In august I spent 1 night at an SGS Grand Suite and 2 nights in a Pen balcony room. The following is my general comparisons and impressions and my explanation for prefering the SGS over the Pen. I should mention I'm SPG but have attained no status.

Arrival in SGS 8/20/06: My GF, who arrived at BKK 6 hours before me, went to the hotel and checked in at 08:30 am. Suite was available, no waiting, easy check in for her. I arrived at 13:00. The lobby was not huge but was well decorated, pretty and spacious enough. The Check in desk was staffed by a number attractive and very polite of Japanese women. They spoke no Thai and I'm curious as to why they were working there; presumably many Japanese tourists.

She escorted me to my room, which was delightful to see; huge, even for a suite, with a nice 27th floor view of Bangkok. The room looked crisp and new and very plush. A comfortable couch, big seats, king sized bed (very comfy), 2 large Plasma TVs, 1 1/2 baths, both oversized, pretty design, more western with a touch of Thai, wireless internet, fruit bowl on arrival, very ample desk space. Overall it was nice to look at and very comfortable to stay in. For 315$ per night (on spg.com) it wasn't cheap by BKK standards but a good value for what you get, IMHO.

The swimming pool at SGS is delightful. A beautiful design in the midst of a tropical setting. A sit-on-the-floor casual bar is next to it. If you're a serious swimmer intent on doing laps than this isn't for you, but if you want to cool off in pleasant surroundings then its ideal.

Breakfast was included and compared very well to any luxe hotel I've stayed at (4S, RC, Kempinski.) I especially loved the very fresh and multiple juices; Watermelon, Guava, Banana, Papaya. Best breakfast I had in Thailand, and probably most places.

Concierge service arranged our flight to Phuket and called the Meriden in Khao Lak to arrange for airport pick up (Also a great hotel. More on that one later). Very convenient.

When I go back to Bangkok, SGS is wher I will likely stay.

We got to the Pen after returning from Khao Lak. The lobby seemed much bigger than in SGS, pretty but not spectacular. After check in, we were escorted to our Balcony room 230$ on expedia, (w/o breakfast so for 2 people about 280$ really) It was 300$ on the Pen website, though not sure if that inluded breakfast.

The room was decent enough, though it seemed a bit cramped. The balcony was nice and certainly the 33rd floor view of the Bangkok Sky line and the Phraya river were spectacular. You can't take that away from the Pen. Queen sized bed, a couch, a desk with a pretty cramped with the seat against the wall. Interet was available but not wireless. TV was old style, not plasma or even flat screen, and not too big. A second, smaller tv in the bathtub seemed pretty useless to me. There was a light controll panel at bedside, which was a nice touch but nothing amazing. There was an old style fax machine, which the concierge used to send messages. Honestly, I don't know where the Pen's "High Tech" rep comes from. Lack of wireless and flat screen tv pretty much refute that, I think.

The pool area was certainly pleasant and the bigger pool is nice for real swimmers. You had a ground floor view of the city accross the river. But none of the forest flavor of the SGS.

Breakfast was very good, but the SGS was better, and had only guava and watermellon for exotic juices and both were watery.

Concierge was very good and developed our digital pictures for us and conveniently just added the charge to the bill. (with a 5% surcharge but totally worth it for the convenience)

In short, the Pen is certainly a good hotel but overhyped. The SGS was superior if the goal is the most luxury for the best price. Purists may say its unfair comparing a suite to a room (even a balcony room) but in my view, since price was comparable, its fair game to pit one against the other. Still, I'd be interested to read the opinions of anyone who has stayed in a suite in the Pen, or a room at the SGS.

Hope this helps someone,
Tol