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I've never needed AC, but OTY if you want to pay a lot extra just to be cold when you sleep.
It always amuses me to see AC rooms that come with duvet and blankets on the bed.
As #14 says, just open the window and get all that lovely sea breeze.
#13 a fan does nothing most of the time to cool it
Most of the places I frequented had limited hours when power was available, so most of the time we had no fan at all.
By insisting on AC, you restrict yourself to the more ruined beaches, while fan only beaches are usually sparsley populated and buildings are low key and unobtrusive.
Try finding an AC tent on a National Park beach!
AC rooms with duvet and blankets, imagine!
To stay cool, get a bamboo bungalow. Concrete bungalows retain heat and have almost no ventilation. You can manage with a fan but it will get hot. All non-aircon bungalows come with mosquito nets, so you will be protected when you sleep. I've stayed in both and found that in my bamboo bungalow, there was always ventilation and some nights, I had to turn my fan off because I got a bit chilly, even with a thin blanket.
"By insisting on AC, you restrict yourself to the more ruined beaches, while fan only beaches are usually sparsley populated and buildings are low key and unobtrusive"
The best beaches usually have aircon resorts because that's where people want to stay. Fan hut only beaches are usually small, rocky or remote.
Sorry, but that is rubbish.
The best beaches are the ones so difficult to get to that the sort of person that needs AC, satellite tv, horizon pools etc would NEVER go there.
Just by building the concrete monstrocity, the whole point of why a beach WAS beautiful is lost.
Besides, the people that stay in resorts rarely leave the poolside or the resort grounds, so where they stay is irrelevant.
Plenty of resorts at Had Rin, but would anyone go there for the "beauty" of the environment, or the relaxed atmosphere?
having lots of fan huts is no better than aircon resorts
Other than on ruined crapholes like Had Rin or P P, fan huts are usually unobtrusive, and don't encroach the sand like concrete resorts do.
But you haven't addressed the fact that the best beaches don't even have an AC option. By insisting on AC, you are restricting yourself as to where you will stay.
I'd much rather stay on a spectacular beach than on a mediocre one just to have some cool air.
Like what? Give us some examples.
IMO the best beaches have no accommodation at all but those are national park islands.
"Just by building the concrete monstrocity, the whole point of why a beach WAS beautiful is lost"
The point of a beach is to swim and walk on the sand. Whether a resort has aircon or fan has no impact on that at all.
"Besides, the people that stay in resorts rarely leave the poolside or the resort grounds, so where they stay is irrelevant."
That's a ridiculous assumption. People who can afford to stay in resorts can also afford to go on excursions around the island/s and see more. If you can't afford an aircon room then you are less likely to have the funds to afford a motorbike/car/boat trips.
Ugly fan huts make a beach area look more dingy.
"By insisting on AC, you are restricting yourself as to where you will stay."
Not really. The good beaches with resorts have aircon. Then you have great beaches with no accomodation. Where are the great beaches with dingy fan huts and no aircon?
Bang Bao beach on Ko Kood has aircon and fan huts. Great beach. Adding aircon has no affect on the beach and most complaints from the area are directed at the poorly maintained fan huts which drag the area down. Lots of positive comments about the beach and lots of negative comments about some of the bad fan huts.
Comments like this one:
"This place has so much potential but fails to deliver other than offering stunning views over Bang Bao Bay, arguably the most picturesque beach in Koh Kong and one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. The accommodation is very dated and in need of refurbishment, the bed linen was badly stained and the bathroom looked like it could do with a good scrub."
So they loved the beach but hated the dingy room.
They you have aircon resorts on islands like Ngai and Kradan which are upmarket and don't negatively affect the beach at all.
http://www.sevenseasresorts.com/gallery.asp
http://thapwarin.com/
On Kradan where the basic fan huts are the area looks worse.
Kradan island resort comments:
We stayed here for two nights and we knew it was´nt going to be great, having read some reviews, but it´s a dissaster and not worth it at all! Ants everywhere and really dirty rooms. Bad bad restaurant and really slow staff, and I mean slow, not just thai-slow. Allthough we asked for cleaning and antspray three times nothing happend. I had to clean the bathroom myself just to be able to go in there. The rooms remind me of something from the Gulag. Stay somewhere els or just dont go to Kradan, in my opinion you might just as well go to Ko Ngai where there are more options for staying and the beach is just as good. Oh and yes, its expensive too.
There are many more comments like the above about cheap and nasty huts. The overwhelming conclusion is that cheap huts drag an area down, not classy aircon rooms.
Depends how you define the 'best beach'. For me the best beach would be one with bars and restaurants on it as well as a nice view. I don't care for lounging about on sand doing nothing for hours / days on end. I've seen enough beaches around the world not to be impressed by them anymore, from Australia to Latin America to Asia. They all look the same to me so they best have some decent AC accommodation and a few bars and restaurants or I'm not interested.
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15
I see there are some softies out there, LOL!I've never needed AC, but OTY if you want to pay a lot extra just to be cold when you sleep.
It always amuses me to see AC rooms that come with duvet and blankets on the bed.
As #14 says, just open the window and get all that lovely sea breeze.
#13 a fan does nothing most of the time to cool it
Most of the places I frequented had limited hours when power was available, so most of the time we had no fan at all.
By insisting on AC, you restrict yourself to the more ruined beaches, while fan only beaches are usually sparsley populated and buildings are low key and unobtrusive.
Try finding an AC tent on a National Park beach!
