starflyergold

remymartin

As the 2018 thread is already closed I apologise for posting some late December 2018 stays

- Name of the hotel:
Veranda High Resort (Chiang Mai)

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked: Valley Deluxe, Mountain View
received: first night the same, second night plunge pool villa.

- How are the rooms?
the rooms looked beautiful. There were some engineering issues in the first room. The plunge pool villa was very cool, but as Chiang Mai in general is cool this time of the year I did not try the pool.

- What was good and what was bad?
It's a very nice hotel but it's not exactly close to anything. The area around it has some eateries which I did not try. Finding the nearest ATM wasn't easy
The hotel did go above and beyond on several occasions, including very late checkout.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
No lounge.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Welcome drinks which were redeemed in the restaurant.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
It was an expensive season. I might one day.

remymartin

- Name of the hotel:
Banyan Tree Bangkok

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked: Horizon King
received: One bedroom suite!

- How are the rooms?
the room looked beautiful. There was some smoke coming through a room nearby which was a bit annoying.

- What was good and what was bad?
I've been hoping to stay here for many years, and was happy to see it an addition to portfolio a few weeks ago. It's an iconic hotel. Sadly check-in was so late in the evening that most F&B outlets were already closed.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
No lounge that I'm aware of.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Welcome drinks which were taken at the lesser known skybar on the 52nd floor. Highly recommended

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
It was an expensive season. I will definitely return!

remymartin

- Name of the hotel:
Novotel Ploenchit, Bangkok

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked: Superiour room
received: unknown

- How are the rooms?
I suppose this a very Novotel-like room. I didn't particularly like the colouring.

- What was good and what was bad?
I like the location and I really enjoyed the lounge and service. The room was not really to my liking.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
Yes. Nice lounge with an amazing terrace area. I was told they will build a bar next to the lounge during this year. I found the food options a bit disappointing but there was plenty of adult beverages to indulge into. The drinks were served to the table most of the time.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Welcome drink, which I sadly used in the lounge instead of the decent-looking bar downstairs!

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
It was an expensive season. I would return if the rates were reasonable.

remymartin

- Name of the hotel:
SO Sofitel Bangkok

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
No

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked: So Cozy, city view
received: unknown, blue themed room

- How are the rooms?
The layout of the room was nice. I did not like the blue theme, though!

- What was good and what was bad?
The main reason I didn't like this hotel is my check-in experience. I paid a harsh price and was asked to pay 2000++ pp for club access. Late check-out was also a problem.
The pool area wasn't to my liking, although on the other side of the building they do set up sunbeds for when it's the only sunny side.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
Yes, bought up. Nice lounge with nice looking food but didn't really like it during the hors d'oeuvres, although the drinks were fine with decent wine. Breakfast was much better with cooked to order items such as eggs. I did not think the lounge experience was worth the price given it's pp.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Welcome drink redeemed at the pool bar. The welcome drink was okay for most items, which was good!

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
It was an expensive season. Given the cocky attitude I received from the front desk I will not return here.

remymartin

- Name of the hotel:
Pullman Grande Sukhumvit

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked: Premium Deluxe (checked beforehand this would be lounge eligible)
received: unknown but with club access.

- How are the rooms?
The rooms are okay.

- What was good and what was bad?
This hotel had some service problems and some nice stuff, too. The location is next to a seedy area so it can be a bit annoying walking to/from BTS Asoke. The main reason I stayed here was I got some good rates. I did not like the pool area as it was small and always in the shade. I believe there is no pool bar per se.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
Yes, it's included when Golds book premier deluxe. The lounge was spacious and I did enjoy the food offerings and even more so the cocktails. Most of the time it's self service, though. I stayed here several nights and it was never packed.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Welcome drink that can only be redeemed in the lobby bar. I can't remember exactly what was included but there were about 4 different cocktails to choose from. The lobby bar has a nice outside area but it's so well hidden nobody seems to know about it. At 99 thb for a beer it's very good value anyway.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Good value! I will probably return, eventhough there are and will be service issues.

remymartin

- Name of the hotel:
Swissotel Ratchada (formerly Swissotel Le Concorde, which can still be seen in some signage)

- What is your Le Club status?
Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked: Premier King
received: unknown but with club access.

- How are the rooms?
The rooms are okay - it's an old hotel and not everything has been renovated.

- What was good and what was bad?
The location is not really that great for a tourist. Ratchada is a CBD area and it tends to be expensive if you take a taxi from the more central areas of Sukhumvit rd. The hotel also has an old feel to it but the level of service is very good.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
Yes. I should have booked one category higher for club access - I did a buyup for an extremely reasonable sum. This is one of the best lounges I've been to in Bangkok. It was not at all busy but the service level is extremely attentive. They have a cooking station in the middle of the lounge with a chef on-site - torching salmon etc or cutting raclette depending on the night. The drinks were good with e.g. Tanqueray Gin instead of more generic brands and everything is brought to the table.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Welcome drink with vast options, to be used in the lobby bar. The service was very good here, too.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Good value! I will probably return, eventhough there are and will be service issues.

starflyergold

- Name of the hotel: Pullman G, Bangkok

- What is your Le Club status? Platinum

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
So so, room was fine, service in the lounge awful.

