FlyerTalk Forums - Tips for best rooms or recommendations?

It was hit or miss really! I can now safely say I am no fan of the Pullman Brand! Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach being the only exception.

Maybe it was just the Pullman G in Bangkok that put a bad taste in my mouth at the very beginning of the trip. I booked airport pickup through the hotel and confirmed via email with my flight details and all. When I arrived at the airport I found the Pullman G hotel signage expecting to be taken to my car. I was refused and told I didn't book a car. I showed the confirmation emails, they called the hotel and the hotel said I never confirmed, I got on the phone and spoke to them as well and they very rudely told me they would not drive me to the hotel. I took a taxi and asked the hotel to pay for it once I arrived. They obliged and paid for the taxi, since they didn't argue and paid it straight away I told them to put it on my room bill as all I wanted was it to be on my final bill so I could get the extra points. Upon checkout the charge was not on my room so I thought out of good will they decided to cover the (600 baht) taxi fare. So the trip continued and two weeks in I received an email from the Pullman G Bangkok telling me I owed them 600 baht and they will be collecting it when I return for my last 3 days at their hotel at the end of my trip. I found that quite rude and sent an email asking why they were being petty about 600 baht and explained it all to them again and luckily they never brought it up again when I returned.

The Pullman Hanoi was nothing special, a bit dated and the pool was missing tiles on the bottom in a large area so they decided to rectify this by laying loose bathroom floor tiles in the bottom of the pool over this area they moved around and clanked every time you passed over them. It could be a bit dangerous, someone could cut their feet on them if one were to break. I was very disappointed I didn't book the Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi. I failed to do my research properly and missed out on that experience!

While staying in the Sofitel Saigon the pool there was under renovation. It was supposed to have been opened again a couple weeks before our stay but I guess they had issues and it was still closed. The M Gallery is only 2 blocks are so away from the Sofitel in Saigon so we called the front desk and asked if we could be sent to the M Gallery to use their pool. The front desk staff told me she would have a member of the management team call me back. After waiting a while I finally received a call from management informing me that they had arranged for us to use the pool at the Pullman (clear across town 15 minutes drive away). I asked if we could not just use the M Gallery pool since it is closer. They refused saying that because it's Sunday the M Gallery pool will be full with their own guests and will not be able to accommodate us and we had no option but the Pullman. We took the hotel minibus to the Pullman and it again was a dated hotel, the pool was incredibly small with children screaming and splashing water all over everyone in sight. We decided we would take matters in to our own hands and just grabbed a taxi ourselves to the M Gallery. Once we got to the hotel we showed our Sofitel key cards and explained we were there to use the pool and we immediately escorted to the rooftop pool which was completely deserted. We were the only ones there along with the bar staff. (so much for to busy to accommodate us).

As far as Sofitel Saigon goes other than that mix up with the pool we had no issues, it was quite a nice hotel although we did put laundry in and got a £130 bill for the 2 bags of laundry we had them do which was a bit of a surprise!

Our favorite hotel of the trip by far was the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra! Absolutely magnificent! I do not have one thing to fault this hotel on aside from the room upgrade was a bit strange. I believe I booked the standard room here so was upgraded to the next category. But the next category the only difference seemed to be that they cut the patio space in half to make room for an exercise bike to be in the room? This was a completely unnecessary addition especially since the very bright display on the exercise machine could not be turned off without cutting power to the whole room to include the ceiling fan. We ended up draping our robes over the display which cut out some of the bright light but not all of it. Aside from that I would definitely return to this hotel in a heartbeat. It was just a great experience from beginning to end. And while we were there they were in the process of turning what was previously one of their fine dining restaurants into a club lounge! So that will be a very nice addition once that is complete. I believe I was told it would be done in a couple months.

Hotel Royal Hoi An - MGallery by Sofitel was another hotel that we really enjoyed. They went above and beyond with the platinum benefits. To the extent that the check-in was maybe a bit too long winded just because they were trying to give as much attention and information across to me as they could. Because I booked breakfast rates they gave me credit to my room for the amount of the breakfasts and they also threw in complementary 30 minutes spa treatments for both of us which was a very nice surprise, this was on top of all of the regular benefits you would expect. We were given welcome drinks as well as welcome drink vouchers to use later which not many hotels I've noticed actually do both. This is another hotel I would definitely return to!

Novotel Ha Long Bay was quite a generic Novotel. We were double upgraded to their biggest suite which was nice, I don't imagine they see many platinum members here since it is quite far out of the way. It's a 4 hour drive from Hanoi. I would not return since I was not a fan of Ha Long Bay in general. Vietnam could definitely use some environmental regulations in place like Thailand because they are just destroying all of the countries natural beauty with pollution! It is very disappointing.

Novotel Phuket Phokeethra I was so unimpressed upon arriving at this hotel that I decided to cancel my reservation on the spot and move to another hotel. This hotel is advertised as 5 stars on accors website and I even asked the guest relations manager there if they were actually 5 stars and she assured me they were. This is very surprising since the "Phokeethra" represents the ownership of the hotel which is the same owners of the 3 Sofitel Phokeethras which are truly 5 stars above and beyond. They own the two in Cambodia and the one in Krabi Thailand. I understand that it is just a Novotel but if it has the badge of 5 stars there is a certain level of luxury you would expect to come along with it. This hotel definitely did not have any of it. From the moment you arrive the hotel seems very mediocre. The lobby is bland which no character. We waited 40 minutes to be checked in, the smoking area out front was just a pile of rubbish with overflowing bins and cigarette butts littering the place. After I told the guest relations manager I did not want to stay there she immediately upgraded me to the best room in their hotel and asked me to please see the room before I made my decision to stay or go. I agreed to see the room, she checked us in and escorted us to the suite on the top floor and left us with her card if we needed anything. The space in the room was nice and it looked quite nice but when you look a bit closer you can tell just how cheaply it was put together. Even though this hotel is only 1 year old door handles were falling off in the suite not from overuse because the room seemed like it hadn't been used more than a couple times, but just from the quality of the material used. It was all made up of MDF Board and plastic handles. In contrast on the last day of our trip we stayed at the Novotel and BKK airport which is also a 5 star Novotel and this was truly was 5 stars and you can see that it can be done correctly in a Novotel. Even though I booked a non-refundable rate for the Novotel Phokeethra Phuket the guest relations manager went ahead a processed a refund for me anyway without my knowledge, I had already explained to her that I was willing to take the hit on the non-nonrefundable rate. It was only after I went back in and asked her if I would still get credit for the check-in since it was non-refundable (status night and points) when she informed me that she was processing a refund for me.

We ended up moving to the Swisshotel Resort Patong Phuket. Booked the junior suite was upgraded to the king suite. You can tell this hotel had seen better days as well, I think that can be said for anything in the Patong Beach area. I definitely would not be returning only because Patong was just a disgrace of a location. It was filthy and over crowded with tourists and reminded me of a little Australia, much like Kuta in Bali, not my type of scene. The hotel itself apart from being dated was quite nice, the lounge was very quiet and the room was very spacious. In the bathroom there was a very large stone bath which looked really nice so I decided to use it one evening. Stone does not go very well as a bath in an air conditioned room! The stone was so cold that the hot water immediately went cold as it filled the tub and didn't make for a very enjoyable bath.

So like I said a bit hit or miss depending on the stay but overall we had an amazing time, they are some places we would skip if doing it again and others we would extend! I believe I've mentioned all of the hotels that we stayed in during the trip!