Sunday, February 23, 2020

After a phone call with my girlfriend, who just came back to Kiev from Odessa by car (of course with my car, not her own… grrrr) and surprisingly managed the 600 miles without a flat tire, I was finally able to fall asleep.

But the jetlag… I have been reading somewhere that one of the reason for it is our stomach, that our organism would require food at certain times. And so I have been awake at 4, hungry as a lion. So I dressed up and talked to the nearest 7/11, bought cashew nuts and dried mango, just to get back to normal.

Luckily afterwards I was able to sleep again until the alarm rang me out of bed at 9.

The shower had enough water pressure – I hate when I have to search for the water drops !

Shortly before 10 I arrived at breakfast (served until 10:30), just a little bit better than at ALOFT, where one Platinum and Titanium members receive it for free.





I just wondered that even with the Corona-virus so many Chinese had been around.

Since the offered items weren’t very appealing to me I limited myself to Espresso, Papaya and my standard egg white-chili-omelette, then I took the elevator up to 19th floor where the pool and gym is located – because the Hyatt Place Bangkok would be ideal to reach a status level at Hyatt.

The pool area wasn’t very inviting, small, not very clean – in contrast to ALOFT.


Also the gym, separated into two sections,




more of an alibi-gym, just to have one. Here training wouldn’t be fun.

ALOFT or Hyatt Place ? Maybe for a business visit I would prefer Hyatt Place. But for all other aspects, pool and location (Soi 11, Sukhumvit party zone) I would chose ALOFT. Even both are not near a BTS station – but ALOFT offering free shuttle service back- and forward.

After my final check I went back to my room, packed, waited until 12, checked out and took a taxi to ‘Marriott Executive Apartments Thonglor’

At the hotel reception


the lady informed me that the check-in for the apartments would take place around the corner, next to the coffee shop. I walked over to receive a very friendly check-in.


However, I intervened when the wanted to block THB 80‘000 (US$ 2‘600) on my credit card, taking into consideration that the hotel stay for 9 nights only costs US$ 1‘050. The conter offer came quick: I should pay my room now and they would block only US$ 300 – which I accepted.

Because I arrived quite early I was asked to wait at the Club-Lounge until my room would be prepared. So I was guided to 40th floor where I had a Pepsi Max (who the hell drinks Pepsi ???) and an Espresso.

During my last stay in Bangkok back in November 2019 I checked out for options for my favorite Bangkok hotel, the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, where I had more than 120 stays over the last 20 years. But due to their new smoking policy (no smoking area by the pool, just outside the lobby) it was time for a change. I really don’t want to walk in wed swimwear through the hotel lobby for having a smoke.

Some of the Bonvoy hotels aren’t my style (JW, Courtyard, Le Meridien, WESTIN, Fourpoints), some are shabby (Renaissance), some are too much out of the way (Sheraton at the river, W hotel). So I went to the newer Marriott on Sukhumvit


and asked them to show me around. There two options, hotel & apartments. Choosing the apartments always means a 1-bedroom-Suite with kitchen, at a lower price than the standard hotel room. Okay, normally with the apartments you’re not getting the Titanium benefits. But at the Marriott Executive Apartments Thonglor they’re all included, breakfast in the restaurant or the lounge, Club-Lounge access, late check-out… everything the same, even 2 pieces of laundry per day.


So first up to 40th floor where the impersonal and cold Club-Lounge is located,


But with a nice view over Bangkok towards the river and cargo terminal.


While I was waiting I checked out my new notebook which my girlfriend presented for my birthday, a 2019 Apple Air. I have to say even I found no need to replace my 7-year-old Air, the new one is much nicer, the display, the keypad and especially the finger-print-sensor. Also the Apple logo isn’t illuminated anymore, which cause problems at night when the logo was shining though towards the display. I just found the magnetic system for the power connection better than the new USB-C connector.

I didn’t even finish my Pepsi Max (what a petty…) when I was handed out my room keys – so back down to lobby level and with another elevator up to my corner apartment.

Both, hotel and apartments, are located inside the same building, hotel rooms from level 22 to 42, apartments from level 14 to 21. The one given to me was at the highest floor, so 21st.

The apartment was quite spacious, just a separate WC was missing for my taste.









Also the welcome amenities were already waiting:




Since I’ll stay for 9 nights I unpacked completely, made myself comfortable.

Since my breakfast had been very light I left the hotel and just walked a few meters until I found ‘Bamee Kon Sae Lee’ on Sukhumvit between Soi 55 und 57, highly recommended in food-blogs and Tripadvisor.


I decided for the signature dish, homemade noodles with crispy pork belly and Wonton-Noodle-Soup, with roasted duck.


Both dishes were okay, the noodles a bit on the cold side.

I tried to keep awake, which wasn’t too easy. Also I made a photo for my girlfriend so she already knows what tools are waiting for her, to boil and frie potatoes every day ;-)


She was ‚delighted‘ !

At 5:30 pm I gave the Club-Lounge a short visit and was impressed:










In addition lounge staff was walking around, offering additional items sich as fois-gras-mouse.
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I just tried some items – they didn’t taste as good as they looked, by far. In Bangkok, where good food is available everywhere, at very reasonable prices, there’s really no need to eat lounge-convenience-food.

At 7 pm my friend arrived at the hotel, with his actual spouse on his side. Since he doesn’t have any status with Bonvoy they sold him the VIP package (the Titanium benefits) at US$ 70 for 2. Also his apartment, facing Sukhumvit road and the Skytrain, is a bit smaller.

His Spouse was hungry so first we went to the Club-Lounge.

At around 8 I took my friends out, to one of my favourite Bangkok restaurants, ‘Go Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice’


which got a Michelin Bib Gourmand Awards a few years back. I love Hainan Chicken Rice, one of my favourite dishes when in Singapore. But, for my taste, the one in Bangkok is even better.


Normally there’s a line in front of the ‘restaurant’ – but due to Corona virus there’re not too many tourists around. So we directly got a stainless steel table, ordered 2 chicken (without skin), rice boiled in chicken broth, the fantastic sauce (which, in contrast to Singapore, contains pieces of ginger and more chili), but also some Thai dishes like Papaya salad, spicy seafood salad and of course a portion of morning glory.

I have been so enthusiastic about the food, that I literally forgot to make photos. But it’s not the last time I’ll visit the restaurant during this trip.

From there I took my friends over to the night market, just 3 minutes away. It’s the typical night market, the usual items for sale, plus some pretty bad restaurants. But I was looking for something special, fried grasshoppers.


So I bought a portion at about US$ 1 to offer to the spouse of my friend. She was just shocked, ran away. In the end I ate some of the grasshoppers, fried, with lots of spices. I would say it just tasts like potato chips, same crisp – it’s just more healthy because the base is protein instead carbohydrates. In case you’re interested in the video, just check my Instagram, ‘christian_odessa’.

From there we took a taxi back to the hotel (never take a taxi directly in front of the night market since it will be much more expensive) and called it a day.