In general for guests with elite status in Bangkok, I think the price premium of full service 5-star hotels is worth paying for relative to select service hotels or hotels 4 to 4.5 stars, for example hotels without an executive lounge such as Four Points, Aloft, or Hyatt Place.  One could argue that Double Tree Sukhumvit is more than a select service hotel, but the fact remains that it’s not seen as being on par with the nearby Hilton.  For this reason, I never considered staying at DT in Bangkok in the past and instead I always booked at Millenium Hilton, Hilton Sukhumvit, and Conrad, because among other things I can get lounge access for free as a Diamond and get more bang for the buck at those properties. This month, for the first time I stayed at Double Tree because I needed 2 nights in Bangkok and I wanted to maximize the promo of 2500 Lufthansa miles per stay therefore I booked 1 night in DT and 1 night in Hilton; both hotels are side by side which allows for easy check-in check-out.  It was a very quick stay at DT, but I was pleasantly surprised by this hotel in several ways.

Room

First off, the two Hiltons in Bangkok (MH and Hilton Sukhumvit) have historically not been the most generous with suite upgrades so I did not have high hopes for DT.  Nevertheless we got an upgrade to a suite on the top floor and even got it at noon for early check-in and were allowed to check out around 1:30pm without any problem. The room is not luxurious, but I always value having the extra space.  It is a proper suite with the living room separate from the bedroom.  The living area feels a bit naked and could use more furniture; there are a few empty areas here and there.  Also the working desk in the living room does not have power plugs next to it which is odd, almost as if the table did not belong there and they ran out of ideas of what furniture to put in the room.  In contrast, the working desk in the bedroom has power plugs next to it.  The bed was comfortable and AC was working well.  The bathroom is built to a decent standard and in fact is nicer than the bathroom at Millenium Hilton which they decided not to renovate.  The only drawback of the bathroom at DT is that it is quite dark if you keep the sliding panel closed for privacy.

Dining

The other favorable surprise at DT was happy hour. I knew the hotel does not have a lounge so I expected nothing at all for happy hour.  However DT offers unlimited drinks from 6-8pm which is even better than the 1 drink per person voucher they give at the nearby Hyatt Place on Soi 24. I guess if I had read the FT thread I would have known about happy hour at DT but I never felt the need to consider DT as an option so I did not bother.  The setting for happy hour is also surprisingly nice.  You sit outside by the pool and there is plenty of space between each table so it does not feel crowded.  They also had a small snack to go along the drinks.  The drinks menu is generous including several cocktail options. 

Breakfast was also above my expectations.  Spread is excellent and quality was decent.  For example, some hotels only offer the same boring fruits… I did not expect DT to have passion fruit in the buffet, which I enjoyed.  In terms of hot food, there is a bit of everything for all tastes, soup, fried rice, a noodle dish, several vegetable choices, two fish options, etc.  The only negative would be the restaurant and its low ceiling – I would much rather have breakfast at the bright & airy Flow restaurant at Millenium Hilton.

We also ordered room service for dinner.  Prices were reasonable considering that room service is normally more expensive than local restaurants; DT was not exceedingly so.  Food was good and presentation was nice.  

Overall

Overall my conclusion is that DT is a decent choice in Bangkok despite the fact that I will continue to favor full service hotels for most of my stays, not only from the Hilton chain but also Hyatt, Marriott, and Starwood.  Many times the Millenium Hilton is only a bit more expensive than DT and sometimes MH is even cheaper than DT, so in those instances I question whether DT is good value for the money.  But depending on dates I think people on a budget who do not care much about an executive lounge, then DT can be a decent option.  You will get unlimited drinks for happy hour, reasonable chances of a suite upgrade, a good breakfast, all that for a location on Sukhumvit walking distance to a sky train station at a modest price.