dsquared37

They do not, to my recollection, have water in the lounge fridge.

mcgahat

I totally get the bartender issue and as a red wine drinker I just had to make a few more trips up to the bar. I am sure that mgmt. has told them to poor lightly which doesn't bother me "that much" but a valid point on our part particularly on the ability to make the drink properly. I think they are just poorly trained in the F&B area overall at the DT and in my limited experience at the Hilton next door it was not much better for me as service was very poor when I tried to hit up their lobby bar area for drinks and tapas.

Iamspecialized

I just finished a two-night stay at the Doubletree Sukhumvit. Short review:

• Check in was done by a friendly associate. He checked me in within a couple of minutes. Diamond recognition was very good.
• Room: I got "upgraded" to a superior room. Don't know if a superior room is much better than a standard room, but an upgrade is always appreciated. Room was clean and decently sized. The bathroom was on the small side though.
• Location: The hotel is located in the Sukhumvit area, which I like. There is a BTS station near the hotel (Phrom Phong).
• Breakfast: Breakfast is served on the ground floor. Spread was nothing special.
• Pool & gym: I didn't make use of either the pool or gym, so I have nothing to say about that.

If you have any questions, let me know!

aztimm

So I'm going to Bangkok in January for 4 nights. From what I gather, there are 5 HHonors options:

* Conrad
* Conrad Residences
* Hilton Millennium
* Hilton Sukhumvit
* Doubletree Sukhumvit


The prices at the Doubletree are very cheap; I can get a full king suite here for less than a regular room at the Conrad (about $110 for the full Doubletree suite). Or just get a regular room for even less.

It sounds like they all have breakfast (well not certain on Conrad Residences), and neither Conrad Residences nor Doubletree have a lounge. To me a lounge is a nice to have; if it is there and I get access (I'm only HHonors gold), I'll use it. Otherwise, I don't really miss it. I don't really drink, and the lack of lounge would just encourage me to explore more local options for eating.


So is the Doubletree really that bad? Does it just look/feel tired, or are there service issues that should drive me elsewhere? And is the service at the other properties that better? Are the sheets like sandpaper? Should I worry about the quality of the toiletries?
Is the pool at the Doubletree really much worse than the others? Yes, for a visit like this, I will use the pool, so long as it looks clean.

It sounds like the Doubletree is located just beside a Hilton, and location isn't too bad. Even if transit doesn't work, I'm assuming Uber does (and Bangkok even has Uber-Moto, which I used in Saigon, it was so cheap I didn't bother figuring out transit).

What I'm basically looking for are reasons why I should avoid this property and the rates that just seem too good to be true. As I always hear, if it is too good to be true, it probably is

tide

Of course not. The Doubletree is nice. It's just not as nice as the others.
Breakfast is good. Rooms are good albeit no bath. Location is good; near shopping (Emporium), transit (BTS), food and entertainment. Pool is good. No lounge is the only real negative.

SK AAR

Your views on access to lounge or not are certainly valid; to a large extent I share them. As HH G you will no longer get lounge access at the Conrad - the upgrade policy was changed recently so the incentive to stay there has decreased significantly for HH Golds.

Why would you consider Conrad Residences an option?

Where did you get the idea that DoubleTree was a poor hotel and a bad choice? I have stayed at the property a few times and had wonderful stays - and it is great value for the rates paid (check the HH c+p rates!) There is no lounge, but the hotel is quite new, staff is friendly and well trained, a great pool, gym is OK, location is good and near BTS station, breakfast is more than adequate etc. There are very few flaws with this property, but of course if you are a very savvy traveller staying at top end hotels only, I can imagine that some get disappointed. It is not a 5* star hotel, however, I bet that 90-95% of the guests are very happy with this hotel and their choice made.

The message from my end is: Go for it and I doubt you will regret it.

aztimm

Thank you both for your input!

I knew that if I didn't list one of the properties, someone would comment that I forgot it. So I tried to make my list inclusive of all HHonors properties. And actually the Conrad Residences does have a king studio at decent rates.

That said, I think I'll just go with the Doubletree. Heck, for the price I'll probably just reserve the suite
(it is only $20 or so more than a normal room per night)

Cymro

Having stayed at all the Hilton hotels in Bangkok except the Sukhumvit Hilton, the Conrad is definitely much better, but the DoubleTree really isn't bad.

It is a little disorganised, and the rooms are very small, while my Diamond upgrade was to a high floor... So definitely go for the suite given the small price premium.

mcgahat

Just finishing up another stay at the Doubletree and thought I would add my thoughts on a few things.

First, the rooms. I think I have figured out that there are basically regular, deluxe, superior and suite rooms. Regular and deluxe are the same except that deluxe or are on higher floors. Superior rooms are larger rooms and I think they are only on the lower floors and if you look at the shape of the hotel you will see it is larger at the bottom of the hotel and I am pretty sure that makes up the superior rooms. I was at first disappointed to be on such a low floor but now realize that since I wanted a superior room upgraded as a Diamond that is where they had to put me. I dont think this hotel has many suites and as cheap as they sell them for it would be a tough upgrade anyways as people can just buy them. I do prefer the superior room as it is larger even if it is on the lowest floors. Bangkok views dont impress me much these days.

Breakfast service can still be hit and miss but overall they are helpful and pleasant. I think they have reduced items over the last year or so though but still a good offering, good, not great. I still like the pool happy hour and they are always proactive about letting me know it is ending soon and giving me one last top up before it ends. It was cool out last night and so nice to sit out and sip on wine and nibble on dinner.

I know this property isnt for everyone but at the price paid, 2700THB, I consider it good value.

365RoadWarrior

I had a six-hour stay this week (in transit through BKK). The fitness center was nice. The room was "shiny new"-looking. I had smooth check in and check out, a timely wake-up call and pleasant service. No breakfast. Location was okay for access to a bunch of small restaurants and two large malls.
I was booked on a AAA rate. I had to show the card. It took me a bit to find; in the meantime, they were looking up my new (rack?) rate, so I guess they were serious.

SK AAR

Thank you for your valuable comments.

It has been a while since I was at this property but I booked a stay next month at the flash sale rate of THB 1950 ++ which I consider very good value (unless of course much has changed since I was there last time). Given the rate, I can live with reductions in breakfast items, no lounge (which I hardly use anyway) etc. As I recall it the breakfast in the restuarant is good, but not exceptional - again I'll survive.

Gym is small but has all essential equipment -it is adequate.

This is correct. I have always been upgraded to one of the larger superior rooms on the lower floors. The shape of the building tells you why the rooms on the lower floors are larger.

ExpatSomchai

Is the Happy Hour 1 or 2 hours and do they offer snacks as well?

dsquared37

Happy hour is from 6-8 (same as Hilton next door). They will give you a small metal dish of wasabi pees and broad nuts. At least that was the assortment during my Jan stays.

Edit: Additionally, the guy I had last time knew how to pour a drink and was a welcomed change from the woman who used to work there where getting a drink that had a hint of alcohol was like squeezing water from a rock. I mean the booze is free, do you really need to use a half jigger x2 for a double?

/lush rant.

ExpatSomchai

Will be here early April if anyone fancies a beer.

dsquared37

I had a couple of stays in Jan/Feb and then again last week.

None of these stays have posted without manual intervention. Not sure what's going on, but after about 50 stays here over the years it's rather strange for this to be occurring now.