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The Selfish Years

~ Over 200 cities, 42 countries, 6 continents and counting.

The Selfish Years

Tag Archives: Accommodations

You Can Swim with Whale Sharks in the Maldives!

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

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Accommodations, Conrad Rangali, Lucky, Maldives, Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, The Maldives, Whale Sharks

This is the fourth of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

  • Getting to the Conrad Rangali
  • 3 Nights of Paradise at the Conrad Rangali
  • Relaxing in Paradise: Activities at the Conrad Rangali
  • You Can Swim with Whale Sharks in the Maldives!
  • Trying to Eat Cheaply at the Conrad Rangali
  • Our Brief Time in Malé, Maldives

Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean, and the largest recorded one was over 41 feet long and over 47,000 lbs. However, whale sharks do not pose a threat to humans since they are filter feeding fish, which means that they primarily eat plankton. I’ve recently become a little obsessed with whale sharks.

Whale Shark

The reason that I’ve become quite fascinated with them is that the scientists in the world know very little about them. All knowledge about whale shark reproduction is based on one female whale shark that was captured in 1996. National Geographic even has a million dollar reward for anyone that can take a photograph of a whale shark giving birth.

So when I learned that the Maldives was one of the few places in the world that you could spot whale sharks year-round, I was pretty stoked. In fact, the Conrad Rangali supports the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP), which is a nonprofit based in the Maldives that focuses on whale shark research and conservation.

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Saving money by renting apartments

07 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Travel Hacking

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, AirBnB, Chiang Mai, Paris, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Shanghai, Travel Hacking

While staying at luxury hotels can be quite exciting, nothing beats the feeling of coming home.  Before we started our selfish year of travels, Mrs. Selfish and took tons of weekend trips, culminating in our once-a-year international trip over the Thanksgiving holiday.

While getting out of the States and traveling to new countries was exhilarating, it was also exhausting. If you’re from the States, vacationing is about three things: maximizing, maximizing, maximizing.

By the end of each international trip, we were more tired then when we had started.  Coming home in itself was a treat – a chance to catch up on sleep and get back into the ol’ routine.

Traveling for a year straight is the same deal, except now there is no home to come home to.  It’s exciting, but also tiring – not to mention expensive.  Fortunately, that’s where apartment rentals come in.

Our loft in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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Honeymooning in Phuket

01 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hilton, Thailand, Travel Hacking

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, Double Tree, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

After escaping the tetanus-ridden raft houses of Khao Sok national park, Mrs. Selfish and I were ready to high-tail it out of there!  Unfortunately, this meant spending the night in Phuket, one of Thailand’s seediest cities!

After leaving the decidedly-beautiful-but-extremely-rustic Khao Sok national park, we were transported back to the Bamboo Orchid Tree House to pickup our suitcases. Unfortunately, midway through the hour long drive it decided to rain, and we were in a semi-open air pickup truck.  We arrive at the Tree House, slightly soaked, grabbed our bag, and hopped in a car to Phuket!  Two hours later we arrived in civilization at the Double Tree Resort Phuket, on Surin Beach.

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They have baby elephants in Khao Lak!

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Thailand, Travel Hacking

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

When planning the Thailand portion of our trip, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to spend a week on the west coast of Thailand.  We knew we wanted to dive Richelieu Rock, and visit Thailand’s Halong Bay, the man made Khao Sak lake, but getting there was a problem.  The closest airport to both natural wonders is in Phuket, which is known as one of the seediest places in Thailand – even the natives warned us against going there.

Fortunately, Khao Lak was only a one hour drive north.  While searching for accommodations, I found Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort with one important benefit: a baby elephant.

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Mr. Selfish Let Me Book Our Accommodations in Khao Sok

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Thailand

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, Asia, Khao Sok, Khao Sok Treehouse Resort, Khaosok, Selfish Years, Thailand, Treehouse Resort

Mr. Selfish and I had a week allocated for the western part of Thailand. We landed in Phuket but knew that we had to get out of there as soon as possible. We stopped in Khao Lak for a couple of days in order to scuba dive at Richelieu Rock and then we headed to Khao Sok to spend a couple of nights in a tree house and one night in a raft house. Khao Sok is a national park encompassing 738.74 square kilometers. It is pretty rustic and not yet overrun with tourists, which means that there are no chain hotels in Khao Sok.

Mr. Selfish has been expertly collecting airline and hotel miles and points since September 2011, which has enabled us to stay at some really nice hotels during our selfish year. Because we could not use any points for Khao Sok, I was left in charge of planning the accommodations.

