Santhiya Resorts - Thailand

National Marine Park – Koh Hong Archipelago

May 21, 2016 by 0 Comments

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If you have every considered visiting Thailand one of the country’s prominate attractions are its’ amazing vertical islands, called karsts, that dot the seas all around the coast of county.  There are literally hundreds of them, and one of the most famous is called “James Bond Island”. It was featured in the movies “The Man with the Golden Gun” and “Tomorrow Never Dies”.  The islands are made from the limestone that has been left behind after the softer rock eroded away over the eons. They’re magnificent structures, and as far as Susan was concerned they were the reason for our visit to Thailand.

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Santhiya Resorts - Thailand

Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort

May 20, 2016 by 2 Comments

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The Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort covers a large area on the island and the resort grounds are massive. The property sits on one side of a peninsula that extends into the sea. Coming in on the boat a long dock extends out to greet the arriving guests. To the left there is large hill formation were the villas and hotel towers reside. On the right is the master resort complex and a beautiful white sand beach.

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Santhiya Resorts - Thailand

Santhiya Koh Yao Yai – Ocean View Pool Villa Suite

May 19, 2016 by 0 Comments

Pool View

We pulled up to our Villa 1216. The villa is a standalone structure that sits on a hill side. The entrance to the property is a small wooden structure that is a door with a small roof and support sides.  It can be locked and it has a sweet little sign that can indicate privacy or the request for room cleaning.

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Phuket - Santhiya Resorts - Thailand

Boat Transfer And Check In For The Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa

May 18, 2016 by 0 Comments

 

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After checking out of the Anantara Layan we had arranged for car service to the Ao Po Grand Marina Pier. The pier is on the north east side of Phuket Island and our car ride took about 30 minutes from the Anantara. At the pier we arranged to have our luggage transferred to the Santhiya group and waited in a small marina sandwich shop for 20 minutes, after which they called our group for boarding. Everyone walked down the dock and loaded onto the resort speed boat.

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Anantara - Phuket - Thailand

Anantara Layan Phuket Resort – Deluxe Seaview Suite

May 17, 2016 by 0 Comments

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As mentioned in the Introduction, our main stay in Thailand was going to be at the Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort in the Koh Yao Island region of Thailand. In order to get to the Santhiya Koh Yao Yai you need to take a speed boat from Phuket to Koh Yao Island. Because of our later flight, we would arrive after the last boat transfer for that day.  So, we needed to get a room for our one night in Phuket.

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Dragonair - Hong Kong - Phuket - Thailand

Dragonair International Business Class – Hong Kong To Phuket

May 14, 2016 by 0 Comments

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As we came up from the escalator from the lounge a good sized crowd was starting to collect around the gate. The gate agents were not sharing much information and after waiting about 15 minutes they called business class to board. We made way down a crisscrossed connecting hallway into the jetway and through the first door of the plane.

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Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong - The Pier

The Pier, Hong Kong International Airport

May 13, 2016 by 0 Comments

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On exiting the Aircraft, we entered the arrivals area in the Hong Kong Airport. It’s a long corridor that ends with exits to immigration (arrivals) or the transfer center. At that point you do another security check and they verify your onward travel so that you may enter the main terminal. We walked down the airport’s main connecting terminal in the 30 gates. At the end of that hall you veer right and proceed down to gate 63 and then an escalator down to The Pier lounge. At the bottom of the escalator you turn right and then left and walk into the check in area. We handed the associate our lounge passes and were checked in.

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Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong - Sacramento

Cathay Pacific International First Class – San Francisco To Hong Kong

May 10, 2016 by 0 Comments

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After walking through the terminal you head down an escalator to the main gate boarding area. Once we arrived downstairs the first class cabin was boarding. It was a little strange as you board. There is a line of people on both sides of the pathway to the first class gate entrance. It looks and feels like you’re on display as you walk your way to the counter of the check-in gate agent. Once you’re through the entrance it is a short corridor to the jetway, and then through the jetway to the first door of the plane.

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Cathay Pacific - San Francisco

Cathay Pacific Lounge – San Francisco

May 9, 2016 by 0 Comments

SFO 001 rSan Francisco Airport

Our journey started with a one-way Avis car rental to the San Francisco airport. After returning the car we took the AirTrain over to the international terminal and to the Cathay Pacific section for first class check in. It was a couple hours before our flight in order to have time to experience the lounge. The polite female ticket agent asked for our passports and worked at checking us in. She looked up and asked, “I don’t see your return flight?”

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Introduction – Planning For Thailand

May 8, 2016 by 0 Comments

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Susan and I we had just over 750,000 AA miles we could use. Since we would not be able to take our originally planned Maldives trip we decided to use as many AA miles on vacations during the next year and try to harvest as much value as we could.

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