Day 2: Friday July 1st 2016
Side note that I skipped in the last part: When we got to the gate for the SIN-USM flight I was told that there were 2 business class seats open on the later 10:25 flight which would let all 4 of us travel together and give us time to check out the private room in SIN but unfortunately my bags were already on the 8:10 flight and they said it was too late to switch and I should have asked right when I landed instead of waiting until I got to the new gate
Anyway….
I arrived in USM at about 8:55 AM. USM is an old fashioned airport so we got off on portable stairs and were seated in a bus. The bus takes you to the customs where we were put on an expedited line since we were in business class. The baggage claim is right near the customs so we quickly got our bags. My USM to CNX flight wasn’t really confirmed for some reason so I went to Bangkok airs office to get our tickets straightened out while waiting for my wife and son to come in on the next flight at 11:05. I also converted some U.S. dollars to baht at a nice rate of 34.15 baht to 1 US dollar
Before I knew it my wife’s flight came in and we got the baggage that was on her flight and were headed to the taxi area. A regular taxi from the airport to the Conrad costs 1000 baht but for 1500 baht I was able to get an SUV from the Conrad pick me up directly. They were able to fit all our luggage and all of us comfortably so I feel it was money well spent!
We arrived to the Conrad after an interesting ride there. I say interesting because the streets were very old fashioned and dirty and I was getting nervous about how bad this city looks. I also noticed as I would notice all trip even in Hong Kong that there were lots of 7-11s. After a long 50 minute ride, we finally arrived at the Conrad. We traveled over 24 hours to get here and boy was it worth it! As shady and dingy as the koh samui streets looked that is how beautiful the Conrad was.
We were told to sit down and they asked for our passports. They told us that since we are diamond members they upgraded us and gave us the best room they have which is all the way up affording the best view that they have and a more private pool. (All rooms are the same size though) Unfortunately that would mean that we were further away from the pool and the breakfast restaurant but in the end it would be worth it as we had complete privacy in our pool.
Right away they took all our luggage to be brought to the room. In order to get around the hotel, since it is a large property you need to take a “buggy” They were pretty good with this service throughout our stay.
Buggy
We got to the room which was really very nice as you can see! We unpacked a little and being that it was 1:30 the kids were hungry! I made them turkey sandwiches and we were ready to try out the pool! (the turkey and food from pom arrived in good condition still cold)
Bedroom
Hot Tub
We spent the next couple of hours swimming then had to get ready for Shabbat which was earlyish at about 6:30. In order to heat up the pom meals I brought a hot plate with me since I did not want to rely on the hotel to heat it up. It fits perfectly in my suitcase flat on the bottom. The only problem with it is that it weighs 20 lbs but when you are flying first class no one is weighing your bags! For the kids I got them chicken nuggets as there meal to share and I put it on the hotplate which popped as soon as I brought it in.
Pool in room
View of ocean from pool
Having no choice I re-double wrapped the meal and gave it to room service to warm. They brought it back opened saying that they couldn’t put it in the microwave without opening it. Great I had to throw it out! Luckily it was only one of my 5 meals, either way the kids were exhausted and fell asleep without eating. (they woke up in middle of the night and had a snack). I then went to the chef and told him what is going on? I told you guys not to open the seal? (BTW the people here are really bad with English) He apologized and assured me that it would not happen again. So I gave him my four remaining meals and instructed him when to bring them to me.
Besides for the pools, this hotel is very kid-friendly, they provided us with a bathtub for the kids, kids shampoo, and even a potty.
We showered, lit candles in the room (small traveler ones) prayed and at exactly 7 PM as we requested our meals came. They weren’t heated perfectly but at least they were sealed. We ate quickly and passed out!
As I mentioned before the kids woke up at midnight but after some snacks they went back to sleep for the night.
