Soju Diaries: Finding the Perfect Place to Stay

While Joe and I love traveling, part of the fun is planning the trip. Once we pick a location we spend hours researching before we decide where we will stay and what we will do. Our first stop is always tripadvisor. Tripadvisor is great because travelers post reviews of hotels, restaurants, and things to do, offering first hand advice that can save you a lot of time and money. We are particularly careful about where we choose to stay when we travel. Other than our trip to Fiji, every hotel we selected was a result of reviews on tripadvisor, and we have not been disappointed. What follows is a review of each of the hotels we have stayed at, what we love about them, and what they have taught us about traveling.

Worldmark Denarau Island, Fiji
Fiji was the kind of vacation I was used to before I moved to Korea: safe and luxurious with lots of sun and a big pool. After spending four months in Korea, two of which were very cold, Fiji was exactly what we needed. My Dad graciously allowed us to use his timeshare as a wedding gift, so we decided to honeymoon in Fiji. At one point Joe's family thought they might be able to join us, so we booked a two bedroom condo for 14 days. Unfortunately, plane ticket prices from the US to Fiji were ridiculously high, so that didn't end up working out. We also invited the Ostroms who we figured would be in Korea by that point, but that didn't work out either. That meant Joe and I had the spacious condo to ourselves, and it felt a little weird to spend Christmas alone in a large condo that could have easily fit four more people.

The dining/living room. We were very excited about the DVD player and spent many nights on the couch watching a movie.

The kitchen. We definitely took advantage of the stove and dishwasher.

The view from our balcony. After our first night in Fiji, Joe awoke to find some random dude passed out on our balcony. We made sure to lock the sliding glass door each night after that...

Our usual balcony activities: reading, coffee, and Fiji Gold.

The fabulous pool. This was only half of it.

The swim-up bar. They made a mean grasshopper!

We got to enjoy amazing sunsets like this every night!

While we loved every minute of our Fiji trip, we really missed our families during this trip. Maybe it was because it was during the holidays and we hadn't seen them in four months, but I think it also had to do with the type of vacation that it was. When you are spending the majority of your days laying out by the pool or the beach, it is nice to have your family with you to share in the fun. I think we almost felt guilty having such a large condo to ourselves, especially considering one room went unused the entire trip. The other thing we realized was that there was no way we could afford to stay at a hotel like this if we were paying for it on our own. In order to do the amount of traveling we wanted to do, we were going to have to get used to much more primitive accommodations...

Kazna Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia
We visited Cambodia for 5 days in February and we fell in love with SE Asia. I first became interested in Cambodia after preparing a unit on genocide for my 9th grade world history students. The appalling brutality of the Khmer Rouge left a lasting impression on me, and it has always been on my list of places to visit. While I initially wanted to visit Phnom Penh, plane tickets to Siem Reap were much more reasonable, so we instead decided to explore Cambodia's ancient temples, vowing to visit Phnom Penh another time (we are actually spending New Years 2011 in Phnom Penh).

I booked our stay at the Kazna Hotel prior to booking our plane tickets and consequently had to change our reservation two different times. Luckily, the hotel staff couldn't have been nicer every time I had to make a change. When I began my search for the perfect hotel in Siem Reap, I had no idea what to expect. I typed the location into tripadvisor, clicked hotels, and came up with 147 hotels, 113 B&B Inns, 20 specialty lodging options, and 3 vacation rentals. I remember being shocked that you could find a hotel for under $10 a night, but feeling uncomfortable making a reservation somewhere that inexpensive. I wish I could remember what it was that attracted me to the Kazna Hotel. It was ranked 37 out of 147 hotels in Siem Reap and there were definitely less expensive options ranked higher. It was distinguished as a top value, so perhaps that was what piqued my interest. After reading over 100 reviews of the hotel and checking out their website I sent them an e-mail to reserve a room and had a response confirming my dates within the hour. The best part, the room cost $28 USD per night. Can you even find hotel rooms that cheap in the US anymore?

We were picked up at the airport by the Kazna's regular thuk thuk driver (complimentary when you book with them). When we arrived at the Kazna we couldn't have been happier with our choice. The staff spoke English (not a must, but very convenient), the room/bathroom was clean and pleasant, the fridge was stocked, and the room had AC. While there were occasional problems with the electricity and we had to kill a few mosquitoes, those are things that you should expect when you travel in SE Asia. The Kazna also offered a complimentary breakfast each morning, nothing fancy, but we took full advantage of it and were appreciative of the few dollars it saved us each day.

To be honest, we could have easily found a place to stay when we arrived, and maybe we could have found a better deal. Most people who travel in SE Asia book their plane tickets and that's it, leaving the rest to chance. No matter how much we travel, I don't think I will ever be comfortable with that. By staying at the Kazna, a hotel owned and ran by local Cambodians, Joe and I were able to experience true Cambodian hospitality while positively contributing to the local economy, something that has become increasingly important to us with each new destination we visit.

Joe enjoying a beer shortly after we arrived.

Waiting in the lobby to get picked up for a quad tour of the Cambodian countryside.

