Thai J CNX-BKK + The W Bangkok
Time to say goodbye! Sat in the domestic TG lounge for about an hour and half given our flight was delayed 30 min even though the inbound arrived on time.
With the amount of gate lice and seemingly random lines forming I thought I was leaving EWR on UA.
I just hung back and off to the side knowing they would hold up the J/Elite card for boarding and would go up. A few of the men in the lounge started to form a line right by the counter slight in front but adjacent to one of the other general lines forming. An American man made a comment to two of them saying "You know we've been waiting in line too, you just can't come up and go wherever you'd like!" They didn't say anything. As the GA was starting to make an announcement and another taking down the elastic band that man and 3 others rushed the agent to maneuver in front of the newly formed J/Elite line. They were then told to go back in line and it was not time for them to board yet and waved in the J/Elite line.
The flight was a 2-3-2 config 777 and was about 75% full in J which is the most I've seen on this leg.
Slightly sweet pasta with meats I couldn't tell what they were.
My bags were the first two off the claim and I made it down quick to get into the taxi line and head to The W. Driver was friendly and talked a little about if I was on holiday and had been to Thailand before.
I had not stayed at The W Bangkok before but I had been in the area before going to Coup d'Etat night club as well as the larger Dean & Deluca in The Cube. Plus it is next to the Chong Nonsi BTS so it would be easy to do the little bit of getting around. Figured I would just round out the SPG properties.
I can't remember what I booked but I think it was the 2nd tier room in the WOW, COOL, NEATO or whatever the hell they call their rooms.
Initially I liked it, but then it started to wear on me. A bit too much flash and pizzaz made it seem a little gauche. I would have loved to been back at the St. Regis...where I've already re-booked for my 2 nights in February.
I really liked the boxing dragons blanket and they sell it in the lobby for 2900 baht. I was going to buy it but I realized it's only like a narrow half blanket to just put on the end of the bed. If it was a full size blanket I probably would have bought it.
Being lazy the first night I went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner and took a liking to the build your burger options. Pretty tasty.
My friend who lives in Bangkok was going on about how awesome the buffet is. I went down to try it the first morning. I thought it was pretty standard. Yes it was good, but nothing I would travel to there for if I wasn't staying at the hotel.
Aaaand waiting for a friend to come by I got hungry and lazy and had dinner in the hotel again. The haloumi quinoa salad was great.
The salmon with melon was wonderful.
I went for the "healthy power" breakfast the next morning instead of the buffet. Promptly delivered and hit the spot. There's also an American, Chinese and Japanese breakfast available.
The fitness center is okay, the thing I disliked was that everyone going to the pool basically walks through it.
Not having what I needed in the hotel I went to the Sathorn Square office building next door where there is a Fitness First Platinum. At first the woman told me it was 1000 baht for the first day pass but then 475 for days after. Seeing my hesitation at not wanting to pay 1000 baht she told me she could do it this one time for 300 which was fine for me. Really nice facilities.
The rest of the time was just hannnnnging ouuuuut. I went to see Star Wars at Siam Paragon. Wow...I had no idea the theaters were that intense. I really wanted to go into the Bangkok Airways Blue Ribbon theaters with the couches and what not for two...but I wasn't going to pay 2,000 baht for just me. I'll have to find a date when I come back.
There are several seating choices in the theater that start at 250 baht but I went for the 300 baht seat which is sort of in the middle prime viewing area of the screen and are slightly larger and leather seats. Very nice to have assigned seating.
Had a nice tuna bowl in the food court downstairs.
I went out to Ari in the afternoon to check out Porcupine Cafe where my friend's girlfriend works. A really cute space...felt like you were in some Where The Wild Things Are x Wind & The Willows x Keebler Elf house.
Lots of people in gov't/military uniform in the area. Not sure what sort of branch or division is situated around here. The Cafe is just drinks and sweets. So down the street and around the corner was D Noodle where I had a great bbq pork noodle bowl for 45 baht.
I had 1 tshirt and 2 pairs of print pant/shorts to buy as gifts. I decided I would head for a walk to the Patpong Market area for shopping and...entertainment.*
*Seeing them try to persuade me (sorry ladies...and lady boys, I prefer the boy boys) to come in.
After that I went to the Dean & Deluca in The Cube that sits next to Sathorn Square building (which has a smaller coffee D&D) for dinner. Had a delicious feta and carrot vinegar salad and a Waygu beef lasagne.
Finished packing and some sleep for the 4:45am wake up so I could leave at 5:15 for BKK.