Asia - Bangkok Hotel Suggestions

Dearest Flyers: UA is going to drag our sorry, sore butts into Bangkok at 11:30 at night. We'll leave for Koh Samui and Koh Tao two days later, but in the meantime, we'll have to flag down accomodations. We're beyond the backpacker point in our lives...but there's no reason to get nutty and book a suite at the Peninsula or the Conrad. Surely Flyers have their own favorites for medium priced hotels in Bangkok?

For example, the Grand China Princess seems perfectly acceptable...but since this is our first trip to BKK, perhaps we can benefit from the wisdom and experience of other regular travelers. Do you have a favorite place to stay--large or small-- in BKK?

Thanks for all your help!!

What's your budget per night?

We could stomach up to $100 per night...and would the better locations be on the river?

We could stomach up to $100 per night...and would the better locations be on the river?

www.latestays.com

www.asiahotels.com

www.asiarooms.com

www.asiatravel.com

There are several in the Sukhumvit Road area and near the World Trade Center area under $100 USD. The Dynesty, Embassy Suites, Ambassador (new wing) to name a few. We have stayed at all of these if for only one evening. When we want to spend more time in Bangkok we always stay at the Marriott Garden Spa and Resort on the river. It is excellent and only $50 USD more.

There are several in the Sukhumvit Road area and near the World Trade Center area under $100 USD. The Dynesty, Embassy Suites, Ambassador (new wing) to name a few. We have stayed at all of these if for only one evening. When we want to spend more time in Bangkok we always stay at the Marriott Garden Spa and Resort on the river. It is excellent and only $50 USD more.

Amassador??? Gawd no!

You can get some good deals via Priceline on the Marriotts/Westin/Sheratons for <$100. Also, do a search on the boutiques hotels.

Reflections is also pretty unique

There is a new Holiday Inn in Bangkok (http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hd/bkkpc) (Ploen Chit, not to be confused with the older, less desireable HI in Silom), that has gotten good reviews in several threads/posts here on FT. It looks great from the outside, and the location is hard to beat.

The Tawana Ramada is decent (but nothing more) and quite cheap.

Usually I get my BKK hotels through Priceline. I have never paid more than $85 for a 5* hotel (now usually the JW Marriott, before that often the Shangri-La).

Holiday Inn BKK on Ploenchit should fit your budget and in the most convenient location, Rajprasong intersection. Arnoma hotel is also nearby and opposite World Trade Ctr. ( now called Central World Plaza).

Good luck. :D

One of my favorite bargain hotels in Bangkok is the Karnmanee Palace (http://www.karnmanee.com/) in the Saphan Kwai district. It has a great internet rate, is about a 10-minute walk to the Skytrain, a 20-minute ride to the airport, 15-minute walk to the Jatujak Weekend Market, and a $2 taxi ride or less to most popular areas in Bangkok. The hotel is VERY popular with Asian business travellers and there are times when it is completely booked up. I once shared an elevator there with several towering players from Chinese national basketball team.

Near the Silom area, friends have recommended the Tower Inn (http://www.asiarooms.com/thailand/bangkok/tower_inn.html) as being decent, and I may give it try for a couple of days next month before I fly back to the US.

I would go for Baiyoke Sky hotel for about THB3300 per night. Its 88 floors high and breakfast is served on 76th floor. Bar on 83rd or something like that.

Check it out - big rooms.
http://www.baiyokehotel.com/baiyokesky/

I'm stayed in a variety of the 5 star hotels in years past. More recently Novotel Lotus off Sukhumvit 33 because of location to clients, major shopping and MRT. Novotel has two locations and both under $100.

However I've tried a couple of service hotels, these are usually one or two bedroom suites. Some located centrally, others slightly further out. They cost about B$2000 or less per night w/ ABF.

Try these two sites for more information:

the-ascott.com - go to bangkok location (two locations, stay away from Omni on Soi 4 unless you are looking for Bkk's nightlife)
kanarybay.com - they have several service apts, couple of them brand spanking new and very very comfortable.

