Lodge Review: Gerard’s Place, Tanah Rata – Cameron Highlands

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Tara

I must have some kind of radar. For our one night in Tanah Rata, after going through all the choices on Hotels.com (I was working towards a free night) and reading some reviews on Trip Advisor, I chose Gerard’s Place based on the value it represented and the views in the photos that looked “birdy”. I had yet to learn that the warm, friendly and cheerful owner – Jay was also a birder!

As you enter, there is a map of the surrounding area with places to go hiking marked out.

The gardens surrounding the property are very birdy as I suspected.

Here’s a Verditer Flycatcher on the roof of a neighbor’s apartment.

The entrance to Gerard’s Place actually says “Carnation” on the front with a smaller Gerard’s Place sign below. This is why I suggest going to Father’s Guesthouse when you first arrive and letting Jay pick you up as it could be confusing when you don’t know your way around town. It’s on top of a hill and a 10 ringgit taxi ride if you are down town for dinner and need a ride back.

The guesthouse has several rooms, some with private bath and some with shared bath. We had a shared bathroom (G1) since it was only 1 night, otherwise I’d go for the ensuite.

The common room opens onto a patio with a nice view of the garden so you can sit here and watch birds. There is free wifi only accessible in the common room. We left very early on the Taman Negara shuttle, but Jay left some toast, butter, jam and coffee for our breakfast.

Beautiful flowers in the garden.

I highly recommend Gerard’s Place especially for birders. Jay will happily point out the best spots and even drop you there if she is heading into town. She is in the local bird club and has a nice book about the local birds you can buy to help you identify what you saw and keep as a souvenir. If you are headed to Taman Negara, ask Jay to book you on the shuttle, it will pick you up at the front door early in the morning.

Lodge Review: Sentosa Villa, Taiping

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Tara

Since the Sentosa Villa website is down, I will also include their Facebook page for reference. You can easily get there from KLIA by bus to Taiping’s bus station, then taxi to the lodge. Sentosa Villa is located in a residential area near a bird-rich forest and there is no public transport here.

They are on top of a hill so you can walk down the hill to get to Taiping Lake Gardens and the town centre, then get a taxi back for around 15 ringgits. Get the taxi driver’s phone number so you can have reception call him if you need to go elsewhere and don’t want to walk to town.

Here you can see the beauty of the local area surrounding Sentosa Villa.

Reception is in a separate building just as you come in.

We were in the main building (booked the cheapest room) which is linked to reception by a covered area. It does rain a lot here so this is a good thing!

The room was simply furnished and spotless.

The restaurant is about 5 minutes walk from the main buildings. We had dinner and breakfast here and the food is excellent!

We did cop some rain so I had to leave the walkways when birding and take shelter here. They have wifi in the restaurant.

Root beer floats! I couldn’t believe how huge they were!

I had lamb chops which were amazing and my husband said the seafood was equally delicious.

This is a really amazing lodge which is off the main birding trail for the usual groups visiting Malaysia but it shouldn’t be. There are plenty of birds in the lodge grounds as you will see on the birding posts and even more just a short walk down hill to Taiping Lake Gardens. I booked it on Hotels.com to add to my list of 10 nights for a free night but you can also book direct if you prefer.

Hotel Review: 100 Islands Hotel, Surat Thani

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Tara

This small but elegant hotel was a pleasant surprise and even almost like an eco-lodge.

Craft shop outside

Beautiful lobby and garden

Bird art!

Very attractively furnished Thai style room with a nice view of what I think is some kind of eco-lodge next door.

Lush tropical pool with birds in the garden.

We weren’t going to miss our last chance for a Thai massage!

The included breakfast buffet offered both Thai and Western food.

This supermarket is right across the street and you can get takeaway food to bring back to the room. The hotel also has a restaurant but I wanted to catch up on things online so we ate in.

The best part of staying at 100 Islands is how unbelievably cheap it was! Around $25! Seriously!

