Luxury Hotels - Bangkok hotel advice (with transfers etc.)

Hi all,

Hotels aren't my strength, really. Points bookings - yes! :D :p ^

I will be arriving from NRT on March 30 @ 15:30.
I then fly BKK-HKG on March 31 @ 13:45.
I return to BKK from HKG on March 31 @ 23:15:
I then depart BKK-CDG on April 1 @ 12:40.

I need to find (a) hotel(s) for two nights.

I'd like to stay either at a FHR AMEX property (Sukhothai, Peninsula, Madarin Oriental, or Four Seasons) or at the Grand Hyatt.

Also, I am seriously considering staying at two different hotels for two nights.

I would prefer to travel by public transportation, but it's BKK, so.... ;) Hotel transfers can be considered, the only info I found was for the GH and the Sukhothai @ around $80 each way. How is that price?

All and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA!

Jan

Sheraton grande sukhumvit or st regis

Take a taxi. It will be around 400THB ($15) including tolls.

I've stayed at all the hotels you mention except the Grand Hyatt. They are all very nice properties and I've returned to each of them several times. My absolute favourite is The Peninsula.

Your dates fall on a weekend...the Four Seasons and Sukhothai usually have lower weekend rates. I use classictravel.com to book these hotels. They are an online Virtuoso agent. The Sukhothai offers a guaranteed upgrade at time of booking for Virtuoso bookings. On my last trip through BKK a month ago I booked a Studio room at the Sukhothai with upgrade to 76 sq m Executive Deluxe Room. Rate was 5000THB++ and Virtuoso amenites included breakfast, internet, and late check-out.

The Four Seasons in located at the Ratchadamri Skytrain station. The Peninsula and Oriental are on the river with shuttle boat service to the Saphan Taksin Skytrain station. The Sukhothai is a 10-15 walk to the Silom subway or Sala Daeng skytrain station.

I would narrow the choice down to The Four Seasons, The Peninsula, and The Oriental. The Four Seasons is the best choice if you want a central location.

I would definitely advise having your hotel provide the transfer for the higher level of service and for a better arrival experience at the hotel.

All of the above hotels can be booked through Amex FHR.

I use classictravel.com to book these hotels. They are an online Virtuoso agent.I know nothing about classtravel.com or the service they provide, but I would like to put a plug in for DavidO, who is one of the several virtuoso agents on this board. David might as well be an on-line agent. Whenever I need a Virtuoso reservation, I simply email David and he emails back, usually within minutes. Certainly there are advantages to an on-line service that provides immediate feedback about rates and availability, but I like the human interaction with David and the ability for him to intercede when need be, such as to call a hotel directly when they are showing as sold out or, on occasion, using his relationships to score an unpublished benefit. He also is a Four Seasons Preferred Partner agent, which provides Virtuoso-like benefits at Four Seasons hotels, many of which are not Virtuoso properties.

[Edited to add: when booking a property that is both AMEX FHR and Virutoso, I would go with Virtuoso over FHR, even where the published benefits are the same or similar. In my experience, a Virtuoso booking usually guarantees an upgrade (and always provides an upgrade at booking when that is one of the published benefits, as at the Sukhothai), whereas upgrades through FHR is hit or miss.]

[/end of public service announcement]

I would narrow the choice down to The Four Seasons, The Peninsula, and The Oriental. The Four Seasons is the best choice if you want a central location.

I would definitely advise having your hotel provide the transfer for the higher level of service and for a better arrival experience at the hotel.

All of the above hotels can be booked through Amex FHR.
Having stayed in both several times, I vote for the Sukhothai over the Four Seasons. (That said, I would never object to staying in that Four Seasons either, and agree that the Four Seasons is slightly better situated for those who like to walk and for access to public transportation.)

As to airport transportation, I have done both taxi and hotel transfer several times. The hotel transfer is always great, as all of the top hotels will have a greeter meet you immediately as you emerge from the customs hall and escort you to a waiting car. Then upon arrival, one always is whisked from the car to check in, often done in the room rather than at a reception desk. In my experience, $80 is about right for the price.

The advantage of the taxi, of course, is the inexpensive price, although last time I flew into BKK (in January), the line for taxis was pretty big, and the process for loading taxis pretty inefficient, resulting in a 15-20 minute wait.

