| The following
is designed as an instruction guide
for using differentasia.com. It will
not only inform you of frequently
asked questions by real visitors to
the site and of course their answers,
but will also inform you about all
stages, from your initial interest
and enquiry, right through to booking
and paying for the hotel/ resort.
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How do I find a place
to stay?
How do I use the search
boxes?
What are “this months
suggestions”?
What is specific
travel?
What is the select
a destination box up in the top left of
the page all about?
How do I make
a booking enquiry?
How soon will you
respond to my enquiry?
What if the hotel
that I enquired about is not available?
What is the latest
time I can expect to make a reservation?
How does the
booking process work?
At what stage do
I give my credit card details?
Will I receive
written notification of my booking?
Would it not cost
less if I contacted the hotel directly?
Are the rates
on differentasia.com per person or per
room per night?
How do I make a payment
and do you require a deposit?
What currency do I
make the payments in?
Are taxes included?
What payment cards
are accepted?
Why do I need
to enter my credit card detail twice?
How do I modify/ change
the details of my booking? (E.g. Dates,
Duration etc.)
What happens if I choose
to cancel my trip?
Are my credit card
details safe?
Who has access to my
credit card details?
What do you do
with my personal information?
Is differentasia.com
for members only?
Is there a joining
fee?
What are the benefits
of joining differentasia.com?
Is there a joining
fee?
What do I do if I
forget my user name or password?
How do I edit
my contact details?
What happens if
I don’t want to receive any more newsletters?
How do I book my transfer with the hotel/resort?
Is breakfast included?
Is vegetarian food
readily available in Asia?
Do you recommend
travel insurance? Can you arrange this?
How do I contact you?
The differentasia.com site is built to
be a fully functional interactive search
system enabling you to effortlessly navigate
your way to the ultimate holiday escape.
Just use any of the search features to
steer your way around.
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You can search for your ultimate escape
by selecting a destination from the drop
down boxes in the top left hand corner
of the screen. E.g. if you want to explore
options in the south of Thailand simply
click on “Thailand” and then click on
the box below, “the south” and you will
be presented with the locations in southern
Thailand Eg. Krabi, Koh Samui, Phuket
etc. Click on your desired destination
and a list of hotels will be presented.
Alternatively, if you know the name of
the hotel just find it in our drop down
hotel list. If you don’t know the hotel
or the location but know what type of
holiday you’re interested in simply select
an activity from the left hand column,
for example, if you wish to stay in the
ecological regions of Thailand click on
eco-escapes. Likewise, if you want to
check out our beach locations, click on
beach holidays. You will then be given
the choice of either the more popular
beach resorts or the more secluded and
lesser known locations.
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You can click on any of our ideas and
suggestions on the home page and will
be taken directly to a series of beautiful
locations, articles or hotel options recommended
by us for that month. For example, if
you click on “beautiful desert islands
with paradise boutique hideaways”, you
will be presented with our recommended
boutique resorts in locations such as
Koh Chang and Koh Lanta. If you click
on “wineries of the north-east”, you will
be presented with a variety of hotels
in the Loei and Nakhon Rachasima provinces,
back dropped by lush green rolling hills
and wineries. Alternatively, some months
we may merely suggest a range of our favorite
hotels.
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On the home page you can click on the
specific travel criteria at the side of
the page. For example, if you’re interested
in a beach holiday then click on “beach
holidays” and you will be presented with
a list of all our featured beach destinations
and the hotels and resorts located in
the more remote islands and resorts or
the more popular destinations, it’s up
to you. If you’re interested in boutique
hotels, click on boutique escapes and
you will be presented with our favorite
line up of boutique properties from all
around Indo-China.
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You can access hotels by simply browsing
through the destinations drop boxes. Select
what country you are interested in (Thailand,
Laos, Vietnam, Burma or Cambodia and then
move to the boxes below and detail your
search further still). Select an area
in the country and then town name and
you will be presented with a list of hotels
within.
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Pretty easy really. Just find the hotel
you are interested in, click on booking
and enquiry and fill in the details. Regarding
the hotel details, fill in your prospective
dates and the room category you are interested
in and a little bit of personal information.
At this stage you are only required to
fill in some very basic personal information,
for example, your name, email address
and the country you are from and the enquiry
will be processed.
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In most cases we will respond to your
enquiry within 24 hours and will endeavor
to get a reply to you within this period.
However, due to occasional national holidays
and some hotel weekend policies, some
responses will fall within a 48 hour response
period.
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You will be notified by email generally
speaking within 24 hours and be presented
with a link back to the site.
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We can only guarantee bookings made at
least 3 working days prior to arrival
(also excluding national holidays).
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After you have received our confirmation
regarding the availability of the hotel
that you are interested in and you still
want to stay there, it’s time to proceed
with the booking. On our confirmation
email you will find a link to proceed
with the booking. Just click on this link
and you will be taken to our secure online
payment system, necessary for payment
of the 30 % deposit. Submit this page
of details and you will receive an email
confirmation letter after the transaction
has been registered and verified.
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Only when making a booking do you give
your credit card details. Firstly you
will be asked to provide them for the
30 % deposit at the time of booking. Secondly
you will be required to provide them thirty
days before your arrival for payment of
the balance.
