ARE ACCOMMODATION PRICES IN GUIDE BOOKS REALISTIC

[PICO-PICO]

Perhaps I should rephrase =
To those of you who use guide books, Lonely Planet or other, is your experience too that the quoted room rates are dreams seldom come true ?
On my trip so far from Phuket to Kanchanburi I was asked to pay
more than doubble. eg. staying now at the Little Creek outside Kanchanaburi, Lonely Planet 300b , true cost 800b.
Rangong , not used but quoted per night = 1400, asked 1800
outside , far, Hua Hin, L.P. quote This hotel is a steal at 800bm paid 1600b
If others have had like experiences, what does that mean? 100 or whatever % inflation on accomodation cost?

 

[Pikey]

Lonely Planet is a bit of an oxymoron(?)- talk about nice, secret backwater places and publish it to everyone! What does that do? Invites everyone to said places and let's the listed proprietors charge what they want because they "have been recommended by Lonely Planet". What a load of wank..... (with the exception of Jonadda in CNX of course!)

Cheers,

Pikey.

 

[dirthonk]

pikey youve just had a new dictionary programme installed on your computer havent you??... with words like " oxymoron " and " plagiarise ", great vocabualary mate and an example to all riders...
BTW am in bangkok at the mo, back on wednesday so up for rides after that..
suzukiluke

 

[PICO-PICO]

of course you are more than right, Pikey, had to laugh about this myself.+ wanting to get secret info on the net, kind of stupid.
Let's get back to the question=
backpacker place or 4 star Hotel, I want to have a bed for the night.
How to make even a pre-selection with prices soooooooooo out of line with reference books?
I am the only one with such experiences??

 

[Pikey]

Pico,

Yep, can sympathize and the need for a bed after a day in the saddle is the over-riding factor. Reckon that with a bit of heavy use of this board's search engine, you should be able to come up with some decent hostels from north of BKK but as you are travelling from Phuket (I think?), info from "down south" may be a little bit light and therefore you may need to rely on L.P or Rough Guide e.t.c to (as Colin says), at least point you in the right direction.

Cheers,

Pikey.

 

[jonadda]

The facts about lonely planet etc is, that by the time they have reviewed the places, then submitted thier reviews and the time it takes to get published, a whole year has slipped on by. Any one taking the prices listed as gospel must be a little foolish to think that lonely planet fixes the market in this ever changing world.
As a "GUIDE" its a great tool for travellers and I must admitt we have benefitted greatly from being in it, but you still get the dopey tosses argueing with you about the 50 baht difference we charge from whats listed in thier guide book, then go out and spend a fortune on a bar girl.