From the Nongsoda Guesthouse which is located along the banks of the Mekong on the edge of Savannakhet town it is less than a 5 minute walk to the Thai Embassy where you need to drop your passport and 1,000 baht in the morning before midday for a new Thai tourist or Thai non immigrant visa. The following day you can pick up your passport after 2pm.

If you are simply looking to kick back and relax in Savannakhet Laos for few days the Nongsoda Guesthouse is also in the prime location to access the small town of Savannakhet but don’t expect a whole lot of action since Savannakhet is predominantly a sleepy little town with not a lot going on by day or by night.

The Nongsoda Guesthouse is cheap but the prices vary from 300-500 baht per night depending on what size room you take. All rooms have air conditioning which is rare for a room so cheap as well as TV’s with some English cable channels and hot water in the bathroom. It is pretty basic accommodation but all rooms are clean and are quite a decent size and the staff are very friendly but don’t speak much English.

The executive serviced apartments at the Four Seasons Place Pattaya range in size from 60, 80, 90 and 104 square meters and the monthly rental depending on the size of the serviced apartment is between 40,000 to 70,000 baht including tax.

The residential tower of the Four Seasons Place in Pattaya has 6 floors of beautifully appointed apartments from 57, 84, 88 and 105 square meters in size. All apartments are finished with immaculate fittings with no expense spared. The tile work throughout the apartments is very impressive and the kitchens and bathrooms are of international standards. The prices for the apartments which have mostly already been sold are approximately around 3-5 million baht each.

Inside the complex at the Four Seasons Place Pattaya is a reasonable size round shaped swimming pool surrounded by trees and recliner chairs for residents who like to sit by the pool or do a little bit of sunbathing. There is a small air conditioned gym alongside the pool area, including a sauna and squash court and a restaurant within the complex which is due for completion soon.

The Four Seasons Place at this time has almost finished construction with most rooms finished and furnished, all with imported Italian furniture. Some new residents are just about ready to move in and within the coming months
the condominium and serviced apartments should be fully completed and operational.

The rates at the Lamrock Lodge backpackers are extremely reasonable with a bed in a 4 bed dorm costing just $20 AUS per night. You can even get your own private room for an entire week for as little as $180. There are a number of room sizes available at different rates but all rooms are very well priced even during the high seasons each year.

The Lamrock Lodge backpacker hostel in Bondi Beach has numerous shared shower and toilet facilities on all floors to cater for the huge number of guests who often stay there throughout the year. The facilities are always clean and the staff are very friendly and helpful to all guests. The hostel has been around for quite a few years now and the staff know all the information you could possibly want to know about the Bondi Beach area as well as where to go in Sydney for fun or general places of interest and what is the cheapest and quickest way to get there.

Sydney International Airport is only about 30 minutes drive away from Lamrock Lodge by car depending on traffic levels and the time of day. Any taxi driver from the airport will know Lamrock Lodge and the Bondi Beach area since it is one of Sydney’s most popular tourist locations. Buses run from very early morning till very late at night every day of the week and taxis are always available just around the corner on Campbell Parade which is the street that runs along the beach front. Transport is never a problem in this area.

From Lamrock Lodge at Bondi Beach you can walk to a number of other beaches along a magnificent coastal walk that runs around the cliffs bordering the beach. There are also some awesome snorkeling locations within minutes from the hostel where you will normally have great visibility in the water and see some very big fish and other marine life. The location of Lamrock Lodge would have to be the best of any hostel in all of Sydney, especially of all beach locations.

Having lived at Bondi Beach for many years I always liked to hang out at the beach as it was always full of happy people and an amazing line up of hot chicks. The best thing of all was that the girl you might be looking at walking along the beach or sunbathing on the sand could be from anywhere in the world. After the sun goes down on Bondi Beach each day one of the first places all these single beach goers head to is the Bondi Hotel which can be seen from the beach.

