escape4

Introduction I have stayed at all Starwood legacy hotels in Bangkok before (except Aloft and Four Points), and almost all of them more than once. Since the integration with Marriott I have started to expand my horizons to Marriott legacy hotels to see how they stack up. After trying Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park and JW Marriott a few months ago, I moved on to Renaissance Ratchaprasong for a 3-night stay. My overall takeaway is that it’s a decent option to consider in Bangkok especially if location is important, and I was pleasantly surprised by the lounge, breakfast, and the room upgrade. However if the price drifts significantly above 4k THB for the entry level room then at that price, value become more questionable compared to alternatives. Location Some people have argued before that the location of the Renaissance is among the best of all Marriott hotels and I would tend to agree. Access to BTS sky train is not as direct as St.Regis where there is a direct link from StR to BTS, but from Ren you can easily walk to the Siam BTS station which is centrally located in the city since it is at the intersection of both BTS lines, unlike StR where if you want access to the Sukhumvit line you will need to make one stop and then transfer. For a first time visitor the location of Ren is good (as are hotels on the river) although there is probably a bit of a location premium in the price of Ren and given that in Bangkok location matters less to me than for many other travellers, as a general rule I will often have more of a natural tendency to find the lower price of hotels a bit out of the way somewhat more attractive for my purposes. Ambassador Elite Upgrade One of the reasons I have tried other options in Bangkok before Renaissance was Ren’s reputation based on reports here that it is difficult to get suite upgrades at this property, and when you get one it’s usually just a studio suite. I noticed that the studio suite sells for a very modest amount over the entry level room (350 THB) so I thought even people that get an upgrade are not getting something of significant value. To ensure I would at least have a studio suite and given the modest price difference, this is what I booked, while knowing I might not get an upgrade at all since I was already in a suite. It is possible that several other guests also book the studio suite straight up because of the small price difference between the deluxe room and the studio suite, therefore it contributes to the studio suite room type being fully booked more often than not and unsurprisingly by the time I checked in, the studio suites were no longer available online; hence the low likelihood of suite upgrades for guests booking the entry level room. One day before arrival I saw in the app that I had been upgraded to a Club studio suite which is not really an upgrade since as Ambassador elite guest I was going to have lounge access in any event. The two room categories above what I had booked are the Ren suite and the Exec suite. Both were still available online so I asked the hotel ahead of time if they normally upgrade Ambassador elite guests to suites and they promptly replied that they would do their best for an upgrade. Moments later, the app was showing a double category upgrade to the Exec suite, which I was very pleased with. Check In When I arrived at the hotel I was escorted to the lounge for check-in. The lounge manager called the GM of the hotel to inform him of my arrival, and just moments later he stopped by to welcome me personally to the hotel. He gave me his business card and told me to not hesitate to contact him if I had any request. Overall my arrival at the hotel could not have been better and it set the tone right for the rest of my stay. Room The exec suite is spacious (72 sq m) and sits in a corner of the building so it has windows on two walls and is quite bright. I liked that there is no carpet anywhere except for a small mat at the base of the bed and the wood-color cabinets match with the color of the floor, walls, and ceiling. The absence of carpet means this room is aging better than some others in my opinion. However because it’s not a brand new construction, some modern hotel features are lacking for example no USB ports by the bed side and power plugs with easy access were only from one side of the bed rather than both.The living room is not separated from the bedroom like in a regular suite so some might argue it’s still just a junior suite, in that case we could say the hotel has three kinds of “junior” suites: the Studio suite, the Ren suite, and the Exec suite. That means the only room type the hotel has which has a separate bedroom would be the Presidential suite which is in a completely different price range anyway and actually has 3 bedrooms. Because you get one large room in the Exec suite, the advantage is that everything is spaced out and does not feel cramped. There is a large desk with ample space to work. However I found the TV relatively small given how far it is from the bed. There is a DVD player which not many hotels have. The Exec suite has a large bathroom which is equally bright as the bedroom if not more. The bathtub sits right in front of the window and you can draw the blinds down using the wall panel controls for privacy if desired but as you can see from the view, the buildings are quite far and our room was on a high floor so I did not feel like anybody could see us. The rain shower and the toilet enclosures are next to each other, all with glass walls. Overall I really liked this bathroom, but I was surprised that the Exec suite does not have 1.5 bath which lots of suites in other hotels have (Marriott Marquis, Marriott Soi 57, Athenee, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, etc.). After all, this is Ren’s top suite besides the Presidential suite but it’s only 1.0 bath anyway.The main negative in my opinion is not the room itself, it is rather the short walk between the elevator and our room was which depressing. Hallways in the hotel have very poor lighting and dark walls. The picture makes it look more lit than it actually is. Fortunately nobody spends much time in hallways so it’s an inconsequential issue but nonetheless hallways are the worst spot of the entire hotel. Dining Breakfast was offered either in the lounge or in the restaurant in addition to 1k points. There are a few Marriott hotels in Bangkok following the rules