I have been curious about Sofitel SO Bangkok for a while because of a strange mix of rave reviews and so-so reviews, but I never pulled the trigger until now because in Bangkok, other loyalty programs are more generous than Accor regarding suite upgrades.  During the virus outbreak it was a good time to finally try this property to improve my odds of an upgrade because during such circumstances Sofitel SO might not be at a competitive disadvantage relative to my regular go-to hotels in the city.  

Location

The location of Sofitel SO is unlikely to be appealing to most travellers.  For public transport it’s close to the Lumphini MRT station so not too bad, but most people generally prefer to be near the BTS Sukhumvit line.  

Room

I booked the entry level room and I was hoping for an upgrade to the studio room type, which would be comparable to a junior suite upgrade at other hotel chains. The bad news is that at check-in they told me I received the dreaded one-category upgrade which is uncompetitive relative to other hotel chains.  The good news is that after I politely asked why not an enhanced upgrade given low occupancy, they came back to me with better than I hoped for: I leapfrogged the "studio" and "suite" room types, to end up in the "loft" room type on the top floor (28th).  At least this is what I was told by staff, the FT regulars at this property might be able to confirm by looking at pictures and the floor plan. The design of the room is very nice, floor to ceiling windows, electrically-operated blinds, quality flooring (no carpet), 1.5 bath, the main bathroom being very bright with huge windows including view of the city while preserving privacy since we were on a high floor.  There is a pillow menu and combined with the very soft bed sheets and powerful air conditioning, we slept very well during our stay.  There was also a complimentary mini-bar with soft drinks and snacks replenished daily.  Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the room and I would rank it in the top quartile of suites we have seen in Bangkok - about two dozens of them, which is enough to make me a relatively reliable judge for this market.  

Dining

For breakfast there was a buffet for fruits, veggies, and pastries, but not for hot food which was instead offered a la carte.  I do not know if this is a standard feature or if it’s because of the virus outbreak, but anyway an a la carte menu is more upscale than a buffet as far as I am concerned so I was satisfied.  Some hotels in a similar price range offer a limited a la carte menu which only includes varieties of eggs therefore nothing to write home about.  At Sofitel SO you can find a la carte dishes that you would normally see in a buffet at other hotels in Bangkok so it's a major plus.  For example I enjoyed the green curry, pad see eew noodles, and the Japanese breakfast box although strangely it contained chicken rather than grilled salmon.  I am not a fan of ice cream especially not for breakfast, but some guests will love this unusual feature that you cannot find in many hotels.  I should also mention that the choice of fruits was above average for Bangkok and included mangoes and passion fruit.  

In normal circumstances breakfast is not only offered in the restaurant, but also in the lounge as an alternative for Platinum guests but during our stay it was restaurant only and anyway it was not crowded so I did not feel like we missed anything.  We only went to the lounge during happy hour which is a bit too early 4-6pm in my opinion.  The cocktails barely had any alcohol and the food tray was weak (I am not sure if they have a buffet in non-virus circumstances) so in terms of both food and drinks this lounge lags behind the competition.  However Sofitel SO’s most comparable hotel from other chains is probably W, and W is not very generous with drinks and it does not have a lounge so Sofitel SO is better with a lounge (even if it’s not my favorite) than no lounge at all.  The main positive was that the décor is very nice and there is some seating outside for people who want warm air and a nice view of the city.  

We ordered room service a couple of times.  The food was well presented, it was delicious, and prices were not overly high.  

Safety - Virus Outbreak

The safety measures in this hotel were smart.  Right at the entrance of the hotel on the ground floor they checked the temperature of all incoming guests and offered disinfectant gel.  Also at the restaurant for breakfast and at the lounge they offered guests the gel in front of the entrance.  In fact it was probably more like a requirement than an offer to be honest, which was entirely appropriate.  From what I read before, the pool is a highlight of this hotel but unfortunately it was closed because of the virus so we could not appreciate this hotel to the full extent.  The gym was also closed but thankfully the staff was kind enough to bring dumbbells to our room to keep up with our workout routine.  

Service

Service before and during our stay was good.  First of all I found a best rate guarantee on a third party website but since submitting BRG claims on Accor.com is unreliable, I directly asked the property if they would honor my BRG claim.  Some hotels refuse to do so, but the more customer-oriented hotels have accepted when I tried in the past.  Sofitel SO was one of them so they earned my business and it was a good sign about service.  The second positive step is that they accepted to change my dates when the virus outbreak disrupted our travel plans, and they did so without changing the (low) rate.  Once in the hotel service was good as well including in the lounge.  Housekeeping was well done and the room was serviced exactly at the time we requested during our breakfast each day.  The only area of improvement would be during breakfast.  Staff were not overly busy but they were not very quick to come to our table for drinks refills (if at all) and bungled our order a couple of times.  

Wifi

Wifi worked well during our stay with speeds of 20 Mbps.

