Yes I certainly am

Granted, added to the list!

First class pic's there BM...
a good report

Tarr Velly much Stevo, it was a good little trip-out of town.

We spent a weekend in Loei, the missus filled the pick-up with bags of Tamarind. She reckons the Tamarind from Loei is the best quality in Thailand.
Deflated at the duel price for entrance to the National Park, 400baht for farangs.
Outstanding views driving up the mountain road, lots of resorts, and for the gardeners there are people selling bedding plants on the roadside.
Thanks BM for the photo's and trip report.

Does anyone know what happened about the new Tesco Lotus in Loie. I gather it was ready to open, but didn't??

I just wanted to post an update on BeerMonkeys excellant trip report from Loei. I have been there the last week due to a hospital stay for the mother in law. My wife and I stayed at the Sun Palace as mentioned in the report and it was still spot on. The price reductions seem permanent and are now posted in the lobby. VIP 1000b reduced to 500b, 1st floor 350b, 2&3 floor 350b reduced to 300b. Was busy Sunday night but otherwise was fairly quiet. We stayed in one of the VIP rooms but may try one of the 300b rooms when we go back in the morning. The resturant opens at 5PM and closes at 1AM but did not try it. The massage place opens at 10AM but did not see a closing time and I did not try it either.
We pulled in and checked at the Loei Palace first, as I tought I might have remembered the name wrong, and it is still 3000baht and have 5000 and 7000b rooms available. They claimed it was a 5 star Hotel but as mentioned by BeerMonkey the parking lot had zero cars in it. Not sure who their intended customers are and not sure about the 5 star status.

Keg

Keg,If you try a 300 baht room in the Sun palace let us know what you thought as i will stay there again and may use that room myself if its favourable.
And did you notice whats in place of the Tesco that did'nt open just round the corner of the Hotel. ?

I got back up to Loei and believe it or not the Sun Palace was all booked up except one of the VIP rooms. I did not believe it at first as the parking lot was deserted but when I checked out the next morning the lobby was full of a kids school group. I stayed in both VIP #1 and #2 and 2 seemed a little bit less worn but you had to walk up the stairs that were pretty steep. As the wife is 7 months pregnant, that did not go over the best.

The Tesco building is still just sitting there closed and empty with no change that I could see. KFC seemed to be the only business operating since it was built in a separate building in the front of the parking lot. You could not turn into the Tesco parking lot except for a small blocked off section in front of KFC for 8 or 10 cars.

Keg

I just checked the website for the Loei Palace Hotel, which is part of the Amari Hotel chain, http://www.amari.com/loeipalace/
They offer a special "last minute rate" of $40USD ( around 1300 baht), breakfast not included, $52 w/ breakfast.
I also checked the rates for a week in advance, the price only went up $1.
We chose this hotel mainly because it was the only place in Loei with a swimming pool, unless someone else knows of a hotel or bungalows with a swimming pool?

That sounds a bit more realistic on the price, maybe hey got fed up of looking out onto an empty carpark, when back up that way will check it out again, its a nice peaceful place from what i saw.

Is the breakfast worth having for the extra baht ??

It says this offer is from 14th February 2008 to 31st October 2009 ! (I'd think maybe that should read 31st October 2008 ? ).
For 20 quid or so a night it looks a great deal.....looks a very nice place looking at the pictures.......good for a weekend break.
I've stayed at a few Amari Hotels in the past & they have always been of an excellent standard.

Zidane

This place looks fantastic, out of town but well worth a stop over if out that way, check out the map for directions, not the cheapest rates but has a few extras inc in the price per night.

http://www.phuphanamresort.com/

beer monkey wrote:This place looks fantastic, out of town but well worth a stop over if out that way, check out the map for directions, not the cheapest rates but has a few extras inc in the price per night.

http://www.phuphanamresort.com/

Yes, beautiful resort!
I don't know how you find all these places/things, BM? I guess you got more patience than me.

Forgot to add to my post. I was having difficulty booking a room at the Amari using the Amari website. So I called the hotel and they said they could only offer the standard rate by telephone. I then telephoned the Bangkok Corporate headquarters and spoke with Miss Jairak Wantavee, Group Reservations Manager, 02-255-3960, jairakw@amari.com.
I explained my problem and she was happy to give us the "last minute rate", via telephone. She sent me a confirmation e-mail within a hour.
Total cost per night, including taxes & service charge: 1460 baht.

Just returned from a weekend at the Amari Loei Palace. Good hotel, friendly & attentive staff. I thought the standard room was good. It didn't have a balcony, but the sliding doors opened onto a large communal deck with great views of the mountains and sunrise/sunset/pool. It was like our own private veranda, since no one else used it. There weren't that many people staying there. They do have underground parking which might partially explain why the carpark in front is always empty.
The hotel restaurant was good. What surprised me was that the farang food was congruent in price to what we are used to in Udon at our farang eateries?
I had a burger, topped with bacon, cheese and a fried egg served on a good bun, included fries (chips), 140 baht. Whereas the Thai food was about double what we would expect to pay a nice Thai restaurant here in Udon, ie: Meh Yah.

beer monkey wrote:Is the breakfast worth having for the extra baht ??

The breakfast buffet, consisted of fresh baked rolls, croissants & breads, variety of juice's, cold cereal, khao tom, fried rice, and a cook to order egg and omelet station, plus Thai ham & little sausage's (maybe when there is more people, they put better meat out?). I guess if you're hungry between the hours of 06:00-10:00, one could get their money's worth. I really don't start getting a appetite until after 11am.

One of the hotel staff recommended a great Thai/Issan/Lao restaurant.
Baan Yai (grandmother's house). Excellent! 042-833-361, 086-862-9900, or 085-006-6606. It's right across the street from Loei's city shrine, probably best to call for directions. It seems to be a stop for many visiting Thai celebrities, as per the photo gallery on the wall.
A good three days.

Thanks for that report back on the food.