The Bondi Hotel has a number of rooms for drinking, playing pool, playing poker machines, just hanging out for a chat and the hotel also has a disco that gets extremely busy on a Friday and Saturday night. Since so many backpackers flock to the Bondi Hotel after a day at Bondi Beach it is a fantastic pick up joint for both guys and girls. Many of the European girls love to flirt with the local Aussie guys and especially the local Bondi surfers who drink alongside the main front bar every night of the week.

In the Bondi Hotel disco that pumps on the weekends an assortment of nationalities mix together for good music and a chance to meet new people for friendships and often a whole lot more. The hotel disco serves up a host of weird and wonderful cocktails and after a few cocktails just about anything could happen so your chances of picking up a chick or a guy at the Bondi Beach Hotel is very good indeed. It is usually a very friendly mix of locals and foreign tourists with a huge contingent of security staff keeping an eager eye on proceedings and they rarely let anything get out of hand.

If you are a single backpacker traveling alone through Sydney or a local Sydney resident and looking for a good time or a great chance to meet new friends it is definitely worth checking out the Bondi Hotel at Bondi Beach in Sydney. For backpackers coming to Bondi Beach there are numerous backpacker hostels around the hotel or you might even find someone at the hotel who is looking for a room mate. No matter what you are looking for you will probably find it at the Bondi Hotel.

The Sabai Lodge Pattaya has recently finished renovation of their restaurant which is available for breakfast lunch and dinner daily. Within walking distance from the Sabai Lodge is the Big C supermarket and shopping center which is a great place to shop for groceries or in a number of boutique fashion and gift shops. Within the Big C complex there is also a modern cinema complex with all the latest Thai and Hollywood movies in both your choice of Thai language or English.

The staff are very friendly at the Sabai Lodge Pattaya and are very accommodating when looking for information about Pattaya in regards to dining, shopping, tours available or nightlife. On the same soi (street) as the Sabai Lodge you will find numerous beer bars on the corner of Second Road where you can meet beautiful Thai ladys and probably a number of Thai ladyboys in amongst the crowds.

Along the car park wing of the Sabai Lodge Pattaya are some very cheap rooms that are available for about 800 baht per night although the slightly bigger rooms in the newer wings are around 1,250 baht per night upwards depending on the size and comfort level of the room.

Whether you are planning to stay in Pattaya just for the weekend or for an extended holiday I would definitely recommend the Sabai Lodge Pattaya over and above many of the other hotels I have stayed at in the Pattaya area due to its well priced rooms and facilities available.

If you are looking for cheap hotels in Penang Malaysia you will find many in and around the Georgetown area which is the busiest shopping and business area of Penang a northern island of Malaysia. You can get extremely cheap hotels in Penang that are of reasonable standard and cleanliness. The cheapest hotels in Penang are very basic but if you are doing a border run from Thailand and don’t want to spend a lot of money you can find some great cheap hotels in Penang.

For cheap hotels Penang check out Chulia Street right in the middle of Georgetown. There are numerous cheap hotels in Georgetown Penang and Chulia Street is central to shopping, transport, scenic tour operators and only about 15 minutes by car to the Thai Embassy Penang if you are looking to get a Thai Tourist Visa or a Thai Non Immigrant Visa.

The Olive Spring Hotel in the middle of Chulia Street is a family run hotel and rooms are very clean and cheap at between 15-20 Ringit per night. The Olive Spring Hotel is great value and the family who run the hotel can point you in the right direction if you need any help while in Georgetown. The Olive Spring is one the best value cheap hotels Penang, all rooms have a fan and shared bathrooms and toilets but the facilities are always kept clean.

Also on Chulia Street is the Hon Ping Hotel Penang where rooms are of a reasonable standard and around 60-70 Ringit per night. The Hon Ping Hotel Penang is in a very convenient location to access central Georgetown.

