Category: Hotel reviews
Posted by Aaron in Hotel reviews Friday, 9 July 2010 11:40 1 Comment
A review of the Plaza Athenee Bangkok.
A few years ago, we were staying at the Bangkok Hyatt while they were renovating the pool area, putting in the teak deck and building the i.sawan Residential Spa & Club. It was a bit of a bummer because we weren’t able to use the pool.
I had sometimes wondered what the 5 star hotels do in situations like this, when a major facility is unavailable. In this case they had made arrangements with nearby 5 star hotels to allow guests to use their pool and gym. A bus left the hotel every thirty minutes or so and delivered guests to a different nearby 5 star hotel every day. One of the days we were staying there, the hotel whose facilities were made available to us was the Plaza Athenee Bangkok.
Popularity: 26% [?]
Posted by Aaron in Hotel reviews Sunday, 4 April 2010 20:39 No Comments
This is this first installment of a series of posts where I will compare two of the premier five star hotels in Bangkok- The Four Seasons Bangkok and The Grand Hyatt Erawan.
I guess I should start this comparison of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok and the Four Seasons Bangkok with a disclaimer.
The Grand Hyatt Erawan is usually my first stop every time I arrive in Bangkok. It’s become customary for me to spend my first night there and has been for a long time. I have always wanted to try the Four Seasons, but always found a reason to stop me.
One of those reasons was the lack of a Frequent Guest program at the Four Seasons. I must admit that I am a status freak and love collecting points and status at hotels and airlines, and have racked up quite a few benefits at the Hyatt, Marriott and a number of other places.
I was also under the impression that the Four Seasons was going to be a lot more expensive, but with the current worldwide economic environment, coupled with the recent instability of Thai politics, hotels in Thailand are providing some great deals lately.
I recently had the opportunity to stay at both properties in the same week and was glad to be able to compare the two. Though I am a fan and frequent guest at The Grand Hyatt Erawan, first and foremost I am a lover of luxurious hotels, and will endeavor to compare these two magnificent properties as objectively as possible.
Location
Both hotels are located on Rajadamri Road, a couple of hundred meters apart, across the street from the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. The Grand Hyatt Erawan is close to, and indeed connected to BTS Skytrain Chitlom station on the Sukhumvit line, while the Four Seasons is closer to Rajadamri station on the Silom line. You can however, easily walk to either station from both hotels.
Exterior
What better place to start than the exterior of the hotels. Both properties were built in the early 1980’s and began life as different hotels, The Four Seasons as The Regent and the Hyatt as the Erawan Hotel.
The Four Seasons is definitely a nicer looking hotel from the outside. In front of the hotel leading up to the entrance there are beautifully maintained gardens with lots of water and tropical plants, which are subtly lit up at night, creating an elegant atmosphere, which hints at the luxury inside.
The property is low and wide, comprising only 9 stories and separated into 3 wings, a central “Kannika” building and two atrium wings on either side, Monthathip Court and Parichart Court.
The Grand Hyatt Erawan stands taller at 22 floors, and while the sweeping entrance is a little more grand than the Four Seasons (well it IS the Grand Hyatt), the exterior of the Hyatt as it rises above the 5th floor betrays it’s early 80’s vintage with it’s black glass windows, looking like a dated, anonymous office tower.
At the entrance, guests are greeted by two huge elephant sculptures and a flurry of activity from the attentive staff, many of whom are clad in traditional clothing reminiscent of a bygone Siamese era.
Lobby
Popularity: 31% [?]
Posted by The Snobby Reviewer in Hotel reviews Tuesday, 19 January 2010 23:41 No Comments
Z Through by the Zign is a new boutique hotel in soi 12 off Naklua Road in Northern Pattaya. As the name somewhat clumsily points out, it is an offshoot of the nearby Zign Hotel, a huge twin tower complex overlooking it’s own private beach, which mostly caters to Russian and Korean tour operators. The same family owned group is responsible for the new TSixty5 hotel in the same street, closer to Naklua Road.