to the letter and who require breakfast in the lounge only for guests Platinum or above. This is not competitive in this city and fortunately Renaissance has decided to break rank.Regardless, breakfast in the lounge was quite good and I found more than enough choice there. There were several Asian warm dishes such as chicken fried rice, stir-fried noodles, steamed veggies, etc. I enjoyed the mangoes – very sweet and juicy. Despite the lounge having a good spread, unsurprisingly breakfast in the restaurant had more choice than in the lounge: a noodle soup station, sushis, Indian station, etc. They also had several spicy salads for example on different days a chicken salad, fake crab salad, pomelo salad, and also an interesting shrimp & pineapple salad with cashew nuts and raisins. Delicious! Unlike in the lounge I did not see mangoes in the buffet, but if you ask staff they can prepare them in the back; not only mangoes but pomelo as well. Hot dishes were similar to the lounge but simply more choice, for example fried rice with duck or shrimps, glass noodles with seafood, etc. It is better than some hotels who try to cut corners and only offer options which are always vegetarian rather than protein versions. Quality at Ren was a mixed bag, for example the fried rice was too wet and some dishes too oily, on the other hand pieces of chicken were good quality and the spicy salads were great. Unsurprisingly, breakfast in the restaurant is more packed and less peaceful than in the lounge. All in all if I compare to recent breakfasts I have seen in other Bangkok hotels in the last few weeks, Ren is a bit behind Athenee, but better than W, Banyan Tree, and Hyatt Regency Sukhumvit. I would dare to say that Ren’s breakfast might be better than St.Regis in some respects. I wish quality was a bit higher at Ren as mentioned above so perhaps StR remains superior, but choice is definitely better at Ren particularly fruits and cold salads, plus the fact that my wife preferred the noodle soup at Ren than at StR and she is definitely an expert in that regard. So it would not be far fetched for someone to claim that Ren > StR for breakfast so considering that StR is in a significantly higher price range than Ren, it is safe to say that breakfast is not a weakness at Ren.Afternoon tea in the lounge is 2:30-5pm with some snacks, sandwiches, and scones. Nothing too special but at least it’s offered unlike some other hotels. Happy hour is a generous 3 hours for drinks 5-8pm while canapes are the standard 2 hours 5:30-7:30pm. I had modest expectations for happy hour food after reading comments about “mostly fried stuff”. Hmmmm no. If that’s what it was before, then I can confirm it is not the case at all anymore. Especially considering the recent happy hour cut backs at Athenee which is often seen as one of Bangkok’s top lounges, the Ren lounge happy hour is not bad at all. Examples of hot dishes were pineapple fried rice with cashew nuts, a pork dish with ginger, flat noodles with chicken, etc. Also one evening they had a cold glass noodle salad which was excellent. Fruits and desserts are available as well. Drinks are decent with some cocktails prepared by staff, plus so-so wines, two reds and two whites. Prosecco was available (Nua) which is now the same as what’s offered at Athenee subsequent to their recent downgrade to alcohol choices. The lounge is not very big but on the first night I did not find it crowded and it was pleasant. On the last night the hotel was sold out and the lounge was full, so experience may vary. The seating arrangement in the middle is not the most private but if you get a table by the windows I found that it was comfortable.We had room service once and it was ok. Not great, not bad, and prices were a bit high compared to similar hotels but not outrageous either. Pool The swimming pool is on the top floor which I thought was promising, however it was a significant disappointment for me. When I entered at first glance I thought it was an indoor pool. There is a roof and windows with views of the city and due to the set up it is very hot and humid in there – sort of like a greenhouse. But then you realize you are not indoors – there are windows only on the top portion and bottom portions of the wall, and the middle is open so you can get a bit of fresh air, but not much. The pool is long and is suitable for laps but I just did not like the limited ventilation which is usually the feeling of an indoor pool. Gym I found the gym to be much better than the pool. A lot of equipment is brand new and they have several treadmills available in addition to a good choice of weight machines. City views from the gym are great. Wifi Wifi was good with download speed 45 Mbps and upload 16 Mpbs. Service Service was good throughout including my arrival at the hotel as mentioned above. In addition I would note that guests with access to the lounge get one free piece of laundry per day which is usually not a benefit given at hotels in this price range so we appreciated the perk. Overall Overall I was pleased with my stay at Renaissance with a good breakfast, above average happy hour, and a better than expected room upgrade. However we should keep in mind that Marriott is very strong in Bangkok and there are lots of great choices. Prices can be as low as 3.1-3.3k THB at Ren for the basic room and I would recommend booking the studio suite for about 10% more and hope for an upgrade to a more spacious suite. However when prices are above 4k THB for the basic room where you might not get an upgrade at all or a very modest one, then at that level it starts approaching prices of other hotels in a higher class for example the two Luxury Collection hotels in Bangkok: the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit and the Athenee Hotel. The latter is probably a better comparison because it has a lounge; at Athenee the basic room if you don’t have an upgrade is quite nice, and if you get a suite it is bigger and nicer than at Ren, plus the lounge at Athenee is one of the best in the city and breakfast is excellent as well. So Ren above 4k THB would be more hesitant for me and at that price I might look for alternatives. That said, for a guest who finds a lounge to be desirable and for whom location is important, if prices are on the low side (for example it can be below 3.5k THB on occasion) and cheaper than Le Meridien, Westin, Marriott Marquis, etc., then Ren is an excellent choice.