Sawasdee Bangkok Inn

The Sawasdee Bangkok Inn is a basic (by western standards) hotel and for a while I did wonder if I was being extravagant, until I went to one of my fellow travellers hotel, my room had the most important thing in Bangkok, or any hot place, air-conditioning. I forgot to turn it on one night after a few bottles of Chang and did not feel well when I woke up a few hours later.

I can highly recommend the staff and the food here, there is a open courtyard area with a big screen TV, a bar serving fantastic food and a handful of computers.

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Hotel Roseto

Before you think I'm only going to review places I liked, think again, this is Hotel Roseto a small B&B at best down an alley off a side street near the station, honestly near the station should have told me it might not be the bet place in town, but to be fair I was on a budget and visiting Florence (when I wasn't staying in a cheep hotel) so it had a bed, roof and an window so really it wasn't all that bad.
Later that evening I found out that my room backed onto a bar of some kind and what appeared to be its car park. I would have closed the window but it was very hot, anyway the worst of it was probably the emptying of the bottle bins.
In short pay a little more, of stay further out of Pisa, there is very little to do there so two days will probably do, if you are quick you can probably get away with only one night there, two at the most.

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Jamaica Inn

This was a suggestion from a friend and well worth the visit. I will admit I have not yet read Daphne du Maurier's novel, which may or may not be of benefit to me as I stayed one of the named rooms.
Jamaica Inn's breakfast is great and the views across the moor are haunting and beautiful.

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The man in the bottom bunk

One of my crazier ideas was probably to try sleeper cars on a train. This seemed like a great idea at the time, do a load of travelling overnight and save a day to do something more interesting than looking out of a train window. The two I did last year (2008) were Prague to Budapest and Zagreb to Venice.

Firstly I'd like to pint out I am 6'2" (188 cm) tall, which has in the past caused me some uncomfortable journeys, these two were no different, the bunk was was slightly shorter than me and only slightly wider than my shoulders, thankfully I was on both occasions on the bottom bunk.

Don't get me wrong I will be doing this again, this is just a warning to everyone, the bunks are not very big (Seriously a man of my intelligence should have realised this)

If you want any more details the best, well the only two places to look are The Man In Seat 61 and Deutsche Bahn - German Rail Homepage. Seat 61 is probably the ultimate site for rail travel almost anywhere in the world and Deutshe Bahn is incredibly good for timetables, routes and prices.

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Australia and New Zealand

I don't think there are two countries more switched on to the needs of backpackers or budget travellers anywhere else in the world.
There are so many hostels in these two countries you can find anything you want. I'm a big fan of a quiet place to sleep. I like to go for a drink or several but I also like to know if I'm catching a plane, train or bus early the next morning that I have a chance of getting a little sleep, with this in mind YHA/HI hostels tend to be pretty reliable.

The YHA Australia and YHA New Zealand websites are amazing, I'm pretty sure the Australian site hasn't changed much (if at all) since 2003.

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HI - Los Angeles, Santa Monica

The HI - Los Angeles, Santa Monica has a great location near bars (try to find the 'English pub') its a huge hostel with great staff.

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HI - Waikiki

The HI - Waikiki is a gem, situated a few minutes from the Duke Kahanamoku Statue at the heart of Waikiki beach its a relaxed a friendly little place which reminds me of an American motel (probably because it once was one). It was a little scruffy when I was there. If you go don't forget to catch a film on Waikiki beach, the setting is great.

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