Overall

I think for people with no Accor status (while having status at other chains), Sofitel SO is unlikely to be a great value choice so I am not entirely surprised by previous comments from @jinrop (who is quite knowledgeable about Bangkok hotels).  He could not find anything wrong with this hotel but thought for the price tag he could get better elsewhere.  While I generally agree with his comments, I think for an unbiased comparison we need to evaluate elite benefits at two properties while having elite status at both hotel chains.  In Bangkok it is not very hard to receive a suite upgrade at many properties in the Marriott and Hyatt chains.  With Hilton it is more sporadic except for Waldorf Astoria which is better but not the same price range as Sofitel SO anyway.  The lounge access and free breakfast for Platinum guests at Sofitel SO are nice perks, but other chains provide this too, so it comes down to suite upgrades.  If I can have decent chances of a suite at Sofitel SO then it’s a very strong option in the city, but if I knew ahead of time that I would probably only get a one-category upgrade then Bangkok is not a market where this will provide value for people with dual elite status.  For folks who focus exclusively on Accor, then the most relevant comparison is Banyan Tree, where we stayed last year.  At BT I did not have the most pleasant experience in the (loud) lounge with people drinking free beer all afternoon and being drunk and obnoxious by the time happy hour started, so I think the lounge at Sofitel SO is superior even if it won’t be as quiet and peaceful next time as it was during the virus outbreak.  Regarding the room, both BT and Sofitel SO are excellent thanks to attractively designed rooms, distancing themselves from cookie cutter boring rooms at other hotels; the room itself is a strength of both Sofitel SO and BT.  I don’t know if BT has improved their upgrade policy but it was not very competitive as of last year, and I highly appreciated the great upgrade at Sofitel SO therefore for the moment I declare Sofitel SO my preferred choice between the two.  That said I would need to test the waters again when circumstances are normal.  

Last time I stayed at Sofitel SO Bangkok was in March 2020 when we entered Thailand on the very last day before they closed the border for many months because of covid.  So needless to say it was a highly unusual stay therefore I wanted to return to SO in more normal conditions to see what had changed.  Based on my latest stay I can continue to recommend this hotel.

Room

I booked a SO Comfy room at the last minute and was hoping they would upgrade me as a returning Diamond guest to a suite because I saw suites were available online.  I would have been disappointed if the upgrade had been limited to +1 room type to a club room which is essentially not much of an upgrade for guests Platinum or above since we get club access anyway.  Thankfully they came through with an upgrade to a studio suite in the earth element.  

While our room was not as spacious as the huge upgrade we received at the beginning of covid times, the studio was very nice nonetheless and a sharp break from the various bland business-like rooms one can find in other hotels.  The design of the room was interesting with curvy features throughout including the large windows in front of the bed which made the room very bright.  The absence of buildings in front of us meant that our room felt relatively private, the one exception was the window in the bathroom but there were blinds we could pull down in the toilet enclosure.  

In the absence of hotel brands such as Andaz, EDITION, or Design Hotels in Bangkok, the main two properties of this style are SO and W; personally I prefer the room types at SO.  The hardware might not be the most luxurious and some spots are starting to show their age, but overall it was a comfortable room.  The one issue that they should pay better attention to would be housekeeping because there were a few dusty spots in the room when we arrived, nothing major but it was noticeable compared to the perfectly clean rooms at competitor hotels.

Dining

Happy hour timing has been changed modestly from 4-6pm to 4:30-6:30pm; a 6:30pm end will probably meet the needs of more guests than 6pm which is quite early.  The self-serve buffet was back, food was ok particularly the sushis and dumplings, although not the best lounge for food in this price range.  For example Marriott Surawongse and Hyatt Regency both have a live station with a chef with plenty on offer to make it a meal therefore in my opinion SO cannot stack up in that regard.  In terms of drinks the selection at SO was more impressive than food.  The signature cocktails were a nice touch although all of them were quite weak.  

Breakfast was the main downgrade since early covid in my opinion.  In March 2020 we had a nice a la carte menu and unfortunately the hotel judged that it is no longer necessary so the buffet was back.  On some mornings there was a lack of protein dishes, many options such as fried rice were vegetarian only; some of the dishes had meat such as pork, but contained bad pieces which were 50% fat and 50% meat.  I thought too much of the buffet was western style instead of Asian which is not what I am looking for in Bangkok, for example there was no curry dish on any of the mornings while we were there.  They had sushi which is a plus but since they also had it during happy hour it was a bit redundant.  As we chose a table away from the action as a covid precaution, staff tended to forget about us and not offer refills of drinks, etc. so I had to get up to ask every day.  One positive was the availability of coconut water at the buffet which was great.  

Overall

Overall apart from breakfast we had a great stay and I was pleased by the Diamond recognition with the suite upgrade which is competitive with other hotel chains.  When desiring a room which stands out from the routine, it is hard to think of a better hotel than SO when in Bangkok.