Luxury Hotels - Siam hotel bangkok booking...weird

just tried booking a stay at the Siam hotel in Bangkok through my Virtuoso agent:

- it took the hotel 5 full days to get back to us
- they did not answer the question about or otherwise provide information about cancellation policies
- they did not include information about Virtuoso amenities
- worst of all, they send me one of those multi page credit card authorisation forms that are common in cheaper SE Asian hotel and that they require me to fax to them (haven't owned a fax in a decade!). Surely they should just rely on their Virtuoso agents to provide them with cc details and that's the end of it?

Not a great start - but I'll cut them some slack as they're not actually open yet.

I see this is Kamala Sukosol's new property...I know the family and they're very well intentioned, but this is their first luxury property (they own the Siam City in BKK and the Bayview & Bayshore in Pattaya) and there are bound to be some rough edges due to lack of experience.

Good intentions don't cut it when you're charging close to double what the Peninsula charges...Anyway, it's just the booking stage so we'll see.

BTW, this is www.thesiamhotel.com

Finally the hotel move to soft opening stage now, apparently "Pool Villa" is the only room type available at The Siam, so whatever suite or villa on your booking, they will simply upgrade to Pool Villa. They are aiming for the grand opening by September.

apparently "Pool Villa" is the only room type available at The Siam, so whatever suite or villa on your booking, they will simply upgrade to Pool Villa. They are aiming for the grand opening by September.

if true, thats $260, must be one of best deals ever
if i lived near BKK id move in :D

50% soft opening rates valid from June 11th – August 31st 2012

some PR say opened jun 12

im still more curious about connie's cottage, how much bigger the pool is compared to villas

discussion of hotel and positive comments on mgmt team are in other threads

Pr puff piece in Bangkok news.

Pr puff piece in Bangkok news.

Almost all the magazines and PR were using the same set of "Pool Villa" photos, but their official website doesn't support any online booking yet and even the web page design is crap. :D

Financial Times had a nice set of photos and layout in their "How to Spend It" magazine on the weekend- definitely does look very nice however the booking clauses explained here would keep me away.

I see this is Kamala Sukosol's new property...I know the family and they're very well intentioned, but this is their first luxury property (they own the Siam City in BKK and the Bayview & Bayshore in Pattaya) and there are bound to be some rough edges due to lack of experience.

Having just experienced the level of service at the Siam first hand, I can attest that its owners have surrounded themselves with a management team that is brimming with precisely the type of experience one would expect of a property with such lofty ambitions.

For GM Jason Friedman, this is his third opening (the first was FS Tented Camp, the second a luxury property in Australia whose name escapes me). Marketing Director Donald Wong has experience at three different Aman resorts.

We had the most extensive contact with Khun Teera, the concierge (who worked with Jason at the aforementioned FS property) and our butler, North, who was hired by Jason from Trisara. Their level of professionalism and service was evident at every turn.

Going next month. Should be interesting as I saw the hotel when it was under construction and was very impressed. Jason knows what he is doing and the owners are very open to ideas. First hotel ever to have a Sodashi Spa (created in tandem with Bill Bensley & management).

, the second a luxury property in Australia whose name escapes me).

Qualia.... but I believe it was already open when he got there.

Qualia.... but I believe it was already open when he got there.

True, Qualia had already opened when Jason arrived, but he then set about revamping just about everything. Allegedly the owners did not appreciate this as much as the guests did. Narelle Kellerman (ex Trisara) joined Jason after a while and she, too, left, allegedly due to owners' lack of understanding of the deluxe hotel market. Same old same old.

do we have any reviews of the property besides the tripadvisor..(only 4 revies as of now).??
just a small comment...emailing the hotel resulted in a response in less than 2 hours

do we have any reviews of the property besides the tripadvisor..(only 4 revies as of now).??
just a small comment...emailing the hotel resulted in a response in less than 2 hours

I have been reluctant to post a review as I simply don't have a depth of experience staying at luxury properties (though on this trip to Thailand we went from the Peninsula in Bangkok, to Soneva Kiri, then to the Mandarin in Chiang Mai, with the final five nights at the Siam). I feel that a member of higher standing might be better suited to a complete review (vittuansofstyle is going to the Siam soon, iirc), and will be able to provide points of comparison to other high-end properties.