Joe tried a new breakfast item each day. I stuck with the eggs and toast.

Just a small part of what made the Kazna so special.

Nanjing Hotel, Shanghai, China
When Joe and I found out we had a 5-day weekend in early May we were ecstatic. We were definitely itching to get off the Korean peninsula and experience a new place. I started checking plane tickets on Expedia, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, the usual sites, and we quickly narrowed the possibilities down to Beijing and Shanghai. The deciding factor: Expedia had an inexpensive direct flight (just over an hour long) to Shanghai, while the flight to Beijing was not only more expensive, but would have taken 15 hours. We have learned to take advantage of cheap airline tickets ASAP because the fares can change by hundreds of dollars in the span of a day. I immediately started searching for a hotel.

The Shanghai hotel search was more difficult and the hotels with good reviews came with a much higher price tag. Joe and I were definitely on a budget for this trip as we hadn't planned on taking another vacation until August. I knew that location was the most important factor in picking a hotel in Shanghai, mainly because I have heard horror stories about traveling in China and I wanted to avoid taxis and stick to public transportation if possible. Somehow I came across the Nanjing Hotel (ranked 434th out of 1,976 hotels in Shanghai) and repeatedly read how convenient its location was. Despite the reviews that complained about the shabby carpet, the noise, the hard beds, and the strange smell that inhabited a few of the rooms, we decided to book it at the same time we booked our plane tickets. We thought it was pretty amazing that we booked our plane tickets and hotel for a 5-day stay in Shanghai for under $600.

The Nanjing Hotel was another home run for us. Sure, the carpets were shabby and the beds were hard, but welcome to Asia people. Koreans sleep on the floor or on cement beds, so we are totally used to sleeping on hard surfaces now. We didn't experience any issues with noise that weren't quickly fixed with a pair of ear plugs, and the only strange smells came from my husband. The ease of the location made this hotel perfect. We either walked or took the subway everywhere and avoided taxis completely. Location, location, location- when traveling this can make or break your vacation.

Our room after our first night.

The view here wasn't quite what it was in Fiji...

The other half of the room.

The neighborhood outside our hotel.

The Busan Inn Motel, Busan, South Korea
Even after 10 months of living in Korea, we still consider it the most difficult place to travel in by quite a large margin. Traveling In Korea requires people to be more spontaneous because Koreans notoriously plan things at the last minute. It is almost impossible to reserve hotels anywhere besides major cities because Koreans rarely make reservations. Prior to our trip to Busan, most of our travel in Korea had been done through Adventure Korea, a tour company that plans trips targeted for the large expat population in South Korea. After the snow crab festival trip in February with Adventure Korea, Joe and I decided it was time to start traveling in Korea on our own. The other foreigners were a little too loud and rowdy for us, and many of them were just plain weird. When we learned that we had an upcoming Friday off for Buddha's birthday we decided to make plans with the Ostroms to check out Busan, a four hour journey south by express bus.

As I said before, making hotel reservations in South Korea is challenging, but luckily I discovered a new website (www.hostelworld.com) that allowed us to make a reservation at the Busan Inn Motel by depositing 10% via credit card. Once again the deciding factor was location. We hoped to take advantage of Busan's reputedly awesome subway system and avoid trying to use Korean with the taxi drivers. After checking tripadvisor we made the reservation. The price was right (about $24 USD per night) and the location , despite the fact that the directions were written in Konglish, seemed convenient and easy to find.

The Busan Inn Motel turned out to be a little difficult to find initially, but once we got acquainted with our surroundings, it turned out the be a great choice for our weekend getaway. In fact, we are planning on going back for the Film Festival in October. Though the rooms didn't have AC and we had to repeatedly use the bug spray to kill the mosquitoes, all we needed was a clean place to sleep. Other than that, the Busan Inn Motel was a pretty typical Korean accommodation: wet bathroom, communal toiletries, hard bed, and most importantly, no shoes.

The entrance to the Busan Inn Motel.

Joe and I posing in the colorful lobby.

As far as we are concerned, the campier the better!

The House Hostel, Sokcho, South Korea
Our most recent trip was to Sokcho, a city in the eastern part of Korea on the Sea of Japan. It is considered the gateway to Seoraksan National Park, a must for anyone who visits Korea. I also found this hotel on hostelworld.com and the reviews of the hotel and owner were some of the best I have ever read.

Once again, we were not disappointed. We arrived at The House Hostel around 9:30 pm on Friday night and the owner could not have been more friendly. He spoke great English and immediately sat us down and explained how to get to Seoraksan using the public bus. He also filled us in on what Sokcho had to offer and explained the easiest way to get to everything. We were thrilled to learn that there was a free continental breakfast. I don't know why we get so excited about free breakfasts, but it is a huge selling point for us. They also had bikes available to borrow, free of charge, so that you could bike around the town.

Even though Koreans don't like to plan in advance, the expat population and most tourists do, therefore it would be smart for more Korean hotels to advertise online. Considering how technologically advanced they are, the fact that most hotels do not take advantage of technology is shocking. I am sure it will change eventually, but Joe and I better be long gone by that point...