I stayed at the Pen on my first trip to BKK in August 2001, back when they (and all other hotels in Bangkok) were struggling for guests and cut rates. Granted it was off-season, but I paid $135++ including breakfast. The Pen very quickly became my favorite hotel. I returned in December 2003 and again in December 2004, and its position as my favorite hotel in the world has solidified. Spacious, well-appointed rooms with great views, a terrific riverside location with an oasis-in-the-city feel, great F&B, lots of nice inclusions if you ask (such as MBZ airport transfers), excellent service, and undisputably the best value in the world.

If I had any "nits" about the Pen at all, they'd be that service isn't *always* stellar, and that's only because when you're at that level to begin with, the small slips are noticeable. After my extended stay in December 2004, I filled out the manager's comment card and left it in the room. Within days, the resident manager replied with regrets acknowledging my three concerns (unhelpful front desk, mistake by concierge, and error by transport desk) and stating that they would be addressed. We exchanged several emails over the next few days, and I assured him that PBK remained my #1 hotel and I was already looking into resy's to return for my birthday in May. The next day (it's a 12-hour time difference, so communication takes a day usually) he replied that he could confirm reservations for me and Mr. Megatop for May XXth at a special low corporate rate with all the usual inclusions. Somehow he had checked my file and discovered which date was my birthday (in 2004, the Manager of the Peninsula HK had sent me and Mr. Megatop a chocolate mousse cake to our room for my birthday and kept a record of which day, apparently, which was just a few days after she sent us champagne to celebrate our engagement) and volunteered to proceed with a res'y for us at a lower rate than I could have expected. When I made a special request about the reservation, he acknowledged exactly the unexpressed concern that was underlying the request--which was what the front desk had failed to grasp in the first place. When they make a mistake, they work very diligently to correct it, so I will not hesitate to go back and strongly recommend it to anyone.

If you look back through the threads here, you'll find many posts on the Pen vs. O debate. A general theme I've noticed is that younger folks seem to favor the Pen, while older folks seem to like the Old School feel of the O.

For my part, I had a horrible experience with the Oriental on my first trip and vowed never to go there. We had resy's at La Normandie, the French restaurant atop the O one night. Earlier that day, we ventured across the river to check out the menu before going shopping. It was August, and I happened to be wearing shorts (not short short tennies or something crass, but respectable length clean linen Bermudas) and a polo shirt. The O doorman refused to let us through the door--just kept holding up his hand. Wouldn't even address me in English, and kept talking with his colleagues in Thai throughout. After enough hand-wagging, finally he produced a brochure from beneath an ashtray stating that policy banned shorts in the lobby. We could see plenty of guests in backpacks and shorts hanging out in the lobby, so he was just trying to keep the riffraff gawkers out, or so he thought. I explained why we wanted to stop in briefly, to review the menu for our dinner reservations. He pretended not to understand and summoned someone else who had some command of English but not much (or so he let on). I told them they could do whatever they wanted with their policy but I instructed *them* to cancel our reservations on the spot. This guy was shocked and wanted us to speak to someone else or call the restaurant, then he tried to get a copy of the menu brought to us. I refused and told him that he'd have to explain what happened and why we cancelled. When we were done, Mr. Megatop lit into them in Thai (he's Thai) about being rude to foreign guests and that not being the Thai way and that he could tell they could speak English just fine and that they could take their attitude and shove it. (He's not normally like that, but when he gets irritated, watch out!) The O lost us as a potential guest forever, and we bad-mouth the place whenever someone asks about it compared to the Pen. Considering that our life expectancy was a good 40+ years at the time and we will visit Thailand frequently, they've lost a lot more than one dinner reservation-- probably hundreds of potential room nights over the years between us and friends whom we'll happily steer toward the Peninsula. I too am NOT a fan.