Dr. HFH

Such heresy!! It's Prosecco, not champagne. Never make that mistake with a purist.

schley

haha.....are you serious? Cracking a coconut and champagne as a logical replacement for OJ?

That is why when a 5 star hotel has fresh squeezed OJ it is desirable..... this hotel doesn't have either variety. I'm only one person and I like OJ, so maybe the other couple billion worldwide can chime in with why it is so popular.

m0hamed

+1

dsquared37

^

Additionally a 'mimosa', as stated, would include orange juice unless the drink was further specified with a citrus alternate. And therefore, no orange, no mimosa.

helvetic

Alrighty y'all… you're right. I didn't remember the specifics, just that it was sparkling wine of some kind. Also, yeah, a real mimosa would include OJ; but a grapefruit juice "mimosa" is way better anyways.

Maybe I just feel this way because I don't like OJ… about the only juice I'll drink is grapefruit and watermelon. OJ just tastes like sugar or high-fructose corn syrup (depending on the country)

schley

If it is fresh squeezed then it takes like OJ.

SkyTeam777

Do Executive rooms have club lounge access or do they just get free drinks in the lobby bar?

justforfun

There is no club lounge at this hotel.

helvetic

And the bar where Plats get free drinks is not in the lobby.

CJKatl

Unless when it is... They move the rinky-dink drink hour to the lobby when there is something going on in the other space, which is more often than it should be. Stay at one of the similarly priced Marriott properties (Soi 57, Queen's Park Marquis or Ren) or the less expensive CY and you get all day CL access in a dedicated room. Given the Marriott options, I was incredibly underwhelmed by this property.

geminidreams

When Bamboo Chic is closed you can sit in the mezzanine area below the restaurant and order coffee and drinks from there.

I like the LM, I enjoy Patpong and it is close to MBK by train or taxi where I like to visit.

Dr. HFH

I’ve visited LM twice recently, so I thought that I’d write a report. A couple of weeks ago I was there for one night; this past weekend I was there for two.

Arrival: One time I arrived by taxi; the other I took the BTS to the Sala Daeng station and walked from there to Le Méridien. On both occasions, I was met promptly at the front door with a nice, smiling greeting. On both occasions, the front door staff came out of the hotel to welcome me. Once it was to assist me getting my bags out of the taxi, and the other time it was just to take my small carry on from me as I was walking up the driveway.

I was also greeted consistently whenever I used the front door, regardless of whether entering or exiting. The door was opened and I was greeted with a smile and greeting, just as it should be.

Checkin: Excellent PLT recognition both times. The first time, I was checked in by the Guest Relations Manager, Nina. On my more recent visit, it was by whomever was staffing the particular desk that I approached (there are three separate podiums which comprise the FD). Nina recognized me, presumably from a previous visit. The FD clerk on my more recent visit did not recognize me and offered to review PLT benefits, which I declined. Both times, the interactions were pleasant and efficient, staff smiling throughout the encounter.

Room: I don’t remember where I was for the earlier visit, but for the one last weekend I was on the 20th floor in 2023. The carpets on the 20th floor were clean. 2023 is one of the suites used for PLT upgrades at the end of the hallway. The room was clean and in good condition; the only negative observation I made was that the carpet is beginning to look a little worn. Everything in the room was as I expected with the exception of the toilet seat, which had been upgraded to one of those Toto brand multifunction seats. I’ve never really understood how to use them, so I’ve never experienced the “Front Cleansing,” “Rear Cleansing,” “Stop” and “Dryer.”

I note that the cable TV system has been upgraded since my last visit, too. On my last visit, only two or three channels were coming in. This time, the choice was quite large, and certainly satisfied my television needs.

Internet access: The internet connection was good. All vestiges of previous problems have disappeared. No problems with either speed or access. Access was my choice of wired (cable provided) or wireless. I chose wired. Initially, I couldn’t get signed on to the access system, which requires room number and surname. After about five minutes, I gave up and called seeking assistance. An IT person showed up quickly and got me connected. There were no further problems.

F&B: If anything, this situation has worsened. And I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for them to get this right. The Bamboo Chic bar had been booked for a function, so PLT Happy Hour was held in the living room of what I would call the Presidential Suite of the hotel, an expansive multi-room suite. We were offered a choice of wine or several mixed drinks. They were making the drinks and pouring the wine in a small room just off the living room. Even with this temporary ad hoc setup, each mixed drink was made individually.