Hotel Review – Balios Resort, Khao Yai NP, Thailand

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Tara

When researching accommodation near Khao Yai National Park for our one night layover, one name kept popping up as the best place to stay, favored by international birding tour groups – Juldis Khao Yai Resort. Red-breasted Parakeets were known to frequent the grounds! When I went searching for it, I discovered it had been renamed Balios Resort and was easily booked on any of the major booking engines such as Rocketmiles, Pointshound and Hotels.com.

It’s kind of surprising to see such a large, fancy resort so near a national park and they went all out with the Italian decor.

Lobby area

Swimming pool

Well-maintained garden

The room was spotless and had a great view of the garden. If we had stayed longer, it would have been nice to sit on the balcony and look for birds.

An amusing list of hotel items for sale – armchair, anyone?

Buffet breakfast served in the dining hall with a nice view of the pool.

It seemed kind of strange to be in this lavish resort when I was expecting a birding lodge (since other groups stayed there) but it was a really nice place and less than $100. We would definitely stay there again if we return to Khao Yai (hopefully for a longer stay)!

Lodge Review: Thung Kik Camp & Hostel, Mae Ping

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Tara

When I was researching this trip and where to stay in Mae Ping, I found mention of Forest Cabins but nothing about the camp & hostel at Thung Kik.

I had no idea there was a hostel until I saw this sign.

Thung Kik has a few facilities such as picnic huts, a small visitor centre and a few multi-bedded rooms that can accommodate large groups or individual travellers.

We had a room in this bungalow that had 2 twin-share rooms and one 4 bed family room. We were the only ones staying here for this one night. A group showed up later, looked like Thai university students who took a large dorm on the other side of the grounds.

Our room, small, cozy and very hot and humid! No wifi so ignore the tablet. They do have power so I could watch pre-loaded movies or read e-books.

There are quite a few deer here, there’s a road just beyond the visitor centre that quickly becomes a dodgy dirt road so we turned back as I didn’t want to damage the car.

Rabbits near our bungalow. Coincidentally, we were here the day after Easter!

My husband trying to chat with the caretaker who didn’t speak much English! The room was really cheap, def less than $10, cash only, no credit cards!

Motel Review: Baan Pailyn, Li, Lamphum (Near Mae Ping)

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Tara

I wasn’t sure of when we would arrive in Mae Ping and the forest bungalows were all booked up so we decided to leave it to luck and find something when we got there. We were in luck! This fairly new motel isn’t listed in Trip Advisor but we spotted it when we were driving around town. Rooms were very cheap around 800 Baht-ish.

The rooms were spotless and had balconies overlooking the fields.

Be aware that the restaurant next door closes very early. We were caught out and missed dinner so had to go back to town and find something. We ended up with sandwiches from 7-11. Li rolls up the sidewalks at 6pm.

Like most places in Thailand, the Baan Pailyn has a nice spirit house in front. They have a security guard at night and our car was safe. We left really early so we were told by reception to give the key to the guard. Although it’s much better for birders to stay in the park, this small motel is a reasonable overnight if you can’t get to the park on time.

Lunch At Mr Daeng’s Bird Centre, Doi Inthanon

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Tara

Discovering Mr Daeng’s Bird Centre in Doi Inthanon was a pleasant surprise and I wish we had more time to spend here. Mr Daeng is the local bird expert and has all kinds of photos and displays around his property just south of Km 34.5. Check out his website for some amazing photos!

They serve delicious Thai food here. While you are waiting, check out the photos!

The Green Cochoa is high on every birder’s wish list but unfortunately we weren’t so lucky!

The lodging is behind the restaurant.

Mr Daeng can organize bird guiding but you do need cash. As usual, I was plastic-rich and cash-poor but next time I would be better prepared as I am sure we would have seen a lot more with Mr Daeng as a guide!

After our late lunch, we left the park and stopped for a quick look at the temple. I wanted to make a return visit to the Blossom-headed Parakeets.

Lodge Review: Touch Star Resort Near Doi Inthanon

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Tara

There are several independently run resorts just outside the Doi Inthanon NP and out of these I chose the Touch Star Resort because I found a good rate on Hotels.com. It has a great location right near the Blossom-Headed Parakeet Conservation Area and opposite the Inthanon Highland Resort.