Keep in mind you nearing high season and rooms will be harder to get from now till after new year

Well US$100 in BKK will certainly not be the mid level properties. :rolleyes:

Wherever you stay - near a Skytrain station is a good start. :)

BKK has many distinct hotel areas. Each with a flavor of its own.
Through historical reasons I have always stayed in the Sukhumvit area
where the mid level hotels are in the 1200-2000 baht (US$30-50) range for
doubles with buffet breakfast when booked on the internet. My wife has been reasonably happy with the choices in the last few trips - being the Manhattan at Soi 15 and the Royal Benja at Soi 5. Sukhumvit is convenient from the airport because of the freeeway access. The adjoining streets (Soi) increase in street number the further you get from the freeway entrance. So both the above are fairly easy to get to.

Perhaps equally important both are just a short walk away from the noise and frenzy of the markets and traffic on Sukhumvit Road.

A bit more upscale in the same area are the Landmark or the Westin.
Neither of which I have stayed in. While I have stayed in and highly recommend - perhaps you can avoid the Bumrungrad Hospital.

Enjoy the sights and sounds

Happy wandering

WF

Baiyoke Sky's downside is the rather inconvenient location, it's a good twenty minutes and across a few busy streets to the nearest Skytrain station. I think there's better value to be found in Bangkok, with Holiday Inn Ploenchit currently in my top spot.

And for something truly wonderfully bizarre, there's always Reflections Rooms (http://www.reflections-thai.com/rooms.html)!

If you don't mind a bit of noise (because of proximity to Patpong / etc), and you want to be right in the middle of the somewhat seedy nightlife area, then the Bavana hotel on Surawong road is not bad. I've always found the staff to be very friendly. They have a small restaurant downstairs, and they can provide room service as well. Quite clean as well.

Tend to be quite a few Japanese travelers staying here for one reason or another, but rates are good (around 1000 baht (US$25) per night) for standard room.

Dearest Flyers! You've all been so kind with your help and suggestions for this relative newcomer. Thank you for making me feel welcome with your wit and wisdom. But so many hotels to choose from...and we'll only be there for 2 days before moving on to the islands. This is a tough choice, but I wanted to thank all of you again.

Dearest Flyers: Thanks again for you generous counsel and suggestions. After a lot of head scratching and website digging, we've decided on the
Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square. 2 nights at $78/night seems reasonable for a good lookin' 4 star hotel with a well received spa, restaurants, pool, and next to the Skytrain station. Have any Flyers stayed there before? Your thoughts?

Also, thanks to Q Shoe Guy for the excellent website suggestions.I'll add another one: www.sawadee.com. We've made all our reservations through them to Bangkok, Koh Samui, and Koh Tao and they seem very reliable as well as a few dollars less than the other sites.

But I guess the real proof will be upon check-in, won't it? :p

www.sawadee.com has one failing. It bills in baht which means that you will incur a currency conversion fee on your credit card. www.asiarooms.com seems to presently be the cheapest, but prices seem to change daily, but it is billed directly in U.S. $. At least in some sawadee.com hotels, the rates are the normal rates for the hotel rather than a consolidator rate.

Despite this I have satisfactorily used sawadee, asiarooms, asia-hotels.com, and precisionreservations.com at various times over the last 3 years including twice in the last 3 months.

That place certainly looks whacky, but how does it fare overall? I'll be in BKK next month and have the usual HH, SPG, & Hyatt options and status, but might give Reflections a go for a change if it's recommended.

Otherwise, of the SPG, Hyatt & HH options in town, which are most highly recommended?

Thanks.

... And for something truly wonderfully bizarre, there's always Reflections Rooms (http://www.reflections-thai.com/rooms.html)!

That place certainly looks whacky, but how does it fare overall? I'll be in BKK next month and have the usual HH, SPG, & Hyatt options and status, but might give Reflections a go for a change if it's recommended.
I love the place, but it's not for everybody, and if you're expecting the polished service of an international chain hotel you'd do best to head elsewhere. I also can't recommend Reflections for a business trip, as it's really not geared for business travel (most rooms don't even have eg. a work table)... but if you like crazy interior decoration, friendly, personal service and a location off the tourist trail in one of Bangkok's funkier neighborhoods it's worth a try.