AoT runs a public limo service that will be less than the hotel cars... prepay with english speaking staff and get a paper indicating your destination in thai

http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/to_from_limousine_en.php

For the marginal savings i'd still use a hotel service for assistance with bags and seemless arrival

For the marginal savings i'd still use a hotel service for assistance with bags and seemless arrivalNot sure I follow. A hotel car is about $80-$90. The airport limo service that you linked to would be about $30 (for the cheapest option). Seems like more than just a marginal savings!

Well... its not fair to compare a camry with a BMW 7. figure its 30km to Four Seasons / Grand Hyatt so you'd be looking at 1600-2200Bht in a luxury sedam. which is 55-70$. Follow better now?

Well... its not fair to compare a camry with a BMW 7. figure its 30km to Four Seasons / Grand Hyatt so you'd be looking at 1600-2200Bht in a luxury sedam. which is 55-70$. Follow better now?
Well I guess it depends on how particular one is about the kind of vehicle they ride in. I'm not.

Well I guess it depends on how particular one is about the kind of vehicle they ride in. I'm not.

There are many differences other than vehicle type. With a hotel service, one is in the care of the hotel from the moment of arrival at the airport. The arrival/ check-in process is enhanced, and in case of any delay or other mishap the hotel is responsible for service recovery. For me, these are not just minor details.

There are many differences other than vehicle type. With a hotel service, one is in the care of the hotel from the moment of arrival at the airport. The arrival/ check-in process is enhanced, and in case of any delay or other mishap the hotel is responsible for service recovery. For me, these are not just minor details.
While I agree with you to a certain extent, and I like skipping the reception desk upon arrival and being whisked up to the room for check in, in 25 years of extensive travel and lots of experience using taxis, hotel cars, third-party limos, and public transportation, I have never once had any sort of experience where I felt that I would have been better served had I been in a hotel car rather than any other mode of transportation. So I guess for me the other benefits of the hotel car are just minor details.

All of that said, the times I'm most inclined to go with the hotel car is when visiting a foreign city for the first time and don't want to deal with figuring out the lay of the land when I emerge from the customs hall after a long flight, when landing late at night, or when flying into a country with a reputation for high crime. In those and other similar situations, I wholeheartedly agree that the hotel car is the way to go.

While I agree with you to a certain extent, and I like skipping the reception desk upon arrival and being whisked up to the room for check in, in 25 years of extensive travel and lots of experience using taxis, hotel cars, third-party limos, and public transportation, I have never once had any sort of experience where I felt that I would have been better served had I been in a hotel car rather than any other mode of transportation. So I guess for me the other benefits of the hotel car are just minor details.

All of that said, the times I'm most inclined to go with the hotel car is when visiting a foreign city for the first time and don't want to deal with figuring out the lay of the land when I emerge from the customs hall after a long flight, when landing late at night, or when flying into a country with a reputation for high crime. In those and other similar situations, I wholeheartedly agree that the hotel car is the way to go.

Ideally I would use hotel car transfers in virtually every city, but in reality my decision to book the service is often based on price. In Bangkok, Hong Kong, and other cities where it is affordable, I always book this service. In Paris or New York, I am more likely to take a taxi unless it is a "special" occasion or a transfer is included in my room rate. Tokyo is virtually the only city where I use public transportation to get to the airport, as taxis and hotel car transfers to NRT are exhorbitantly priced.

I totally agree re unfamiliar cities/airports, late night arrivals, and destinations with a reputations for high crime.

In Bangkok I am looking forward to trying The Peninsula's helicopter transfer option someday:cool:

In Bangkok I am looking forward to trying The Peninsula's helicopter transfer option someday:cool:

you missed the $1K rate, might not be that much more in HK/etc now

this scheduled service is gone too > http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan/1161343-report-nrt-helicopter.html

Having stayed at both the Peninsula and the Four Seasons I´d probably recommend the Four Seasons. The rooms at the Pen are a little more luxurious and the views of the city from the balconies are nice, but for some reason I wasn´t too impressed with the service.

More importantly I´d argue the FS is in a much better location if you´re only briefly visiting BKK.

As it was my first visit to BKK and I couldn´t be too bothered dealing with BKK taxis after travelling for 20h I booked a VIP welcome + limo transfer service via www.imagelimo.com and was pretty impressed.