The grounds are beautiful and very birdy but unfortunately the Blossom-headed Parakeets don’t come this far from their roost.

Taxis can be organized for those who don’t have a car. I highly recommend renting a car in Chiang Mai so you can be independent.

The bungalows are very cute and have nice views of the garden.

The furniture has a Thai flavour and the AC is welcome with the heat.

Verandah with a view.

Staff are well used to birders and will pack you a breakfast box to take with you if you leave early in the morning. Breakfast is included in the rate and you can also have it in the restaurant.

The nearest shopping is back on the main road, not walking distance so be prepared.

These cute figurines were at the Inthanon Highland Resort next door. I wish I knew where to buy them!

Touch Star is a lovely resort and very reasonable priced. The food is ok, a bit spicy for our taste even after asking them to tone it down. We had dinner there the first night but brought sandwiches from outside the 2nd night. They do have a Western breakfast option with fruit buffet.

Club Carlson – Good While It Lasted

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Tara

There are very few hotel programs useful to people who like to get off the beaten path and out into the bush where the birds are. After a major mass burning of points last year, I was down to 2 useful programs – Club Carlson and IHG. One day remains on the lucrative benefit of the Club Carlson Visa in which you could redeem one free night for one award night. Club Carlson did have a few properties that were well located for eco-tourists such as the Summit in Panama, the Radisson Blu Port Elizabeth and the now defunct Radisson in Tahiti. I also burned quite a few points to visit Tel Aviv and Nice using the free night benefit while we were in Europe attending the World Parrot Conference in Loro Parque.

I still had ample points for the radisson in San Juan where it would have made a nice base for visits to El Yunque Rainforest but that property has since left the Club Carlson chain. I managed to use the last few points I had for 2 free nights in Bogota where we can make a day trip to Chingaza NP and 2 free nights in Minneapolis to visit family next year. The last few points I have will probably get sent to an airline when I need to bump up the miles. I’ll be cancelling my Club Carlson Visa when it next comes due. If they had more properties in places where we will be traveling, I might have kept it but there are just too few Club Carlson hotels in exotic places!

So goodbye Club Carlson, it was nice knowing you for the last few years!

I still have the annual IHG free nights from the Chase card and enough points for some redemptions at airport hotels as required. IHG is larger and has hotels in more locations I can use. Otherwise, I will be booking independent hotels and earning airline miles using Pointshound and Rocketmiles from now on!

Lodge Review: L’Oasis, Arusha, Tanzania

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Tara

Everyone who is headed out for a safari in the northern Tanzania parks will be at least passing trough Arusha and most likely staying a day or two. L’Oasis is located in a quiet area on the outskirts of town and a short walk from a main road where you can get public transport.

Sadly Henry the Crested Crane was killed by a neighborhood dog last year. I had really been looking forward to seeing him as he liked to hang around the swimming pool.

The staff are very friendly and helpful. In the right, you can see a small library if you are looking for a book to pass the time. The power went out several times while we were there (the whole town, not just the lodge) so it was nice to have books! The internet is strongest near the reception but we had the nearest bungalow which also picked up the wifi signal.

They have a small souvenir stall. That painting of the Superb Starling came home with us and is now in our living room!

This is a dining room/bar/lounge area where you can just relax or order something from the menu which will be brought up to you. The hamburgers were delicious!

Here’s the pool by day and by night.

The bungalows are really cute! I loved the African decor and the towel animal!

The ensuite

Breakfast is included in most room rates and offers a good selection of eggs, fruit, bread and jam. The artwork on the wall was really nice.

A few birds hang out, probably more but we left really early so didn’t have time to see more birds at the lodge. Mostly little Weaverbirds and Bulbuls.

You can book either through their website or try Booking.com if you have a good click-through portal. Sometimes Booking.com is cheaper. You pay at check out and they do take credit cards when the power is on. If the power supply is dodgy, best to pay the night before if you need to use a credit card.

This is a fantastic little eco-lodge very convenient to town if you need to go there (we didn’t but you might). It has real African character and we really enjoyed our stay!

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