- 2 of the 4 pools at Z Through by The Zign Hotel Pattaya
The concept of this hotel is lofty and one can really see how the designers and owners have put a lot of effort into this property. The problem lies in the gap between the concept and the execution, which is sometimes clumsy, but I will get to that later, in the review below.
The Z Through comprises 40 two-story villas, all perched around four large pools that make up the grounds of the hotel property. The 40 villas on the ground floor have direct access to the pools from a terrace that opens up from the room. The villas on the second floor also have terraces, which are twice the size of the lower ones and offer great views of the pools and the resort itself. Both upper and lower suites (I’m using suits and villas interchangeably here) have two sun lounges and a small table.
The huge pools are the centerpiece of the hotel and cover pretty much all the ground once you go through the lobby and enter the area where the villas are located. There are two shallow pools connected to the two front pools, which would be suitable for children and also a swim-up bar.
Video of the pools at Z Through by The Zign
The rooms are decorated in four distinct styles and are have been based on the four concepts of L.O.V.E which stand for Light, Ozone, Viva and Emotion. Each room is quite large and has a sleeping area, a living area with a sofa and coffee tables and a large bathroom with separate bath and rain shower and flat screen TV above the very large bathtub.
There is a lot to like and some minor annoyances at the Z Through by The Zign, which I will now detail in a review of our stay.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Posted by Aaron in Hotel reviews Thursday, 13 August 2009 13:56 1 Comment
The 4 star Amanta Ratchada Serviced Apartments offer a good alternative to guests staying in Bangkok – combining the space and convenience of serviced apartments with the facilities usually found in a hotel.
Pool at the Amanta Ratchada Serviced Apartments Bangkok
Just 5 minutes walk from the closest MRT Subway station and within walking distance of nightlife, entertainment, shopping and supermarkets, the Amanta Ratchada Serviced Apartments is well situated in a central Bangkok location.
There 116 rooms including one and two bedroom suites that are fully furnished with a well stocked kitchenette, washer/dryer, balcony, LCD TV, DVD and CD player, and a bathroom with separate bathtub and shower. Rooms are modern and comfortably furnished in contemporary décor, with wooden floors. Complimentary breakfast is served in the Amanta Ratchada Serviced Apartments restaurant, and high-speed wireless internet is complimentary too.
Bedroom of the one bedroom apartment at Amanta Ratchada Serviced Apartments
The outdoor swimming pool is attractive and spacious, plus there is a fitness center, steam room, business center, guest parking, children’s playground and more here too.
Review
We stayed here last month and found the rooms quite pleasant. I liked the hardwood floors and the bathroom with the windows into the bedroom, with horizontal wooden blinds. However if I lived here (about 60% of the apartments are occupied by long term residents) I don’t know how long it would be before I got sick of reaching over the bathtub to open and close the blinds every time I wanted to go to the toilet. I’d probably just leave them closed the whole time.
The wireless internet connection was good, working strong and fast in the rooms as well as outside by the pool, where breakfast is served. The apartments had 2 TVs, one in the living room and another in the bedroom. You could probably adjust the TV in the bedroom so that you could watch it while you were taking a bath, but I didn’t try it.
Speaking of the bathroom, one thing that I really liked was a large rubber head/neck rest attached (by suction cups) to the bath so that you can really lay back and relax. It would probably also be appreciated if you wanted to take a bath and not get your hair wet.
View of the pool from the bedroom of a one bedroom apartment at the Amanta Ratchada Serviced Apartments
The pool is long and wide, but not very deep, (1.2 meters) and there was also a shallow children’s pool at one end. As this is a serviced apartment and not a resort there is no pampering going on poolside. There are a few, but not many poolside lounges and if you want a pool towel you have to either bring your own or go to the gym and sign one out. The towels were a little on the small side and a bit raggedy, but not unusable. The poolside chaise lounges were also a little weather worn.
There is a fitness center overlooking the pool with a friendly attendant who approached me at the pool and asked if I wanted to use the steam room. I didn’t really want to but found it hard to say no as he was obviously trying very hard to be nice. The steam room was nice enough (as steam rooms go I suppose) and there are a couple of showers and nice new locker area.
