Not Built for Winter

But how do the facilities compare?

jerry a. laska

You just need to read the threads for each property and make your choice. The comparisons usually occur in each individual property thread or the general Thailand thread. Basically, it comes down to the Millennium Hilton, Sukhumvit, and the Conrad are all good, if not great properties. Whether it is location, swimming pools, potential or consistent upgrades, or some other factor some people prefer one property over another, others have a different preference. In short, there is no best property for diamonds. Which one is best for you will depend upon your individual preferences. Based upon that you are visiting as a tourist, I would suggest the Millenium. But you should just start at the end of each of these threads and read back a couple of years and you should have an idea of where you should stay. If not, then just stay at each for one or two nights.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ok-tha-46.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ok-tha-49.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ok-tha-19.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...nd-tha-63.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ces-tha-5.html

1KHI

My take is if this is your first time in BKK, the river views from millennium rooms and lounge are wonderful. It's also slightly less congested than sukhumvit, but harder to get in. Conrad is wonderful, great service, but it's more like a business hotel.

Overall, for a romantic gateway, millennium is probably better. More seasoned visitors who like the chaos of the city (me), would probably pick Conrad, or flip a coin between millennium and sukhumvit if Conrad is too expensive ---which is the case more often than the others.

aceman

Haven't stayed in the other two, but I like the Millennium a lot. Don't recall getting anything as a gold, though for some reason the main thing I remember is how amazing their orange juice is at breakfast. Seriously.

kapkap46

Sukhumvit is the newest and thus the most modern rooms. I love the Executive Plus if you get an upgrade . As big as a Suite without rooms being separated . Been 6 months but the breakfast in the Executive Lounge is quite good and night time snacks passable.

Location is great as a 5 minute walk to the Sky Train which is the preferred way to travel in the city where traffic can be horrible.

Terminal 21close by is one of the newest Malls and offers about anything you could want. Some complain pool does not get sun but in the heat of Bangkok I never found that a problem.

monahos

Juice selection at breakfast has been severely downgraded at the Millennium, with only the orange juice served by staff from pitchers (with less alacrity than in the past, refills seem to be upon request), and some mediocre 'multi-fruit' juice on self-service. Gone are the fresh guava, mango, pineapple, etc. juices, which fortunately still are served in the lounge. The banana smoothie remains for now, although blander than I recall.

Cost-cutting has been ongoing at this property, more so since it has started to cater mainly to tour groups: a few years ago the cloth laundry bags and toothbrushes (when the Peter Thomas Roth toiletries were introduced?), now the juices and smoked salmon (and perhaps fancier cheeses: I recall when it used to have something like a -paid- higher-end cheese tasting event after breakfast hours, with some of those cheeses making it to breakfast) at the restaurant breakfast, and a further downgrade in the quality of the slippers, which are now the scratchy nylon one-rung-above-bottom-paper-thin type.
However, the quality of the evening snacks is definitely up. This is probably the way to go to placate non-group guests, although the lounge was a total zoo on a recent weekend evening, with guests lined up for and demanding cocktails past the 19:30 ending time. I really fear this property is too far on the slippery slope of cost-cutting, with the soothing 'sanuk' vibe missing from much of its demotivated staff - had my first unpleasant interaction ever here, with the rude middle-aged fellow in charge of calling the taxis. After many stays, I probably won't return unless on sub THB2600++ promotional rates, which is what I value the experience at.

The Conrad is a more solid operation, and its main breakfast is now superior in quality/diversity, although served in an un-atmospheric room. However, it too has been hit by the slipper downgrade, gone are the nice waffle patterned cotton Conrad-embossed ones, replaced by lesser generic nylon ones. Laundry bags were downgraded from cotton to nylon some years ago, and the Conrad paper bag is now a rare sight.

For those using the hotel limo services, the Millennium has some of the lower priced 5-series in town, and the Conrad's, while overpriced, makes an extra effort at DMK to wait near the terminal, as getting there from the parking area easily takes 20+ minutes nowadays, taking away all of the time savings.

Kalboz

We stayed in April for 8 nights - breakfast was bad but happy hour food was okay!
The old Emporium and the new EmQuartier are just steps away. T21 is one BTS stop from the hotel. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kalboz...57654031812710

As for the pool, it gets direct sunlight until around 4 PM.

More photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kalboz...57664838130013

dandare

Help !!
Travelling with wife son 17 & daughter 11 to bangkok for first time for all of us.
Only staying 2 nights. Which Hilton would you chose?
We will want to try and squeeze in as much as poss. Obviously not to worried about nightlife. Have read various threads but not sure as all hotels seem in different areas.
Many thanks

eponymous_coward

This may get consolidated to the discussion thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...iland-tha.html

Your question's not an unusual one for the forum:

I tend to agree with this response:

As such, what I would choose as a solo traveler with regular-ish visits to Bangkok would probably be different from what you would choose. So more detail on what is important to you, in terms of what you are looking to get out of the property, is helpful for getting meaningful opinions.

The Millennium is in decent position for doing temple tourism and so on via boat, but all of them are reasonably viable (and each property indeed has pros and cons). What does "squeeze in as much as possible" mean? What are you looking at doing? Are you willing to pay more to get something that is more in tune with your needs (which are...?), or are you looking for the least cost?

dandare

Thanks,
I realise its a bit of an open question,however if i was asked which Hilton in London would be best for families for "the sights" and upgrades for diamonds,
I would be able to come up with suggestions which is really what im after.
Having read various threads tbh im none the wiser.
In summary,best rooms for family inc upgrades views shopping and the normal sights
Im just looking for opions please as the knowledge on here is somewhat valuable

eponymous_coward

The question would be somewhat different to answer in London. The Tube is far more comprehensive in being able to get you from point A to point B, for one thing. Also, Hilton has MANY more properties in London than in Bangkok.

I would argue that there's tradeoffs for all of the Bangkok properties. Hilton Sukhumvit is probably closest to a mall and shopping, Hilton Millennium is closest to the tourist temple sights on the river and has some nice views (if you don't mind going across the river in a boat to get to the BTS to get to other parts of town), Conrad might be the nicest EL and executive rooms of the bunch, DT is often the cheapest (though Hilton Millennium has occasionally had the best prices of the bunch).

I don't really think there is a clearcut winner that gets you everything you want. Each of the non-DT properties has their partisans here (DT tends to be downplayed because it's a lower-end property). I would probably balance out which of the Conrad/Millennium/Hilton Sukhumvit is closest and most convenient to things I want to do during non-hotel time (assuming that I truly do not care about cost) and pick that one. Given you have such a short trip, not wasting time getting from point A to point B might be more important than any other factor. Hope that helps.

restlessinRNO

dandare - eponymous_coward offers good advice. Very briefly, the Millennium Hilton is best for trips up the Chao Phraya River to visit the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. The Conrad, Hilton Sukhumwit or Double tree would be best for shopping and using the BTS Skytrain. I find them all reasonably priced, and certainly compared to London Hilton prices! The DT is cheapest, and does not have an executive lounge. The Conrad's executive lounge is the nicest, IMHO. Keep in mind that traffic in Bangkok can be bad and transfers time-consuming.

Amelorn

I'd put in my vote for the Millennium Hilton. I stayed on the exec floor and loved it. Watching the sunset over the river and the palace/temples while nibbling on (substantial) snacks/beer was great.

As a first-timer to BKK I liked it for the proximity to the temples/palace via boat, in addition to some more "inland" locales via foot if you didn't mind walking. I never once gave a thought to traffic.

NoY

THIS ^^^

thbe

Millennium Hilton has the lowest standard, but the view is great, the location is tourist friendly and the suites are bearable. It's especially for tourists, who are not used to stay at a 5 star hotel, so they don't know, what's missing there.

Hilton Sukhumvit has a higher standard than Millennium and is much newer. It's close to a BTS station and to some shopping malls. It's more a kind of business hotel.

Conrad has the highest standard with a lot of embassies around it. Even if they have a shuttle service to the next BTS station, it's least conveniently located.

Even if I personally prefer Conrad, I recommend Millennium Hilton for your needs. It's just more suitable for a family of four. But you should book a suite, two rooms or a suite and one room. The good news are, that there are suites which can be added by two rollaway beds. And the risk, to get a bad room (they have some really bad ones there), is lower when booking a suite.

Normally the rates at the Millennium are the lowest ones. But sometimes they are quite high and even higher than Conrad or Sukhumvit. In that case I would think again about it.