I spent about 2 months in Thailand.
My first visit was in Bangkok for 20 days. I first stayed at the Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit for 15 days, where I quickly learned that Holiday Inn hotels in Asia are not the same as in the States. This hotel in Bangkok was more like a 5-star hotel. The first difference was the 29 floors (my room was on the 26th floor). The inside of the hotel was more confirmation that this is not the same as the States. Everything was top notch and the staff were so friendly and quick to help with anything you needed.
I also stayed at the Holiday Inn Bangkok located in the Pathum Wan district. This hotel was also top-notch.
I enjoyed my stay at both locations and have been trying to determine which I like best, but I can’t decide. Each location has good restaurants, lots of shopping and plenty of places to get a foot massage ($9.00!!!)
My second visit to Bangkok was in February 2026, after I had visited several other countries in Southeast Asia. I spent 5 days at the Hilton Sukhumvit and 13 days at the Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park.
When I first arrived in Bangkok, I immediately visited with a doctor to get a Hepatitis A & B shot. I found out the day before leaving for Thailand that I needed to get a couple of vaccinations. In all of my research on Google and YouTube videos of people who visited or now living in Thailand, none mentioned vaccinations. I learned about it through one of my community group’s website. A lady mentioned she would be traveling to Thailand in the next month and wanted to know what vaccinations were needed. WHAT!!!!! I was scrambling. But after checking the CDC’s website, I decided that I only needed the Hepatitis shots. The doctor was a recommendation from a group member. And, I was relieved to find out that the doctor’s office was a 23-minute walk from the hotel. I received the shots without any problems.
I also returned to the doctor a few weeks later for the flu and Covid shots (after hearing that the U.S. was experiencing an increase in the flu virus).
As for seeing the city, I booked a couple of tours/things to do. The first was a Thai Cooking School. We first went to a street market to shop for our veggies. Our instructor showed us the process of shredding a coconut, which was one of the first items we used in class. We made coconut milk! For each meal, we would prep the food needed for the meal and then cook using the wok, Then we would eat that meal before cooking the next meal item. The first was Phad Thai, one of my favorite Thai foods.
One day I took a tour of the Ayutthaya Temples (about 1.5 hours outside of Bangkok). The town is famous for the ruins, featuring iconic temples like Wat Mahathat (famous Buddha head in tree roots – pictured below). Bangkok has over 400 Buddhist temples (wats), while Thailand as a whole has over 40,000.
And of course I rode the hop on/off sightseeing tour bus. I got a view of things in and outside of the city.
One of the things that made this trip a lot more enjoyable was the benefits of being an IHG hotel member with their highest level of Diamond Status and also Ambassador level for InterContinental hotels. In Europe, I mostly stayed at Crowne Plaza hotels and a few of Holiday Inns. My status gives me FREE breakfast, lunch and dinner!!! Breakfast in Bangkok rivals Golden Corral, except there is something for persons from every country. What they call ‘tea time’, I call lunch. Each hotel is different, but the hotels I stayed in Bangkok varied with small sandwiches, spring rolls, or chicken satay. For dinner there was usually 3 hot food items, veggies to build a good salad, sushi, cold cuts, and dessert. I’ve had Phad Thai, roasted duck with noodles, fried shrimp. The food is very good. Throughout the day, I can stop in the Club Lounge for snacks, coffee, tea or soda (alcohol is free during dinner).
I didn’t always eat in the hotel. There was a good Thai ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant across the street called Honey House that serves very good Tom Yom Goong soup… YES!!!!! They also have good Phad Thai, chicken fried rice and spring rolls. If you can’t tell, I enjoyed my eating experience in Bangkok. LOL!!
I also ate at El Gaucho and had one of the best meals I’ve had since traveling. Part of this is because Europe doesn’t use a lot of seasoning. This is a steakhouse and that steak was seasoned so well, I was dancing in my head. And then I tasted the loaded baked potato… OMG… and then broccoli (remember, I rarely had any veggies in Europe). I was singing, dancing, and clapping for joy in my head. Of course I returned a few times.
Okay, enough about my excitement for good food. Oh but I forgot to mention there’s a Cheesecake Factory in Bangkok… and yes, I ate there 3 times!!!
Other features about the city is the traffic, which is worse than any traffic nightmare you’ve encountered. I will say that it’s a chaotic mess to experience, but the drivers are calm while you’re non-verbally screaming. They have cars, taxis, scooters, motorbike taxis and buses all on the street all day long. Instead of Uber, they have Grab. And when you order a Grab you can select whether you want a car or motorbike. After witnessing how the motorbikes weave in and out between cars, I knew I would never ride one. If you have somewhere to be, you have to prepare well ahead of time. For instance, I needed a Grab taxi to go to the cooking school. You first need to include 15-20 minutes of time for the taxi to reach you, then add in the time distance to the location and add an additional 15 minutes for traffic.
There’s also the BTS Skytrain. Luckily there was a station near the hotels.
I’ll end by saying… I truly enjoyed my time in Bangkok. The time went by so quickly, and that tells me that I was enjoying the city. If you get a chance to visit Asia, please add a stop in Bangkok, you won’t be disappointed.
I spent 4 days in Chiang Mai at the InterContinental hotel in November 2025. I wanted some time to just sit and rest and this hotel was the PERFECT spot. My meals were taken care of by the hotel, the pool was relaxing and a massage sap across the street. Unfortunately, I have no pictures because I didn’t leave the hotel area.
