THAILAND & CAMBODIA

Hello Lyn
We are back from Asia where we spend 8 days.
While staying in Bangkok at friends we were invited to the Peninsula for diner. Fabulous buffet, service and decor. Looks much better than the Oriental.
Stayed at the Four Seasons in Chiang Mai; Nice hotel although it stays a hotel: Someone is managing the “extra spend per day per guest” ratio: a glass of wine, Internet in the room (that is the most irritating of all), airport transfer (5 times the price of a taxi), etc.. Irritating. Four Seasons manages to standardise so much its offer that even the Thai food has little taste. + lots of Americans in shorts, tee-shirts & basketball caps for diner.
The Amanasara experience is more in our style. Sober, friendly, great architecture and frankly very close to perfection. Extraordinary cook. Maybe a bit expensive for one of he poorest countries in the world ($2’500 for 2 days).
Voilà!
Awaiting your next newsletter

PDLR, Switzerland

THAILAND

Dear Lyn,
My husband and I thank you so much for providing us a wonderful Gallivanter’s trip. We have traveled to all seven continents and had some great trips but this was one of our all time favorites. We were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary and you helped to make it really special.
We enjoyed Jason at the Four Seasons tented camp very much and what a special place. We have some great pictures and memories.
Anthony at Trisara was very kind to upgrade us to a pool villa and
you know how nice they are. We really enjoyed our own infinity pool and thought the food was the best in all of Thailand. He had a bottle of Gossett champagne chilling in our villa. I love champagne and so it was a perfect touch. Also our favorite fish is john dory and his dory filets
were delicious.
We never met Todd at Four Seasons Chiang Mai but he called several times and our room was lovely.
Patrick Ghielmetti and his wife were very amiable and fun to talk to at the Four Seasons Bangkok. We had room 426 which looked very similar to 626. Patrick introduced us to the manager of Koh Samui and he also was charming. He happened to be staying at the hotel.
The Mandarin Oriental upgraded us to room 411 right on the river with a balcony and a beautiful room. We know you had a lot to do with the
special treatment we received and we thank you. We just arrived home
last night and we wanted to thank you right away.
We also really enjoyed flying Royal Silk class on Thai Airways. I
read your latest Gallivanters about airports and I agree with you but
Thai Airlines was a delight in every way.
Everyone we met spoke very highly of you and your husband and we
look forward to reading about your latest travels.

AL, USA

CRETE

Dear Lyn

We returned last week from a 10 day holiday in the Elounda Gulf Villas and we have no doubt that it was thanks to your good offices that we were allocated the villa ‘Errato’ - a three bedroom villa with pool for the two of us. If so, how very kind because we had a truly relaxing holiday.

We met Mrs Anna Kadianakis on several occasions and it is certainly a hotel to her credit. We were shown other villas and as you say, they are of an exceptional standard, particularly the Spa Pool villas – particularly with the option of being heated. Being May, the villa pools look tempting but as they have not had the sun sufficiently on them they were far too cold, unless you are used to swimming on New Year’s Day in the English Channel!

I understand from Mrs Kadianakis that the new addition since you were in Elounda is their restaurant, Daphne, which is on the roof of Argo. It is intended as their gourmet flagship and for guests to dine outside. We had the opportunity of eating in Daphne’s one evening but the weather was not warm enough to warrant being open other than that one day. In fact, it probably is also that there were far too few guests at Elounda Gulf - or indeed in any of the hotels at Elounda. I would guess that at any one time there were no more than 5 villas/suites occupied and we went into the Porto Elounda to buy suntan cream from the Six Senses Spa and it was a ‘ghost-town’. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times with each country staying within its own boundary because of rising prices. Whilst we were in Crete there was a taxi strike and a fuel driver’s strike with the ensuing queues at petrol pumps. The restaurants everywhere were extremely quiet. Having said this, we understood that the hotel was expecting more guests from the 24th May onwards.

From our understanding there appears to have been a change of staff this year from General Manager to restaurant and chef. I know not why. Aris, the General Manager, appeared to be perfectly pleasant, the maitre d’ and restaurant staff had come from the Starwood Hotel (what a ghastly looking place) but were excellent in their professionalism and were all delightful, and Giorgos is their new chef. The food was very good but I couldn’t say it was exceptional.

We didn’t look at any of the other Elounda hotels other than needing to go to the Spa at Porto Elounda. Your article advocating organic suncreams is so needed. I had forgotten from last year and took Clarins products with me with the result that I had a very unpleasant 24 hours recovering from the effects of their cream inadvertently entering my eyes thus making them so, so sore……… I hadn’t thought to look for a ‘use by’ date on organic sun products until reading the piece written in your ‘Ultimate Hotel Guide’ on display in our villa!

I think you’re right to include Elounda Gulf Villas in your portfolio but they will need to keep refurbishing some of their older villas so that they are to the same standard as their premier Spa Villas. There was not a shower in our villa and in a conversation with their General Manager one time he said that people do not mind going on holiday and not perhaps having luxuries such as showers. Really!!!!! I would love to have heard your retort.

S&VG – UK

EGYPT

Lyn, we loved the Four Seasons in Alexandria, where Kevin Robinson, Hotel Manager, looked after us with great personal interest, and the most exceptional staff of any of his company's properties that we have visited. The Zahra has been another fabulous experience with a warm and attentive crew, and very comfortable and well designed accommodations. I am not unhappy that our Egypt experience did not happen until we were able to enjoy it in such style!
Again, you are "right on target" with your recommendations---and after a long visit with the chief engineer of the ship, there is no question in my mind that the Zahra is "far and away" the top choice on the Nile. We disembark Tuesday for Cairo and the Four Seasons Nile property, which you recommended, for about a week.

CH – USA