The Amanta Ratchada is on Ratchapisek Road and easily accessible by MRT subway. In fact the Thailand Cultural Centre subway station is only a 3 minute walk away, and in turn, only 3 stations from Asok where the subway and Skytrain stations meet.
Coming back to the hotel at night by taxi was a bit of a problem for us as the address written on the back of the room key-card is kind of weird and inaccurate. The Amanta is on Soi 5 on Ratchadapisek Road but there is no mention of the Soi number on the card, only the lot number, 77-88. Without Soi 5 written on the card, it looks like the address is 77, Soi 88 Ratchdapisek, but taxi drivers will refuse to take you because there is no Soi 88. You are best to get an address card from the front desk before venturing out and not use the room key card as reference.
Nearby the apartments there are a number of malls and supermarkets and movie theatres within walking distance. Hollywood nightlife complex is also just up the road a little as is RCA, a popular night spot for young Thais. The areas is not a tourist spot so once when we were looking for help with directions we had trouble getting any help as nobody spoke any English in the area near the hotel, a big contrast from more touristy places.
Overall the rooms were pleasantly furnished, large, modern and clean. The area was a little bit further from the usual places travelers stay in but public transportation was very close by. Also, the price was fantastic, we paid USD80 for a night which I think was great value.
More info and pictures of Amanda Ratchada Serviced Apartments.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Posted by Aaron in Hotel reviews Friday, 3 July 2009 12:13 No Comments
On “the other side” of the Chao Phraya River, a short boat ride away you will find the Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa. While it is only 10 or 15 minutes from the heart of Bangkok, it feels like it is a world away with a true resort feeling.
The resort operates 2 complimentary shuttle boats between the Saphan Taksin Skytrain station and the Bangkok Marriott Resort. These leave every 20 minutes and the ride takes between ten and fifteen minutes. Look for the Marriott logo or the Benihana logo on top of the boat. There is no need to prove that you are staying at the hotel to make use of the complimentary boat, which also makes it a good choice if you are just going to eat at one of the ten dining establishments at the resort.
While the free ferry boat service is fun and convenient, I would recommend taking a taxi the first time you go with your luggage, as taxis are still very cheap in Thailand.
The hotel is designed with traditional Thai architecture in mind and makes use of a lot of wood and wood paneling. The Marriott touch is everywhere and the service is excellent.
The pool is large and surrounded by palm trees and other tropical plants providing lots of natural shade and a real cool resort vibe. It’s very easy to forget that you could be shopping in the heart of Bangkok in 15 minutes from where you are.
While the pool is quite large and there are lots of sun lounges around, unfortunately a lot of guests from a certain region in the world think it is ok to get up at dawn, throw a couple of towels and a book on a few sundecks and this “reserves” the area for their use until they stroll back down at lunchtime or some other time throughout the day. If you are unable to find a place to sit by the pool but see that there are a large number of unattended sun lounges being “held” for future use, just ask one of the pool attendants and they will sort you out. If you get yelled at by an angry European later just refer them to the staff.
Happy Honeymoon from the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa
This being a Marriott the rooms are comfortable and well equipped. In each room there are fresh tropical fruits and flowers which are refreshed throughout the stay. The staff go out of their way to make your stay enjoyable, and in fact, when they found out that we were there on our honeymoon, we came back to our room one afternoon to discover a cake decorated with our names and wishing us a happy honeymoon!
There are ten restaurants and bars at the Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa including a Benihanas and a number of outdoor establishments situated by the river. 
You can sit and have cocktails in the cooling breeze or a full meal at riverside or even on the pier if you like, while listening to traditional Thai music being softly played live right there in the garden. It is actually one of the most romantic settings for dinner that I have experienced in Bangkok. From time to time you may even see some traditional Thai dancers perform nearby.
Overall we had a fantastic time at the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa. The rooms and facilities were beautiful and the location was great, far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok to be really relaxing, but still very close if you want to nick into town for some shopping or nightlife.
Read more about >> the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa.
Popularity: 1% [?]
I am a lover of Thailand and luxury hotels. I stay in as many hotels as possible and blog about them all.
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