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Suite, no upgrade

- How are the rooms?
Fine, a bit too white, could do with some colour splashes.

- What was good and what was bad?
Food in restaurant was good, cocktails were fine too.
The lounge urgently needs to be renovated and staff are very slow in clearing tables at breakfast and food ordered takes far too long.

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
Yes, see above


- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
voucher for 2, welcome sweets were promptly delivered.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Good value for money for the suite.

Goldorak

IMH

Thanks for these helpful reviews. ^

However: only regular visitors or locals will know at once that all of the above are in Bangkok. It's always helpful to include the city name when posting here (and the country as well in many cases, although that shouldn't be necessary here!). Please also consider helping to build dedicated hotel threads, especially where they already exist (e.g. for the Novotel Ploenchit).

tartempion

- Name of the hotel: Pullman Khon Kaen

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked: Junior suite
Received: Executive suite

- How are the rooms?
Although this is a rather old hotel i still find the executive suite excellent, 84sqm, i drop things and then can not find them anymore, never happens in a 34sqm room....
I prefer this hotel to most Bangkok Accor hotels, I got tired of Sofitel Sukhumvit..

- What was good and what was bad?
After check in we were welcomed by the on duty manager, a nice gesture.
Breakfast is decent enough, no complaints but have seen better breakfasts.
Evening international buffet is so-so for the price, OK they have smoked salmon, otherwise would not attend.
Buffet starts at 18h, we arrived before 18.30 and most of the offerings were gone although not many customers, took long time for the kitchen to replenish and had smoked salmon for dessert (in fact my daughter brought some and so did my wife...)
We attended New Years Eve dinner and that was absolutely excellent (although pricey), so good we will be back for next years NY eve.
My only dissatisfaction if I may say is that the daily buffet at the Novotel Suvarnabhiumi is what they should offer at this Pullman....but then rooms are 3x more expensive, not worth the trip to Bangkok.

In the basement there is a Chinese buffet, a German brasserie/restaurant and an Italian, I do recommend the Italian, better than the nearby Pomodoro

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
No lounge

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
voucher for 2, unfortunately they ran out of house wine and tried Mont Clair in stead: undrinkable.
Better try their house made beer (they have a brewery on site)

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Yes, we usually stay here several times/year, the only more that decent 5* hotel 300km around our house.

IMH

I am wondering if it would be helpful to split the "elite experiences" threads by continent? (Or possibly keep this thread for Thailand and start a new one for the rest of the world. )

ContinentalVoyager7

- Name of the hotel: Swissotel The Stamford

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? It was okay

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked: Premier Room
Received: Premier Harbour View Room on 60th floor

- How are the rooms?
Recently renovated, thus everything is new. One design flaw was that they still use bathtub showers. Everything was furnished well.

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- Rooms are large considering you're in Singapore
- Newly renovated
- Views from all rooms. Strongly recommend the Harbour view
- Was given access to the Executive Lounge
- Location was fantastic

Bad:
- Too big of a hotel, thus not very much personalization to guest
- Food offering in hotel was subpar, many restaurants but not of good quality
- They wanted us to use the automated Check-In machine however, me being old fashion, I insisted on someone checking me in as this was a 5-Star hotel and I expect someone to talk to me while I check in. Not some machine
- Welcome amenity not sent, had to remind, no welcome letter.
- No complimentary parking available

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
Yes, Lounge was renovated. Was there during the first day of Soft Opening. Lounge is huge, located on the 65th floor. Food offerings was a stark contrast to the restaurants offerings. They were of good quality, wines were cheap though. La Minga Chilean Wines if I am correct. Overall, only at the Lounge did you feel that service was personalized.

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Voucher for 2, redeemed at the rooftop Skai Bar, wines up there were pretty good. I don't know why they can't do the same at the Lounge.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Yes, if the rate was the same, else not worth it. Got it at $150SGD a night. Usual rate hovers around $200+SGD, which makes me want to stay at Sofitel Singapore City Centre instead. Greatest perk here is the view.

ContinentalVoyager7

- Name of the hotel: Novotel Yangon

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Pretty happy

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Deluxe Room, No upgrade

- How are the rooms?
Rooms are good. Well kept and clean. They were of typical Novotel design.

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- Location was good, however traffic in Yangon is "unique"
- Service at the hotel was excellent
- Welcome amenity was nice although no welcome letter

Bad:
- I can't think of any to be honest other than no upgrade, however I was out during the day, so it didn't bother me much

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
No access

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
Voucher for 2, for some reason, no alcohol?? Perhaps a mistake

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
I would. But I would like to try Pullman next if I return to Yangon

ContinentalVoyager7

- Name of the hotel: Mercure Sydney Airport

- What is your Le Club status? Gold

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked: Standard Room
Received: Superior Room

- How are the rooms?
It was fine. Rooms are well maintained. I was there for a 1 night stay as my flight left early.

- What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- Location was close to International terminal.
- There was a shuttle service costing $7 to Airport

Bad:
- Abit of a distance from the Metro

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
No Lounge

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
I cannot remember as I checked in late at night and checked out early in the morning.

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return?
Yes, if I had another early flight.