For our tree house, I booked the Bamboo Orchid Tree House at Khao Sok Tree House. It had air conditioning and an outdoor rustic bathroom, and cost 4,000 baht ($136 USD) per night.

Khao Sok 01Khao Sok 02BathroomKhao Sok 05Khao Sok 06

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Staying at a Riad in Morocco

12 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Africa, Morocco

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Accommodations, Africa, Marrakech, Morocco, Riad

At the taxi queue at the Marrakech airport, Mr. Selfish and I attempted to negotiate the fare into town to no avail. None of the cabbies would bargain with us, and all gave us the same price. We had to relent and pay the fare that the cabbie wanted.

When the cabbie dropped us off in the medina, he merely pointed in the general direction of our riad and told us to get out of the car since he couldn’t drive down the alleyway. We had no choice but to start walking in the direction that the cabbie pointed. An eight year-old child immediately started following us around and telling us that we were going in the wrong direction. He kept saying, “Zig zag. Wrong way.” The data plan on our phone didn’t work so we couldn’t map out our riad. We were hauling around our luggage, and the sun was starting to set. We eventually broke down and paid the kid to take us to our riad.

Marrakech 081Marrakech 083Marrakech 082

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6 Hotels in 7 Nights! – Part 2

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Europe, Ireland, United Kingdom

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Accommodations, Ireland

This is a continuation of our post from yesterday concerning our review of the hotels in Ireland.  Today, we conclude our hotel review with the 3 hotels in Cork, Waterford, and Dublin.

Ireland Trip Report

  1. Ireland Overview
  2. Driving in Ireland
  3. Castles, Castles, and more Castles
  4. Kylemore and Connemara
  5. The Cliffs of Insanity!
  6. The Loop Around the Dingle Peninsula
  7. Searching for the Best Guinness in Dublin
  8. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 1
  9. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 2
  10. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 1
  11. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 2

4.  Hayfield Manor in Cork – In Lonely Planet, the review of this hotel stated, “Roll out the red carpet because you’ve arrived!”  Needless to say, I had high expectations for this hotel that were dashed by incompetent staff.

The Hayfield Manor was the splurge hotel of our trip.  Mr. Selfish and I had always wanted to stay in a “manor” and had high expectations – expectations that matched the price, at $207 (and no breakfast, to boot).

This was apparently the lower-end for rooms at the Hayfield Manor, but the girl at the front desk made a mistake and showed us the wrong room.  We were showed a beautiful room with a very large bathroom.  Instead, our room was a much smaller room that was only just adequate compared to that other room.  While in the larger room, I noted that it had conditioner and that our room only had shampoo!

On the plus side, we did have wifi in our room.

I blame Lonely Planet and the incompetent front desk girl.  My conclusion is that Hayfield was overpriced for the room, which did not include breakfast, and was far from city center.  Plus, even though Cork is the second largest city in Ireland, there wasn’t really much to do there.  I would not recommend Hayfield or Cork as stops in Ireland.

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6 Hotels in 7 Nights! – Part 1

28 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Europe, Ireland, United Kingdom

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Accommodations, Ireland

Mr. Selfish and I once again decided to cram everything we possibly could into our Ireland trip.  We therefore stayed in 6 hotels over the span of 7 nights. This post is part 1 of our hotel review, which includes the 3 hotels in Trim, Galway, and Dingle.

Ireland Trip Report

  1. Ireland Overview
  2. Driving in Ireland
  3. Castles, Castles, and more Castles
  4. Kylemore and Connemara
  5. The Cliffs of Insanity!
  6. The Loop Around the Dingle Peninsula
  7. Searching for the Best Guinness in Dublin
  8. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 1
  9. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 2
  10. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 1
  11. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 2

1.  Castle Arch Hotel in Trim – We stayed in a simple but clean room that cost $87.19.  This rate included breakfast, of which I neglected to take photos since I was so jetlagged.  Suffice to say, it was the first time I had the black and white pudding, and they were delicious!

This hotel was definitely price-efficient, and its location in Trim was perfect since it was only about 45 minutes outside of Dublin.  However, the room did not include wifi, so we had to sit in the lobby and use the wifi in order to plan the next day.

We probably wouldn’t go back to Trim since there isn’t much to see except for the castle, but I would recommend it to those touring the southern half of Ireland by car and wanting a quick overnight stop.

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Who’s Selfish?

Mr. and Mrs. Selfish are an obsessively organized couple who sold all their junk to travel abroad for a year. Now settled in San Francisco, they have since visited over 200 cities in 44 countries over 6 continents. This site chronicles their travels.

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