The Oriental Hotel is an old but popular cheap hotel Penang and is located on the corner of Chulia Street and Jalan Penang. The rooms at the Oriental Hotel Penang cost around 70-100 Ringit but are air conditioned unlike some of the cheaper hotels that only have a fan.

On Lebuh Muntri Street you will find more cheap hotels Penang like the 75 Travelers Lodge which has rooms available for between 20-40 Rinit per night. The 75 Travellers Lodge Penang is at number 75 Muntri Street and is central to everything in Georgetown.

Also on Lebuh Muntri Street is the Oriental Guest House. The Oriental Guest House is very basic but rooms are just 15-22 Ringit per night and another of the cheap hotels Penang.

Whether you are coming to Penang for a Thai Tourist Visa or for a holiday there are many cheap hotels in Penang and from the Georgetown area you can easily access the entire island with many transport options available or cross the Penang Bridge nearby Georgetown to reach mainland Malaysia.

The Prince Hotel in Hanoi provided a free pick up service and transfer from the airport to the hotel. On arrival at Hanoi International airport I looked around for my free taxi pick up service as I exited the arrival gate but there was no one there. I decided to call the hotel but could not get any connection to this hotel, all I heard was a recorded message in Vietnamese. I decided to ask someone at the information booth if she could call the number for me and she happily obliged. She than responded telling me this hotel had closed down. At this point I really wasn’t sure what to do as I had no other numbers for the hotels-in-vietnam reservation service.

I waited around for about half an hour till finally I saw a guy frantically running through the airport looking around and wondered if this was my driver. It was but he couldn’t speak any English so I don’t know what he said to me. We took the 45 minute drive into Hanoi and he pulled up outside a hotel that was not the Prince Hotel I had booked and gestured for me to get out of the car than demanded money. It was a free transfer to the hotel but this was clearly not the hotel I had booked so I didn’t get out of the car. He screamed and yelled at me in Vietnamese, I’ve been living in Asia for a couple of years so this didn’t really bother me.

Finally someone from the hotels-in-vietnam company came out and knew who I was. He was quite polite and asked if I would come inside. He proceeded to tell me that all the rooms at the Prince Hotel were booked and that he was trying to locate another room for me. It was quite late at night and I was not liking the sound of this at all. At this stage another guest of the hotel came and asked me if I had booked another hotel and they had brought me here. Yes I replied, how did you know that I asked. He said the same thing happened to him. As it turned out, on the hotels-in-vietnam website they have numerous hotels to choose from but a number of them have closed down or are under renovation. The hotel I had booked was not full like the manager had told me, it had it fact shut down for renovation.

They finally found me a room at another hotel which was of about the same standard as the hotel I had booked. The next morning I went down for the free breakfast but was told they had no food left. I explained that breakfast was supposed to be served for another 2 hours and where was the food? He said we ran out of food you will have to eat elsewhere. I went back out to reception and the manager told me they will go and get me some food if I wait. Almost an hour later the guy comes back with one bread roll and a single serving of jam. So much for the free breakfast. Every morning the breakfast situation was the same and every morning disgruntled guest were complaining that they had paid for a room with a free breakfast but they continue to say they have no food. It was really pathetic.

After getting up for some early morning day trips, one morning I wanted to sleep in but was repeatedly annoyed by the room cleaning staff banging on the door from 9am. I asked them if they could come back in a couple of hours but they continued to persist banging on the door every ten minutes.

It was cold at the time of year I was in Hanoi so a warm shower in the morning was essential. However the hot water lasted for about 30 seconds and then took a couple of hours to warm up again. So my girlfriend and I had to each have lightening fast showers for just a few seconds before we completely ran out of hot water.

The manager of the hotel was a generally friendly guy who could speak English quite well but the service and organization of the hotels-in-vietnam reservation service was extremely disappointing and I would never use, nor recommend the hotels-in-vietnam online booking service ever again.

Hotels-In-Vietnam review-stuff.com rating 4 out of 10.