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You will receive notification in the way
of a confirmation email on receipt of
payment of the deposit. When your balance
payment is due you will receive a reminder
email approximately 5 days before the
settlement date. After this is paid you
will then receive a voucher with details
of your trip, price conditions and your
booking confirmation number. You must
print this out and present it to the hotel
on arrival. At the time of booking, the
hotel will also have received a voucher
advising them of your specific details.
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Absolutely not, we receive special rates
from the hotels and resorts themselves.
These properties are obliged to give us
rates that are lower than that of their
own published rates.
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Most rooms on this site are per room per
night. There are several hotels however
that charge per person. Check this out
in the rates and room categories section
of the hotel reviews.
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When you are happy with your choice, it’s
available and you wish to secure your
booking, you will be directed to our secure
on-line payment system (check our section
on credit card security & privacy
policy). First you will be required to
pay a deposit of 30 % of your total booking.
Payment is required in the form of credit
card. If you are unhappy about booking
online, you can either send us a fax at
this number (66)(0) 2712 6773 or phone
us on this number (66)(0) 2712 6775 and
speak to a reservations officer in person.
30 days before your arrival date at the
hotel you will be required to settle the
rest of the payment (70 %). We will send
you an email reminder 5 days prior to
when the payment is due with a link to
our secure online payment system. You
will be required to fill in your details
and submit the form, after which you will
receive our confirmation voucher with
full details of your trip.
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All payment currencies will be stated
at the time of booking but will usually
be in the currency of the country concerned.
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Yes, but it will be indicated on the hotels
review & rates page if there are any
miscellaneous charges/fees to be paid.
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All major credit cards.
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After any payment, including the payment
of the deposit the credit card details
are immediately erased from the system.
This is why you are required to fill your
credit card details both for the deposit
and for the settlement of the balance.
These details are not stored by us or
the bank after any transaction.
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If you wish to modify your booking then
you must contact us, to enquire about
the possibilities. We can not guarantee
that changes can be made so please select
your dates and duration carefully.
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Unless otherwise stated, differentasia.com’s
standard policy will be as follows; Cancellations
made after the deposit of 30 % has been
made but before the balance settlement
has been paid (30 days prior to arrival)
will result in only the deposit being
forfeited. Cancellations made after the
deposit and balance settlement have been
paid but more than 15 days prior to arrival
will result in a refund of 70 % minus
a bank and admin charge of 5 %. Cancellations
made less than 15 days prior to arrival
will result in no refund. Details of cancellation
will be sent with the confirmation of
the 30 % deposit payment. Whatever the
circumstances, the first 30 % deposit
is non-refundable.
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We use the latest in secure online payment
technology. (SSL) Secure Socket Layers
encrypts the details and ensures the privacy
of the information that you provide to
us. At no time are your card details transmitted
unencrypted over the net (check our section
on credit card security & privacy
policy)
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Only our bank has access to your credit
card details and after any payment they
are immediately erased from the system.
This is why you are required to fill your
credit card details both for the deposit
and for the settlement of the balance.
These details are not stored by us or
the bank after any transaction.
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We value your privacy and will not sell
or trade any of your personal information.
Any personal information supplied to us
to facilitate a booking will be used solely
for that purpose. With the exception of
email addresses which with your permission
will be used to keep you informed of special
offers and new services that may be of
interest to you.
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Not at all, anyone can navigate our website.
However, in order to make an enquiry,
booking or subscribe to our free newsletter
giving you the latest expos? on new products
you will need to fill in at least some
basic information which in turn will give
you member status. Your status will change
depending on what services you require
and use. For example, more personal information
is required for bookings than for newsletter
subscription. Your profile will be updated
as and when the data is gathered.
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No joining fee! Membership is absolutely
free. If you aren’t already a member click
here to fill in a short form with some
basic information. With this membership
you will receive information usually in
the form of a newsletter drawing attention
to new exciting products. At anytime you
can cancel the correspondence if you wish
to.
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Firstly as stated above, at the very least
you can receive information on new products
streamlined so that only things that interest
you arrive at your mail box. In addition
to this, once you enter in to a booking,
your trip details and payment status is
stored in your own personal account, accessible
by you at any time and updated in regard
to future purchases and personal preferences.
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Go to sign in, enter your email address
and then click on forgotten password and
we will send your password to your email
account within a few minutes.
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Access your account and click on edit
details. Edit the relevant information
and submit the changes.
If you don’t want to receive any more
newsletters from us, enter your differentasia.com
account and un-tick the relevant box.
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After you have booked your hotel through
us by placing the 30 % deposit we will
send you a transfer booking request form.
It is up to you to fill it in when you
know and send it back to us. We will contact
the hotel and arrange the transfer and
provide you with the details. You will
be billed for the transfer at the hotel.
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The majority of room nights include American
breakfast (ABF) but occasionally some
hotels don’t. It will say it in all the
hotel reviews so have a browse to find
out.
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Vegetarian food is indeed readily available
all over Thailand with an abundance of
fresh local produce enabling the creation
of an abundance of vegetarian dishes.
A major food that is also eaten all around
Thailand is Tofu which can be cooked by
a variety of methods.
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We don’t cover this aspect but we do highly
recommend it. We recommend that your insurance
covers loss of money from deposit, cancellation,
damage to self, baggage and hotel, loss
of money and health services.
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You can either email us or phone us on
(66)(0) 2712 6775 or by e-mail on mail@differentasia.com.
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