One of the choices was a lychee martini. I asked if I could have a regular martini, and amazingly was told no, without explanation. When I asked, I was told that they were not serving regular martinis that night. Now, if they had the ingredients to make a lychee martini, clearly they also had the ingredients to make a regular martini, -- a lychee martini being a regular martini with lychee added to it. I don’t understand.

I went down to breakfast the next morning, and sat at my favorite table in the PLT seating area. Having a separate, upgraded seating area for PLT guests is a great idea. At LM, the PLT seating for breakfast is on a separate floor, half a flight of stairs down from the main dining area. The furniture is upgraded, the tables are a bit further apart, and Prosecco is available at breakfast for PLT guests, too. (In some LM properties, like LMCM, there’s an upcharge for Illy brand coffee products which is waived for PLT guests. I don’t know if there is an upcharge for Illy coffee here; but it is provided at no charge to PLT guests. I had a cappuccino one morning, and it was delicious, as expected.) I was served a glass of Prosecco and pot/mug of sencha green tea, as requested. Then I went up to get some food.

I went to the cooking station and asked for French toast. The gentleman behind the counter told me that the hotel no longer served French toast. It took me a few seconds to recover; as he had me completely at a loss for words. French toast is one of the basic breakfast foods. So I recovered my senses and asked for pancakes. He told me that pancakes are now cooked and served from the island just opposite. So I went over there and saw the griddle, syrup, etc.; but there was no one to cook. I waited a few minutes and eventually just left and got something else to eat.

Personally, I found the entire encounter a little strange. The hotel no longer serves French toast? Really? Anyway, I saw that they had two loaves of French bread out, one plain and one with black sesame seeds. I cut a couple of slices from the black sesame baguette and returned to my table, only to find that the bread was noticeably and obviously stale. Oh, well.

Breakfast on my second stay was similarly disappointing. First, I asked again about French toast. Now, it appears that they do have it and it is cooked at the regular cooking station. Great, I thought. The “chef” got a bowl -- it was one of those bowls with a very wide rim and very small bowl area – filled it with egg mixture and tried to dip the bread into it. Since it was so small, some of the bread got no egg on it. Didn’t seem to matter to the chef, however; as he just cooked it anyway. I got two pieces which were half grilled bread and half sort of French toast.

I like brioches; and, I figured, this is a French-themed hotel chain (it was started by Air France in the early 1970s), so the baked items are bound to be good. When I saw brioches in the display, however, they were green. Not green from staleness/mold, of course, but apparently green by design in the way that they were cooked. I have no idea why, and wasn’t interested in trying them. If they were, for example, pistachio-flavored, the little sign should have said so. I do know that traditional brioches aren’t green. Nor did they even look like traditional brioches, which you can see here. The ingredients are things like flour, eggs, milk, butter and the like. Nothing which is green.

Breakfast clearly needs the presence of senior management; and that doesn’t seem to be happening.

That night I was having problems with my web site and was working with my internet host’s support staff; so I needed to stay in the room. I ordered room service, -- tomato soup and a club sandwich. The club sandwich was perfect; the things which were supposed to be hot were hot, and the things which were supposed to be cold were cold. The toast for the sandwich was fresh and hot; and the plate was hot, as well. Perfect! The tomato soup, not so much. The bowl, itself, was room temperature, and the soup tepid.

After enough stays at this hotel, I have come to the conclusion that the F&B Manager just doesn't get it. I don’t know what else to think. For a hotel which fancies itself a five star property, there are just too many non-trivial misses in the F&B department. A top hotel with a French pedigree should be serving consistently excellent food; and F&B should be a completely professional and smoothly running operation. Those things are just not happening here.

Summary: Overall, I really like this hotel. Visit, and you’ll find a great staff, -- smiling, friendly and eager to make your stay a pleasant one. PLT upgrade success rate has always been pretty good here, too; and the suites are quite nice, with huge showers.

Due to the serious failings in the F&B department, I still don't think that it's even close to a five star property. I would rate LM Bangkok as a good, solid four star hotel.

puchong

Good review, thanks, You should forward the review (along with FT URL) to the hotel's GM, so that he is aware of customer feedback.

This is something you should definitely try . I look forward to these toilets whenever I am in Japan!

dtremit

Here's where I think you misunderstand: in my experience, a "martini" is a classic cocktail made with gin and vermouth (or, by heretics, with vodka and vermouth). A "<flavor> martini" is any drink made from too much sugar, something contributing <flavor>, and whatever clear alcohol is cheapest / closest to the bartender -- and served in a martini glass.

ajeleonard

and the lychee "martini" will likely have been premixed, so they wouldn't even have to hand whatever ingredients they did use