Was met at the jet bridge by an English speaking rep, buggy ride to express immigration, another agent took care of collecting my baggage and the limo was waiting outside when I stepped outside the airport. Payed something like 2000THB which I found reasonably, not sure I´d be bothered to pay much more than that.

On the return I just took a taxi from the hotel to the airport and paid 350THB.

There are many differences other than vehicle type. With a hotel service, one is in the care of the hotel from the moment of arrival at the airport. The arrival/ check-in process is enhanced, and in case of any delay or other mishap the hotel is responsible for service recovery. For me, these are not just minor details.

^

See if your room comes with airport transfers, etc anyway.

If not FWIW, MOBKK 's fast track service is available for nominal fee - greeted at arrival gate.. To limo.

Transfers are by BMW 7s & VW ' vans ' if it's > a party of 3

"..We would be delighted to offer a chauffeur-driven BMW 7 series for collection...from the airport at the cost for this service is Baht
2,800.00 net for one.way, or roundtrip is Baht 5,400.00 net per car maximum of 3 persons or by.Volkswagen Caravelle Van at Baht 3,500.00 per van maximum of 5 persons. "

I'd favor the Peninsula. Airport transfers sometimes are included in the room rate. The riverfront location and view are hard to beat and, in my experience, service always has been impeccable.

Booked Peninsula - thank you for your advice!

One night Pen - one night GH (for Hyatt Diamond).

Jan

We stayed at Grand Hyatt and really enjoyed it. Great views from top floors, reasonable suites and food and service was good. We were impressed by the quality of food in the club lounge.

We stayed at Grand Hyatt and really enjoyed it. Great views from top floors, reasonable suites and food and service was good. We were impressed by the quality of food in the club lounge.
I'm looking forward to comparing the two!! :)

I'm looking at booking the Peninsula, just not sure which way to go: FHR or Virtuoso.

Can anyone who has stayed at the Peninsula Bangkok confirm that the breakfast is actually the regular buffet, not just continental breakfast? I know in Asia it's generally full buffet breakfast, but the last confirmation under the FHR thread from the Peninsula Bangkok I see is from 2006.

I see the Virtuoso website specifies full "Daily buffet breakfast for up to two in-room guests, in River Cafe & Terrace or The Lobby" while FHR doesn't say anything beyond continental, as usual.

I'm looking at booking the Peninsula, just not sure which way to go: FHR or Virtuoso.

Can anyone who has stayed at the Peninsula Bangkok confirm that the breakfast is actually the regular buffet, not just continental breakfast? I know in Asia it's generally full buffet breakfast, but the last confirmation under the FHR thread from the Peninsula Bangkok I see is from 2006.

I see the Virtuoso website specifies full "Daily buffet breakfast for up to two in-room guests, in River Cafe & Terrace or The Lobby" while FHR doesn't say anything beyond continental, as usual.

Whenever I've stayed there and booked through my TA (not virtuoso) but offers seem same, the complementary breakfast has always been the full selection

I'm looking at booking the Peninsula, just not sure which way to go: FHR or Virtuoso.

Can anyone who has stayed at the Peninsula Bangkok confirm that the breakfast is actually the regular buffet, not just continental breakfast? I know in Asia it's generally full buffet breakfast, but the last confirmation under the FHR thread from the Peninsula Bangkok I see is from 2006.

I see the Virtuoso website specifies full "Daily buffet breakfast for up to two in-room guests, in River Cafe & Terrace or The Lobby" while FHR doesn't say anything beyond continental, as usual.

I think virtuoso have better benefits for Pen, since it offers 500 ESPA voucher as well. The other looks the same (upgrade, high-tea, breakfast).
"Thai Baht 500 SPA gift certificate per person on spa treatments at The Peninsula SPA by ESPA".

edit: Also, actually for FHR, if you call the agent, they'll tell you what kind of breakfast it is. It's buffett (diff property though) based on my experience.

Whenever I've stayed there and booked through my TA (not virtuoso) but offers seem same, the complementary breakfast has always been the full selection

Alright, thanks. I'll probably go with FHR and see what happens.

Hi,
How do I reach DavidO?

Hi,
How do I reach DavidO?
Do you know how to send a Private Message on Flyertalk? Address it to DavidO and he'll get back to you.