Radisson Blu Bangkok
May 31, 2017, 2:58 pm
Yes, there are too many 'good' hotels in bangkok at good rates, but not all hotels measure up.
In the end it was a rhetorical question, as 100usd for the club room was value for me when comparing with others in my list; versus booking a normal room and hoping for an upgrade.
As it is will see and post back if any recognition is granted based on being a mere Gold.
Jun 8, 2017, 6:32 pm
My room is lovely on the 21st floor with a large window I can see out from the soaking tub in the bathroom. There's also a tv to watch while you soak. I had a welcome fruit pate and fresh flowers when I arrived. Large selection of amenities in the bathroom, and 5 bottles of water with "complimentary" tags.
One odd thing - the desk is well equipped with a mini stapler, paper clips, ruler, etc. However, only pencils (no pens)
As others have said the breakfast is amazing. Jamon Serrano, dim sum, smoked salmon, pastries. Yes, there are cheaper options in Bangkok, but same is true of the high end brunch buffets in Vegas - it all depends on what your desires and plans for the day are.
The executive lounge has two hours for tea in the afternoon and a two hour cocktail hour. The room also includes pressing two items per day at no charge.
All in with taxes, I paid B9000 for the two nights in the upgraded room. To me this was well worth it as a solo female traveler on my first trip to Bangkok trying to recover from jet lag at the beginning of a three week trip. It's comforting to know that when the driver I hired for a day of sightseeing drops me off, I can relax here with a cocktail at no additional cost if I'm too tired to venture out.
Jan 1, 2018, 11:17 pm
Sep 17, 2019, 8:23 pm
Looks like they have a new hotel manager named Mark Julajinda (Thai?)
Thinking of cashing in my points for 4 nights (2 rooms) over the new years. Rooms seem to be filling out quickly for this holiday season and the rest are asking for premium rates.
Dec 30, 2019, 11:13 pm
First room is a 1 King Bed-Non-Smoking-Business Class Room - breakfast included for a total of 264K points for 4 nights.
2nd room is 2 Twin Beds-Non-Smoking-Deluxe Room - Free WiFi for a total of 98K points plus the cash portion of $146.
Prior to arriving, I visited the property and spoke to the duty manager requesting attached accommodations due to traveling with children ages 8-11 years. The manager promised that he would take care of it. Upon checking in, the same manager upgraded the children's room to the 25th floor (Business Floor) with full breakfast and lounge benefits for 4 nights, a substantial value of $378 (saved).
The breakfast at 27 Bites on the 2nd floor is great and the lounge access especially for the 6-8 PM happy hour is huge with spotless service and top-notch F&B offerings. Indian breakfast food is prepared so well and just so delicious at this property that I'm addicted to it. Generous 4 pieces of laundry per room per day is included (washing & pressing). Upgrade (paying 66K points vs. 44K points) to a business class room is worth every point/baht!
Currently (we checking out tomorrow 1/1/2020), the Business Class Room rate is $222++ per room per night, if one is available. Accumulating these points over couple of years with 2 credit cards did pay off. Also, I booked during the 20% rebate on redemption promo, so I am expecting some of these spent points back (~72K points).
Creme Caramel (AKA Flan) at the executive lounge
Shrimp cocktail at the executive lounge
Assorted cakes at the executive lounge
Cold food station during happy hour - executive lounge
Executive lounge on the 29th floor
Attico, Tuscan-inspired restaurant on the 28th floor
Brewski, rooftop venue on the 30th floor
Last edited by Kalboz; Jan 2, 2020 at 8:14 am
Dec 31, 2019, 11:03 am
Apr 26, 2022, 4:56 pm
Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok
Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok
489 Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey Nua Wattana Bangkok, TH 10110
Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok = Quiet Hotel After Covid Reopening (10 Photos)
Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok
I am not sure if there is a unique and clear-cut definition of full-service hotel, but by some account if I am not mistaken Radisson Blu Plaza was the very last one I had not tried in Bangkok before, among international and global hotel chains (not regional): Marriott Hilton Hyatt IHG Accor GHA SLH LHW Shangri-La Mandarin Oriental Peninsula Rosewood Four Seasons, and Radisson.
Radisson has a poor loyalty program but at least they offer status match to mid tier (Gold) and I threw the kitchen sink at them by proving status with multiple hotel chains in the hope of getting top tier instead. No success: they gave me Gold just like anyone else without responding to the fact that I had many chains, not only one. Oh well.
Room
Consequently I thought Radisson BLU would a serious contender for being the worse value for the money in Bangkok but based on my stay it has thankfully avoided that fate. Upon arrival I received no upgrade at all (?!) and I asked what about upgrade for Golds. They then changed my room to a business room which looked the same as the normal rooms but on one of the high floors marked business. The bathroom amenities gave a distinct feeling of cheapness by being unbranded and unmarked, they smelled a bit like candy. Overall the room looked fairly normal, not wow but not bad nor aging - decent.
Dining
After I saw the room, I went back to the front desk to ask if by virtue of having a business class room, would I end up having lounge access? They said the lounge was actually closed but that I was welcome to have happy hour at the lobby bar.
At the moment happy hour at many Marriott chain hotels is awful because they have made it too easy to reach Platinum status last year during covid promotions. The benefit of Radisson being a stingy hotel chain is that happy hour looked like 2020 not 2022: there was not a single guest in there for the full two hours so it was very quiet and relaxing. Instead of a poor buffet, there was a short menu prepared from the kitchen and some limited choice of drinks including cocktails. With the fully private happy hour and the nice waitress entertaining our 1-year old daughter who was tired and complaining a bit, for that reason alone Radisson Blu exceeded my low expectations.
Wifi
Wifi worked well with speed of 13 Mbps.
Overall
All in all I did not think this was a bad hotel and the elite benefits were not as weak as I expected due to having lounge access. Many other hotel chains give free breakfast in Bangkok but in fairness I would as well if I had Radisson Platinum status, and it’s unclear if they would be willing to give suite upgrades to Platinums which I get regularly at other hotel chains; perhaps Radisson would give suites as well. So in the end Radisson might be able to compete fairly well for top tier elites compared to hotels in a similar price range in Bangkok. The main problem is not the hotel itself but mostly the loyalty program which was cut in two (Americas and Rest of World) which means for someone travelling everywhere, technically we could stay 118 nights in Radissons (59 nights in Americas and 59 nights in Rest of World) and still not reach top tier which makes no sense. For that reason alone I rank this loyalty program at the bottom of the pecking order especially with IHG having upped its game recently.