Even so, I would like to offer at least a couple of quick observations:

1. Hotel's limo service to and from BKK was very professional (I think it was a mid-sized MB one way, similarly-sized BMW on the return).

2. Greeting at the hotel was nothing short of amazing, perhaps in part due to our being the first guests (at least the first guests who weren't travel writers or travel agents). Jason hand wrote and delivered a very nice note congratulating us on being their first guests, a lovely gesture.

3. When the concierge learned the minutes were running low on my sim card, he replenished it without my having to ask.

4. On our first evening, Donald Wong escorted us on the boat to the BTS station, helped us get passes, and personally delivered us to our restaurant (Nahm)!

5. Our butler, North, was amazing. There were countless times that he went so far above and beyond what we could have expected. I will offer a couple of examples (which, in isolation, may appear insignificant, but become extraordinary when they happen time and time again).

Any time we had an evening restaurant reservation, he would call the restaurant to make sure that they arranged a knowledgable cab driver coming back (which can be a challenge since some drivers are unfamiliar with the Hotel's location).

One evening, we were hosting an important guest in the Hotel's restaurant and he reviewed the food options with us before hand to make sure it was consistent with our tastes (since the restaurant has both a western and thai menus I believe).

He would always stop by at breakfast to review the days activities, making sure all the arrangement he or the concierge had made were in line with what we wanted.

When we would return on the Hotel's launch at the end of a day of sightseeing, he would always be there to make sure things had gone well.

6. I loved the food at Chon (the Hotel's restaurant). On the second evening, I dined there and ordered the gnocchi. It's a dish I know well, and understand how difficult it is to prepare correctly (which is partly why I ordered it). It was the equal of any gnocchi I've had in Italy . . . light little pillows of decadent enjoyment!

If there was one disappointment, it was its location. This was our first time in Bangkok, and our main focus was seeing the sights, which generally involved a 30 minute trip to the nearest BTS station. Frequently, we would go once during the daytime (to shop) and then again at night (to have dinner). That's a lot of time commuting. At first, we enjoyed the journey on the ship's launch; thereafter, it was a bit tiring.

So, I think for a traveller who has traveled to Bangkok and isn't driven to shop and sightsee non-stop, the Siam is an excellent choice. Indeed, in talking to Donald at the end of our trip, I believe their goal is to attract precisely this type of guest who sees the Hotel itself as the destination.

But, to me, it is a mistake to fault a Hotel for its location (which, to me, is tantamount to complaining in a hotel review about bad weather). I made the decision to stay there, knowing that it was not centrally located to the things we wished to see.

And, regardless of this small inconvenience, our overall experience at the Siam was just superb!

Awesome review, thank you for posting. Did you happen to take any photos you could share with us of the property?

Also, any things one should look out for, or keep in mind (e.g. certain accommodations being a bit more privately/noisily located)?

Awesome review, thank you for posting. Did you happen to take any photos you could share with us of the property?

Also, any things one should look out for, or keep in mind (e.g. certain accommodations being a bit more privately/noisily located)?

We probably have 200 photos, but I have doubts about how to post them. I just noticed that The Siam has redesigned its website, and the gallery of photos is perfectly representative of anything I might be able to post:

http://thesiamhotel.com/Gallery

We were in Room 102, a river view Pool Villa (which, at the time, was one of only a handful of rooms ready for occupancy). It was perfect, private, and dead quiet. And it was put together as expertly as a fine tuxedo, which it resembled in its very smart use of black and white. In that sense, our room was a microcosm of the entire Hotel, which just oozes that sense of perfect design, as conceived and executed by Bill Bensley, whom we were fortunate to meet while we were there.

Here are pictures of the room we stayed in, from the Hotel's website:

http://thesiamhotel.com/Pool-Villa-Riverview