16
Not softies TBL, some of us just don't feel the need to slum it to save a couple of quid. You don't have to pay 'a lot extra' but yes I DO like to be cold,well cool, when I sleep. I can't sleep when it's hot and sticky and sleeping without covers and the window open doesn't help.AC rooms with duvet and blankets, imagine!
17
If you are planning on visiting the islands, ask for long-stay rates. Even on relatively expensive islands such as Ko Lipe, you can get a bungalow for about 10000 baht/month. Else you would be paying 500-700 per night.To stay cool, get a bamboo bungalow. Concrete bungalows retain heat and have almost no ventilation. You can manage with a fan but it will get hot. All non-aircon bungalows come with mosquito nets, so you will be protected when you sleep. I've stayed in both and found that in my bamboo bungalow, there was always ventilation and some nights, I had to turn my fan off because I got a bit chilly, even with a thin blanket.
18
A/c rooms are usually a lot bigger with good sized porch/verandah if you stay in bungalows. A lot of these fan huts are tiny with no porch/chairs to sit on outside. Sort of defeats the purpose of a holiday if you can't relax."By insisting on AC, you restrict yourself to the more ruined beaches, while fan only beaches are usually sparsley populated and buildings are low key and unobtrusive"
The best beaches usually have aircon resorts because that's where people want to stay. Fan hut only beaches are usually small, rocky or remote.
21
#18 The best beaches usually have aircon resorts because that's where people want to staySorry, but that is rubbish.
The best beaches are the ones so difficult to get to that the sort of person that needs AC, satellite tv, horizon pools etc would NEVER go there.
Just by building the concrete monstrocity, the whole point of why a beach WAS beautiful is lost.
Besides, the people that stay in resorts rarely leave the poolside or the resort grounds, so where they stay is irrelevant.
Plenty of resorts at Had Rin, but would anyone go there for the "beauty" of the environment, or the relaxed atmosphere?
having lots of fan huts is no better than aircon resorts
Other than on ruined crapholes like Had Rin or P P, fan huts are usually unobtrusive, and don't encroach the sand like concrete resorts do.
22
#16 Not softies TBL, some of us just don't feel the need to slum it to save a couple of quidBut you haven't addressed the fact that the best beaches don't even have an AC option. By insisting on AC, you are restricting yourself as to where you will stay.
I'd much rather stay on a spectacular beach than on a mediocre one just to have some cool air.
23
"The best beaches are the ones so difficult to get to"Like what? Give us some examples.
IMO the best beaches have no accommodation at all but those are national park islands.
"Just by building the concrete monstrocity, the whole point of why a beach WAS beautiful is lost"
The point of a beach is to swim and walk on the sand. Whether a resort has aircon or fan has no impact on that at all.
"Besides, the people that stay in resorts rarely leave the poolside or the resort grounds, so where they stay is irrelevant."
That's a ridiculous assumption. People who can afford to stay in resorts can also afford to go on excursions around the island/s and see more. If you can't afford an aircon room then you are less likely to have the funds to afford a motorbike/car/boat trips.
24
"fan huts are usually unobtrusive, and don't encroach the sand like concrete resorts do."Ugly fan huts make a beach area look more dingy.
"By insisting on AC, you are restricting yourself as to where you will stay."
Not really. The good beaches with resorts have aircon. Then you have great beaches with no accomodation. Where are the great beaches with dingy fan huts and no aircon?
Bang Bao beach on Ko Kood has aircon and fan huts. Great beach. Adding aircon has no affect on the beach and most complaints from the area are directed at the poorly maintained fan huts which drag the area down. Lots of positive comments about the beach and lots of negative comments about some of the bad fan huts.
Comments like this one:
"This place has so much potential but fails to deliver other than offering stunning views over Bang Bao Bay, arguably the most picturesque beach in Koh Kong and one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. The accommodation is very dated and in need of refurbishment, the bed linen was badly stained and the bathroom looked like it could do with a good scrub."
So they loved the beach but hated the dingy room.
They you have aircon resorts on islands like Ngai and Kradan which are upmarket and don't negatively affect the beach at all.
http://www.sevenseasresorts.com/gallery.asp
http://thapwarin.com/
On Kradan where the basic fan huts are the area looks worse.
Kradan island resort comments:
We stayed here for two nights and we knew it was´nt going to be great, having read some reviews, but it´s a dissaster and not worth it at all! Ants everywhere and really dirty rooms. Bad bad restaurant and really slow staff, and I mean slow, not just thai-slow. Allthough we asked for cleaning and antspray three times nothing happend. I had to clean the bathroom myself just to be able to go in there. The rooms remind me of something from the Gulag. Stay somewhere els or just dont go to Kradan, in my opinion you might just as well go to Ko Ngai where there are more options for staying and the beach is just as good. Oh and yes, its expensive too.
There are many more comments like the above about cheap and nasty huts. The overwhelming conclusion is that cheap huts drag an area down, not classy aircon rooms.
25
But you haven't addressed the fact that the best beaches don't even have an AC option. By insisting on AC, you are restricting yourself as to where you will stay. I'd much rather stay on a spectacular beach than on a mediocre one just to have some cool air.Depends how you define the 'best beach'. For me the best beach would be one with bars and restaurants on it as well as a nice view. I don't care for lounging about on sand doing nothing for hours / days on end. I've seen enough beaches around the world not to be impressed by them anymore, from Australia to Latin America to Asia. They all look the same to me so they best have some decent AC accommodation and a few bars and restaurants or I'm not interested.
