"PTRAVEL" wrote in message ...
"Tchiowa" wrote in message
om...

Couldn't agree more. My favorite is JWM in Bangkok.

I've stayed at the Marriott which is down the river a bit, but never at the
JW. The river resort was pretty nice, with spacious, beautifully furnished
rooms. The JW in Bangkok must be spectacular.

To steal a line from a movie "it doesn't suck". :-)

I travel a lot on
business, so my boss gets to foot the bill. That keeps me Platinum for
Marriott. I get upgraded to an Executive Suite whenever I'm in Bangkok
and it makes all the difference in the world (as compared to a cheaper
place).

Nice! I once had to spend a month in Hong Kong for business -- my hotel
bill was over $10K but, of course, paid by the client. That year I made
platinum -- usually I'm gold, though last year my travel dropped
dramatically and I'm only silver for this year.


But, as you pointed out (and I have pointed out before), it's a matter
of taste. Some people don't care. I have a hard time understanding
that, but to each his own.

What I always find interesting is that people like us, who prefer nicer
hotels, have no problem respecting the choices of the super-budget
travelers. However, it's usually the super-budget travelers, like the OP,
who insist on criticizing those of use who don't enjoy shared baths and
dormitory-style rooms when we travel.

As I've said before, most people of all stripes and backgrounds are
nice. But you are right that among some backpackers there is an
attitude that being poor somehow makes you superior(????). It bothers
me whenever one of them posts that unless you live on $5 a day you
can't experience the local culture. That, of course, implies that
everyone is poor and that any local who has any level of financial
success automatically loses his culture.

All of that is, for the most part, rationalization.

What people experience living like that is not the culture of the
country, but rather the culture of the poorest of the poor of that
country. It's kind of like saying that unless you sleep in the doorway
of a department store and urinate all over the BART entrances and eat
in a soup kitchen you can't experience the true culture of San
Francisco.