I am writing from Le Meridien and I think it is a nice hotel. So far I tried the happy hour, which is served in the hotel bar, and it is ok but nothing special. The room is nice, I was upgraded to a room on the top floor (24th) which offers a very nice view (I think it they call it "Vista Executive"). The hotel does not have a club lounge, but then again neither does the SGS. I'll probably write something more on LM in the appropriate thread in a couple of days. For me it is perfect because I can walk to work, which would not be the case had I stayed at SGS. (I also happen to like this area more than Sukhumvit.) As for finding the right hotel, I think it really depends on what you value most. I had good experiences at the Westin just across the road from the SGS. The highlights of that hotel are a club lounge with very nice snacks, a liberal policy for suite upgrades (but I might have been lucky) and a nice Japanese restaurant in-house. The Marriott Sukhumvit has also a nice lounge (though I probably would prefer the Westin), but it is a little further out with respect to most hotels. Depending on where you need to go, this might add quite a bit of travel time. Similarly, the Royal Orchid Sheraton is a bit further out, but depending on where you plan to go it might actually work well. (I have not stayed there, but I went a couple of times for cocktails and I liked the bar; usually it also a bit cheaper than SGS, etc). If memory serves, the Westin has (or at least, had) the most generous policy for laundry (3 items per day), the Marriott and the SGS offer 2 items per day, and the LM offered me five per stay (which I find a bit stingy).

It really depends on what you like / need. I do not find the SGS to be a bad hotel, I just think it is not worth paying any premium either in terms of room price or of geographical convenience.

Ah! That we have unfortunately missed --- over 8 days, it did not occur us to check!!