by Scott Coates

Smiling Albino (SA) thrives on creating one-of-a-kind, total quality, seamless travel experiences. We’ve never been in the business of offering the cheapest hotel rooms or airline tickets. There are plenty of websites that do that. Instead, we enjoy working with and recommending a handful of properties in respective categories that we’ve personally visited, if not stayed at, and represent great value for money.

Rather than being a bit-and-piece ‘tour company’ we excel at creating

Seamless fun that works like a symphony

flawless experiences from start to finish. In many ways what we do is like the conductor of a symphony. All instruments must be present, in agreement of the song, tempo and manner in which the composition will be executed. If one instrument is not on the same page then all is lost. When everyone plays together, it’s magical.

Hotels are an area we specialize in recommending, picking the best ones based on guests’ budget and style, and building them into an overall travel experience. We put a good deal of time into personally visiting properties we work with once-a-year and maintaining strong personal relationships with the general managers, ensuring our guests are truly treated like VIPs.

Sometimes when we make trip proposals, potential guests search the internet and simply add up the prices of hotel rooms they find online and compare that number to our proposed rate. We understand that comparing

All it takes is one bad connection and all is spoiled

online hotel rates and the rates we offer can at first be confusing. In many respects it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Smiling Albino isn’t a business that simply buys and sells hotel rooms – we provide ‘extraordinary experiences’. This includes consultation, recommendations and deep thought into how to deliver the best experience based on your interests and style. Hotels and rates we build into our trips are always no more expensive than you would find yourself online when you include all elements (often there are two sets of taxes on the final payment page of online hotel sites: ++) and initially stated rates don’t include breakfast. Also, they often advertise rooms/rates that when it comes time to booking, actually aren’t available during your desired dates. Everything we propose is done in real time, at real rates with everything included. All of our hotels (and air tickets, events, etc) pitched include everything you would need and expect: all taxes, breakfast, guaranteed room, possible upgrade, reconfirmation of your room before you check in by our office team, to ensure a seamless and total quality experience.

Essentially, the hallmark of our business is the guarantee of quality and service, 100% of the time, no exceptions. Occasionally buying direct with suppliers can be cheaper in SE Asia, however the rules of Caveat Emptor certainly apply. Often tickets purchased online have hidden restrictions or change penalties that buyers may not be aware of. We don’t take those chances when booking things for our guests. All of the tickets we purchase and rooms we book come with options to change last minute details, move times and dates, with minimum penalty, as often happens in travel. To be

All you should think about during you trip is having fun, leave the rest to us

sure, we don’t offer the cheapest programs and services, but instead offer a comprehensive package that seamlessly fits all things on an SA program together with an eye to service and hassle-free fun. As a result we take full responsibility for guaranteeing all components work together harmoniously, every time. The value of the program is achieved through the collective sum of the entire experience. It only takes one missed flight, dirty room or missing airport pickup to spoil your entire trip.

Let Smiling Albino manage your entire experience so you can arrive, relax and enjoy it all from start to finish with no unpleasant surprises. That’s the way travel should be. It’s what we’ve become experts at over the past 10 years and dedicated our lives to delivering.