there is an awful lot of confusion on this subject, and it is not necessarily always on-topic in other threads.
poor treatment of guests (remember, no dress code for guests) >
Originally Posted by
Pickles
some friends of mine who were guests there were confused for non-guests and it wasn't a pretty sight. To this day, a decade later they will still spit sideways and do the a two-handed one-fingered salute at the mention of the hotel
Originally Posted by
Parrotfish
Oriental...I think I was nine...I was a bit lost trying to get back to my room from the pool, and the only place I recognized was the lobby. Needless to say I was not in proper lobby attire, and was scolded by somebody wearing a suit rather than being helped in a discreet manner.
Originally Posted by
Pickles
His retirement is bound to make many people I know happy, they never warmed up to Kurt (and viceversa).
NO DRESS CODE for nonguests >
Originally Posted by
jtrader
I was showing a colleague around Bangkok and wanted him to see the Oriental. We were both in shorts and polo shirts (not particularly fancy labels). We did arrive in a chauffeured car (either a BMW or Mercedes). No trouble walking in and having a clerk show us a few rooms and around the property.
(notice arriving in chauffeured car)
Originally Posted by
vuittonsofstyle
The door policy does not appear to keep out the sightseers. Earlier this year we watched endless lines of backpacker people wander past the Verandah with their cameras
Originally Posted by
grumbler
Oriental still gets many tourists (clad in many different ways
NO DRESS CODE for nonguests after kurt wachtveitl retired >
Originally Posted by
Kagehitokiri
feb 2012 >
Originally Posted by
GetSetJetSet
I'm currently at the Mandarin-Oriental...lobby...swarming large groups
Originally Posted by
FlyerEC
Must have just missed you
It is/was indeed very full with what seemed like a few functions/ meetings on concurrently.
perhaps the type of crowd you encountered didn't help
It's that the numbers that come to gawk don't help either
many older staff have retired
(note discussing of "swarming large groups" and "very full" and "type of crowd" and "come to gawk" including
FlyerEC who is a frequent guest of many MOs not just BKK. re staff retirements - older staff may incl those who did selective dress code enforcement? cost reduction could have been a factor in replacing kurt and older staff.)
so, above examples of no dress code for nonguests
but then there are examples of a dress code being enforced on some nonguests, including for example
1. nonguests with MO restaurant reservations
2. nonguests considering walk up MO booking (which wouldve made them hotel guest thereby eliminating dress code)
3. nonguests who are business guests of a hotel guest >
Originally Posted by
flyboy60
Well, if one does not include the manner in which visitors of hotel guests are treated by the hotel staff, that might possibly be the case. However, I find that when I stay somewhere, I would prefer that my friends and acquaintances and business associates who might meet me at my hotel do not get treated shabbily and insultingly by the Hotel staff, as this might tend to reflect poorly upon me. Unfortunately, the Oriental has acquired a bit of a well-earned reputation in this regard
Originally Posted by
flyboy60
Well, it's not like I didn't tell them how I felt when I checked out of the hotel post haste and moved
NO DRESS CODE for guests >
Originally Posted by
coplatua1k
The hotel is NOT stuffy. It caters to its guests first and formost but stuffy it is NOT. I have been there with teenagers and they were treated well despite their casual dress and loud moments in the public areas.
Originally Posted by
vuittonsofstyle
Having stayed at The Oriental BK for decades, with Mr Vuitton and myself often wearing shorts when out and about (a respectable length, naturally), I have never been stopped by anyone.
Originally Posted by
jkirk
We didn't have any grief about shorts in public areas.
Originally Posted by
Pauldublin
We have never had a problem wearing shorts and t shirts in the lobby. After a few hours sightseeing in Bangkoks heat and humidity I look a complete mess despite my best efforts and they still let me back in!
Originally Posted by
grumbler
as a guest (often wearing shorts - and many guests stroll down to the pool in robes
Originally Posted by
paul2
we wore flip flops and shorts in and out as we did at MO previously
the following again mentions selective enforcement, rude behavior, and then CHANGING the enforcement from being enforced to not being enforced, for a nonguest with a dinner reservation >
Originally Posted by
MegatopLover
We could see plenty of guests in backpacks and shorts hanging out in the lobby
Originally Posted by
MegatopLover
streams of apparently hotel guests are coming out in shorts or milling around the lobby in shorts
IIRC, at this point he may have even said we could go inside to the front desk and speak with someone there. I turned to leave. Tehn Mr. Megatop, who had let me endure all of this on my own, stepped forward and very calmly but firmly lit into the security man and the doorman in Thai, telling them that they should not treat foreigners like this and he knows very well they speak English and shouldn't pretend they don't just to get rid of us.
My beef here is not with the dresscode but rather with the staff's rude treatment of us given ostensibly in the interest of the dress code, most specifically the refusal to give an explanation and the feigned ignorance of English.
specifically note the last statement - it was not about the dress code. but regarding a dress code, it has been demonstrated that there isnt one.
(offtopic - i like dress codes and i wish more places actually had them and enforced them.)
more arriving in chauffeured car (mentioned above it was no problem for such a nonguest to wear shorts) >
Originally Posted by
Pickles
I've stayed at the MO many times, and I notice that they are very good at scoping out who's "in" and who's "out", no matter what you are dressed like. Once you're "in", you can be wearing a toga and Elton John glasses, and they'll welcome you with open arms. The problem is signaling that you're "in", which I do by usually taking their car from the airport.
Originally Posted by
peteropny
During all my visits to the MO (except for the one time that I was staying at Shangri-La with my partner when we just walked over), I arrived in a car with a driver
also - poor service, people running around, tour bus groups >
Originally Posted by
HUGE AL
If you're Asian, stay away from the MO. You'll be treated (typically) like crap. The Pen, on the other hand, will always welcome everyone -- as any great hotel should. If you're White, most places will kiss your butt... ESPECIALLY the MO.
Originally Posted by
HUGE AL
When I was in the Authors Lounge, I was COMPLETELY ignored and the only tables that got service were the ones with Caucasians at them. OK, perhaps it was me... or so I thought... In walks an elderly Chinese woman who was totally dripping of money. The staff wouldn't even get the poor woman a menu after 20 minutes. I ended up getting one for her. She told me this wasnt' the first time she was treated with such disdain.
Originally Posted by
UAL747fan
MO, and I felt it was a little too hectic, it seemed more family oriented, and there was a lot of kids and adults running around
Originally Posted by
MegatopLover
tour buses (nice ones, but tour buses all the same) ocassionally jammed into the tight parking area at the end of Soi Oriental