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 A SENSE OF PLACE THE BEST PLACES IN ASIA |
This page presents the final results of our previous Best Places in Asia survey. Click on the links below to see results and vote in the 2003 survey. PlacesCity Hotels 5 Star/Business City Hotels 3 to 5 Star Resorts Guest Houses/Other accomodation Restaurants Business/up-market Cheap Eats Hawkers, cafés, cheap eats Pubs/Bars/Meeting Places Airports Airlines From the Business Travel section of the Asian Business Strategy Ezine. Results validated and managed by Orient Pacific Century. |
| Rank | Last move | Comments & Voting | |
| 1 |  |
Luang Prabang, Laos
Responses: 6 |
Really a very unique place. Lovely and most interesting. Northern Laos is very nice | Virtually unchanged since 1940! | Visit the past...quiet, peaceful... | Run away from it all!
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| 2 |  |
Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia
Responses: 11 |
Really enjoyed attending a conference there - small, natural and relaxing | Trendy | Good chic shopping | A small but beautiful national park and dolphins, still small with beautiful country. See it before tourism wrecks it completely. | Nice informal restaurants, great for seminars and meetings. | Just fantastic. | Very beautiful and relaxing. | Enchanting and sophisticated.
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| 3 | |
Bali, Indonesia
Responses: 36 |
Beautiful. Not much Night Life. | The Island of the Gods is a too worn name, but this place really has that BIG something ! | Great value | Avoid Kuta and the rest is a dream | 10 minutes away from touristic Kuta, you are in the middle of the dream | Crowded and commercial only in a very small part, otherwise it's a magic place. | Best surfing and beaches in the world. | Great beaches. | Kuta is not Bali! There's still plenty of magic to be found - particularly up north and west. | Something for everyone to do, no matter what tastes. | Possibly the world's most charming place. Look past the tourist-infested southwest and you'll find paradise. | Kuta is a dive but the rest of Bali is magic.
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| 4 |  |
Hong Kong, SAR, China
Responses: 47 |
Beautiful city specially at night | The least boring place in the world! | Very expensive | Exciting, but gaudy, claustrophobic and overpriced. For short-term visits or for those with lots of cash only. | A beautiful harbour front, scores of islands in a mountainous setting make Hong Kong an extremely beautiful city not only in terms of natural environment but also in human achievement. From the architure of the Bank of China to the changing colours of The Centre at night, Hong Kong's modern skyline is a must-see during both day and night. | First Class city...full range of things to do & to see. An experience to be savoured!! | One of the most exciting cities on earth. Simple electrifying. | The most interesting place in the world I have ever seen. | Interesting, but overpriced. A glass of beer $4. What a joke. | Magnificent city. | Exciting, but quality of environment, and thus lifestyle, is simply awful. | A crazy place! Big contrasts: Nature to City, Culture to poverty. | The most awesome action packed city I have ever been to---outside Las Vegas.
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| 5 | |
Bhaktapur, Nepal
Responses: 5 |
Collection of old architecture and culture | Magical city : a living museum. Nice people. Go walk the remote streets | World Heritage Site but a living city. Best seen on overnight stay, when tourists depart...
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| 6 | |
Hangzhou, China
Responses: 5 |
A remarkably green and clean
city - especially for China. The West Lake is suberb - paddle across in a sampan. Good local beer. | Beach not the best...not overly crowded. | Quite nice, far more pleasant than similar places just a few miles up the road in Thailand. Relaxed pace and friendly people are more impressive than the middle-quality beaches.
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| 7 | |
Penang, Malaysia
Responses: 30 |
Reasonable cost of living | You will never forget the food here! | Excellent food here | Dangerous place to go, never walk alone after dark | Perfect place to relax. | Very average. Lost a lot of its charm with so-so and dirty beaches, and depressing 1970's architecture. They still haven't finished renovating the E&O which is the major thing they had going for them. | Find excellent food here. But like a tarnished jewel, got to
look a bit harder to see its charm.
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| 8 | |
Daylesford, Victoria, Australia
Responses: 6 |
Some funky little cafes and a peaceful atmosphere - great for some time out | A beautiful country town, with old style mineral water baths, waterfall's close and rustic, friendly locals. A magical place. | A quiet rustic and boring
country town - but the locals have done a lot to spruce up its Heritage Values. | Great food and hotel service for a third world country.
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| 9 | |
100 Islands National Park, Aliminos Pangasinan, Philippines
Responses: 7 |
People are very friendly. Enjoyed the sites and the tour
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| 10 | |
Koh Samui, Thailand
Responses: 31 |
Love it! Crowded at times but still a fantastic spot to relax & Thai people are always nice - if you are not rude to them | Very Cool | Once is all you need here | Beautiful, inexpensive, just enough to do and still relax. | No better place to visit with your lover! | Still nice, though not as quiet as it used to be | Beautiful local...becoming crowded! | A drunken hellhole of tourism gone wrong. Locals are rude, everything is overpriced, beaches are dirty. No possible reason to come here.
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| 11 | |
Fukuoka, Japan
Responses: 4 |
OK Good to do business - clean easy to live but boring | Best city in Asia | Easily the best place to live and enjoy. Knowing Japanese is advantageous.
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| 12 | |
Guizhou Province, near Kaili, China
Responses: 3 |
An absolute magical place with dramatic mountains, dreamy mists, fresh vegetables year-round and minority people in full regalia. | Beautiful place; friendly people.
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| 13 | |
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Responses: 4 |
Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef | The Great Barrier Reef and World Heritage Rainforest, what more could you want?
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| 14 | |
Hanoi, Vietnam
Responses: 3 |
Best remaining colonial capital architecture in Asia. Excellent world-class hotels with classic Asian service. Gateway to World Treasure Halong Bay and Sapa, mountain center of ethnic minorities (by special train to luxury accomodation).
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