At some points, the water arrived almost to my upper body, but besides her legs she was dry and we made it!



(Baby sleeping peacefully)



But on the way back to the speedboat (and a half body wet) she woke up and went for the swing.




They served us fresh coconuts and it was a real Mechaye!
The way back took also an hour and the water was a bit rough but overall we had really nice weather that day and BH everything went smooth.


(last one)

The order for the way back was Belmond>pier>car>Vana Belle and finally to the Conrad.


Back at the pier

Towards the end of the ride, we saw a nice sunset on our left but were too tired to stop and enjoy it properly. The baby slept most of the ride, it was a long day!


The conrad's lobby/arrival area

When we arrived at the hotel, exhausted and dirty, our concierge greeted us, we discussed a bit and went to our Villa. We went straight downstairs to shower and then we had a very nice surprise!


The best part is that the bath was hot as it was prepared just a few minutes ago, how did she time it so well?
We had a quick dairy dinner, Aioli Pasta and Pizza.




It was a very long day but it was such a beautiful adventure, I'd never thought I'll actually see these beautiful screensaver one day in my life for real...
« Last Edit: February 21, 2020, 01:30:48 AM by israshot »

Offline iluv2travel

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #38 on: February 23, 2020, 11:03:02 PM »
Thanks for continuing to write up a great trip report!

You went to the Maldives and Koh Samui in one trip, but if someone who has been to neither place can only go to one which would you suggest they choose?

Offline israshot

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Re: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and Maldives TR
« Reply #39 on: February 24, 2020, 04:38:42 AM »
Thanks for continuing to write up a great trip report!

You went to the Maldives and Koh Samui in one trip, but if someone who has been to neither place can only go to one which would you suggest they choose?
Thanks!
The Maldives of course. As much as we had an amazing time in Koh Samui, with a huge villa and tons of Kosher food, beautiful scenery and a friendly staff, it doesn't even compare to the Maldives.
I'm writing first about Koh Samui because of the chronological order, and more importantly, if I'm writing about the Maldives first, it will be disappointing to continue...