flyer121

We are going to spending eight nights in Bangkok. We are going to be doing basic sight seeing and looking for some major R&R. We are not interested in shopping and really enjoy Club Floors. The options for us are Marriott, Intercontinental, Grand Hyatt, Conrad or Hilton Millennium (DIAMOND). R&R is our #1 priority. Thank you in advance for your help.

BostonFlyer1624

I stayed at the JW Marriott a few months back.

Great club floor with a nice lounge offering of food and drinks.

Many people complain about the location (some say its not close enough, or in a bad area) but I completely disagree. The skytain is a 5-10 minute walk at most, and the area was fine. Nothing special at all (i.e. no sight seeing) but out of the way of busy downtown.

If you want some real R&R, I would get out of Bangkok, and go to Chiang Mai.

IAN-UK

Intercon and Hyatt are the best located of your four, across the road from each other, next to the premium retail malls and the Erewan shrine (the very heart of Bangkok for many):and if you need public transport, theSkytrain is on your doorstep. Conrad is next best, not so convenient for public transport, but well positioned in a smart area. Marriot is in the same general area as the others, but not an immediately attractive spot.

The Hilton is on the other side of the river.

As for lounges, it's hard to fault the Intercon's top-floor offer. I've used the Hilton lounge (not up to the Intercon's standard), but not those of the others.

Toula

Of those on your list we have stayed at the Conrad. Have to say as Golds we were very well treated. We were given access to the lounge and the staff were all very pleasant. Rooms were comfortable. I have seen complaints from others on the distance from the Conrad to the Skytrain which is said to be approx. 12 minute walk, but we did not find the distance to be overwhelming. We would stay there again in a heartbeat.

RTW1

I really like the Grand Hyatt..... very good location and excellent facilities.

dtsm

Intercon/Grand Hyatt is great location
Conrad is on a very busy street in the event you ever use taxi
JWM is close to pink zone [red-light district], completely different clientel
Hilton out by the river and not super convenient to the sights - but great piece of property.

If you're first timer and want to see sights, go with location and then switch if you get bored

monahos

I've stayed at all five.

My preference (standard) room-wise: Conrad > IC > Marriott = Hyatt > Hilton. The Hyatt is currently renovating its rooms, and as they are very spacious, a refurbished one would put it near the top of the list. Conrad and IC rooms are quite posh, Marriott's comfortable but bog-standard Marriott without any local touch, and Hilton's cramped and more sparse.
If you want to get away from standard rectangular rooms, upgrades to a corner room at the Conrad or a suite at the Hilton are less expensive than at the others. The unlisted 'quarter-moon' IC corner rooms are hard to obtain.
As for views: Hilton >>> Conrad > IC > Hyatt > Marriott, mostly because the 32F Conrad is in the upper floors of a tall building, and the 37F IC less hemmed-in than the 22F Hyatt and 24F Marriott.

Club/lounge:
- Hyatt: very good service, good atmosphere and offerings
- IC: decent service, upscale, reduced offerings, but usually quiet as access is expensive (must either pay a fairly high room rate or be RA); personally I don't feel that comfortable staying there for a long time.
- Conrad: declining service and offerings, posh decor, often crowded at meal times (all due to the excessive number of HH elites IMHO, the proportion of executive floors has almost doubled since the hotel's opening without increase in lounge capacity - the old staff was great and it used to be very nice).
- Hilton: by far the best views, access to open-air deck, meager offerings, laid back environment and low-pressure service - most customers are on holidays, whereas the other hotels have a fair proportion of business people.
- Marriott: no personal experience. Due to its location near entertainment area, more odd couples than at the others.

As a HH Diamond on R&R who doesn't care about shopping, I'd consider splitting time between the Conrad and the Hilton, whose river location is good for sightseeing by boat, and gives it a much more relaxed atmosphere than the others, which are city hotels.

One personal dislike I have about the IC is that the doorman often fetches taxis lurking outside (a no-no in BKK), which ask a flat THB500 to the airport instead of using the meter. On my last stay I had to exit the taxi in the driveway with my luggage, leaving a very sour taste; this was after I had tipped the doorman and requested a taxi-meter ; my feedback to the hotel was ignored. Taxi service at the Conrad is excellent, I've never had the slightest issue there in dozens of trips.

dsquared37

.... near Garage Burger.

aBroadAbroad

When will you be there? If it will be rainy season, you might be better off at Hyatt or IC due to direct skytrain access. Even if you don't need to use the actual train, the elevated and covered skytrain walkway allows you to walk out the hotel all the way to the Siam station without ever getting wet.

Otherwise, the Conrad is nicest overall IMHO--people, campus, central location, great pool area for R&R, adjacent mall, etc.--and access to transportation isn't bad at all. Not only is the walk to Ploenchit sky train station very manageable (10 min), they have a frequent shuttle that will pick you up from All Seasons Place and drop you directly at the bottom of the skytrain escalator. As mentioned, taxis are generally plentiful.

Personally would not choose the JWM or the Hilton.

aBroadAbroad

Not to mention Hyde & Seek for a gourmet gastropub burger, or Bully's for a delicious and very reasonably priced, traditional American-style burger (and a game of pool).

RTW1

They have already renovated the lower floors and now are doing the upper ones.... so the new rooms are all that is available.

flyer121

I have been to Bangkok twice both times staying on the river at the Shang Gras Las, and peninsula. This is the first time for my wife. I really enjoyed being by the river and found it far more culturally interesting. The Hilton would be our only River option. Time of year is November.

sugarbird

I never consider staying anywhere but on the river---Hilton would be my choice of your options, I prefer Peninsula or ShangriLa

aBroadAbroad

The worst of the rains ought to be over by November, so that shouldnt be much of an issue.

If being on the river is a priority, I would personally stay at the Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La or Peninsula, not the Hilton. Particularly if the primary objective is R&R rather than shopping, sight-seeing, etc.

If you developed your list of properties based on points programs, then I would still forego the river and stay at one of the others an your list.

Just my own opinion, of course.

I also agree that if you're truly seeking rest and relaxation, you should really give Chiang Mai a try.

Whatever you decide, have a fantastic visit!

flyer121

We were considering JW Marriott khao Lak, however we are not sure if we want to spend one of our limited days traveling.