Review: Sofitel So Bangkok

100   Recommended
October 19, 2015 by

 Map | 10 Reviews | 80% Recommended
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Sofitel So Bangkok
 Map | 10 Reviews | 80% Recommended

Save

Share
Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
Stats

Just finished my stay here and decided to post the review directly to this thread.

What is your Le Club status?

Platinum

Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?

Yes, very.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?

Booked So Cosy room and got a generous upgrade to So Suite.

Room

Our corner suite that was located on the 28th floor was very spacious. The size was something between 75–94 sq. according to hotel’s website. I think it was closer to 75 than 94 sq. (referring to floor plan) but it was certainly large enough for two.

Bedroom included king size My Bed, large flat-screen TV and Apple TV. Living room came with couch, armchair, designer lamp, vase and tables, plus another TV.

The suite also had a dressing room with make-up table and safe, two toilets and bath room that was separated from the bedroom by a glass wall. It had both bathtub and walk-in shower which were facing to Bangkok’s amazing skyline from huge floor to ceiling windows.

Design of this water element suite was trendy – stylish and simple – but not overly luxurious. It had high quality furnitures and textiles and felt more like someone’s apartment than a five-star hotel room. This wasn’t a bad thing, but the suite was actually pretty cosy.

Combination of dark gray walls, wooden cabinets, and light colored furnitures formed a warm and comfortable atmosphere – something totally different than a typical sterile hotel room. I also felt that the simplicity of decoration brought the views from the room to a bigger part of the experience. I liked it.

However, the suite was pretty worn already although the hotel only is four years old.
Free minibar that included four bottles of water, juices, smoothies, energy drinks and local delights such as nuts were refilled daily. Other amenities were Illy coffee machine and selection of teas.

Overall

What was good and what was bad?

Good:

  • Service was phenomenal. The staff was mainly really good. They were friendly, helpful and kind. Many of them worked very hard to please us and made sure we were satisfied.
  • We arrived early in the morning. Our room wasn’t ready at 9:00am but the excellent Just Say So Manager (funny title, by the way) found us without any special requests from us a resting room in the spa area where we were able to take a nap and shower after a long red-eye flight.
  • The manager also had pre-arranged L’Occitane bath amenities to our room (without requests) knowing from our previous stay that we like them (the hotel normally distributes local Ytsara amenities).
  • The hotel offered tuk-tuk rides as a connecting service to two BTS stations and Silom Complex mall every 30 minutes. It came very handy but wasn't advertised very well. Also bikes can be rented for free of charge to do some exercise in the Lumpini Park.
  • Pool facing the Lumpini Park was awesome place to relax and dinner buffet in Red Oven restaurant just amazing. They had oysters, langoustines, king grabs, foie gras, sushi, sashimi and many more. You name it. Very recommended! We liked it more than the fine dining place Park Society.
  • Very fast wifi all over the house.


Bad:

  • Requested a non-smoking room and that was confirmed when checking in but still received a suite that had an ashtray and a musty smell…
  • Service in the Red Oven was hit or miss and unorganized in the mornings. Ordered French press coffee for two and received one tiny pot. When asked some more coffee, cappuccino was brought. Other morning only partner got coffee and I got hot milk… When ordered hot milk, got cold. Mango juice was refilled only to my partner’s glass when asked. The waitress didn’t ask if also I would like to have some but just disappeared quickly. Where was the proactivity? Had to call her back. Pastry basket wasn’t brought to us but it was done to other tables. All requests and delivers were handled by different persons. A little bit stressful experience from time to time.
  • Many basic elements of Sofitel, like Yves Delorme towels and bathrobes, plus Hermes bath amenities, were missing. Well, I know this is a sub-brand of Sofitel but if a hotel has Sofitel in its name, it sets some expectations. One could ask why do they have My Bed then if not the other features?


Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?

Yes. The lounge, Club Signature, was one of the best thing in this hotel. It’s designed by a French designer Christian Lacroix and was gorgeous, as theatrical as his clothes. Service was very attentive, too. Staff kept glasses refilled and made sure everything was good. I think service here was better than in Sofitel Sukhumvit where I found it more pretentious and cold while here it was relaxed and individual.

What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?

After arriving, we were guided to the Club Signature to check in. A possibility to have breakfast was offered and mocktails were served as a welcome drink. However, the welcome drink wasn’t given to the members of Le Club Accorhotels only but to every single customers staying here. One could see the same drink on tables in the main lobby on the 9th floor where most of the customers is checking in. On the other hand, one doesn’t really need a drink voucher when having a lounge access so not a big deal.

For the same reason, it wasn’t a big deal not to receive newspaper in the mornings. Instead of a personalized welcome letter, we received a copied list of platinum benefits that was shorter than year ago: e.g. full access to the Club Signature with free breakfast (6:30am–10:30am), afternoon tea (2:30pm–4:30pm), cocktails (5pm–7pm), and late check out until 5pm. One could choose to have the breakfast either in the lounge or Red Oven on the 7th floor. Food options in the lounge were almost same every day (breads, cold cuts, cheeses, veggies, two hot dishes), so got bored with the selection in few days.

Last year they offered free laundry for two items per day but not anymore. Also one day free ticket to public transportation were advertised year ago but not now. When we asked about it we were told that the promotion has ended. However, they gave two tickets for us which was very nice.

Welcome gift in the suite was ice tea, small selection of local fruits and sweets and bunch of roses (everyone staying in club level seemed receiving flowers).

Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
​
Excellent value for money. Paid less than 700 € for seven nights. I’m not returning to Bangkok in near future but if I was I would consider staying here again. I haven’t even tried all their themes of rooms yet.

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