Thailand And Laos Journey: 15. Awana House

Thailand and Laos (and Myanmar if I can manage it)

Hello, Sawatdee kaa and Sabai dee,

My next trip will be Thailand and Laos, and this is all about the before, the trip and the after - similar to my Malaysia/Cambodia blog. I am putting together from start to finish - tickets, do's and don'ts, tours, where to stay, places to see, things to do, as well as useful extras like transport, good places to eat, what to wear, climate, tourist traps, tricks and tips and whatever else I can think of that will be useful.

If you have any tips or advice, please, feel free to leave a comment and add your bit - whatever you think may be helpful or interesting.
Cheers.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

15. Awana House

The third accommodation place that I'm considering in Chiang Mai is Awanahouse which is located at
7 Ratchadamnoen Road, Lane 1, Thapae Gate, Chiang Mai 50200. All their rooms have air-conditioning, television and a fridge. Some rooms have balconies, some have mountain views and some have street views. They also have a couple of rooms on what they call the "Panoramaroof" - which are cheaper but have a fan only, no air-con.

Pros and Cons:
One of the pros is you can rent a laptop for 60 baht an hour (the most you'll pay is four hours).

Disadvantage:
ON the flip side of the coin, I'm not very happy with their form of payment - you can either transfer money to their Dutch bank account in Euro currency, transfer to their Thai Bank account in Thai baht currency or use Paypal. From reading their website, it looks like you can only use a credit card if paying with Paypal. It seems a long drawn out affair making payment - if you live outside the Netherlands, you have to have a code, and a BIC, then you have to go to a bank and have the money deposited into a their account. A bit too much trouble if you ask me.

Another thing I thought a little odd - "For Awanahouse it is important that the Dutch (European) accent continues in the guesthouse, one of the wishes of meanwhile deceased Jan van Delft. That’s why Ron Bertsch, Dutchman, is the new supervisor and host since july 2007."

Above: The guesthouse

Rates:
a) Double room - TV. fridge, balcony with mountainview, 650 baht, (750 Jan - March)
b) Double room - TV. fridge, balcony with streetview, 600 baht, (700 Jan - March)
c) Double room - TV. fridge, 500 baht, 550 high season
d) Single room - TV, fridge and balcony with streetview, 500 baht, (550 Jan - March)
e) Room on the Panoramaroof with fan and double bed, 1 person , 225 baht, 2 people 350 baht.

The higher rates shown are from 20th January to 20th March - what we would call "shoulder season". I've not listed all the rooms and rates, only the ones that I would be looking at.

Special Rates:
This is what would be called "peak season" and the dates as follows -
1 July - 20 August
20 December - 20 January
9 - 16 April (Sonkran)
You can find them on their website.