Had my first night and day at the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok. The soft-opening started about ten days ago. The official opening will be in about nine days. The hotel is located right next to the Grand Hyatt Erawan and close to the Intercontinental. The BTS stations Chit Lom and Ratchadamri are just a few minutes to walk from here. There are plenty of shopping malls nearby, i.e. Central World and Gaysorn Village. The Siam Paragon is also in walking distance (you can use the Skywalk) or – like Central Embassy – only one BTS station away. Not to forget that there are many restaurants around. So the location is very good.

The welcome was very friendly. They were really far away from having a lack of staff at the time we arrived. The staff seems to be really happy, that the hotel finally starts its business. The check-in was in the upper lobby (15th floor) and very friendly as well. I’ve booked a King Deluxe Suite for THB 10,500 ++ a night. So I didn’t expect an upgrade as a Diamond member and yes, I did’t get one. Even I was told that it is a kind of upgrade to get the same room on a higher floor. But for me it’s only an upgrade if it’s a higher booking category. And at least at the time of booking that suite had only one booking category.

It was quite the same with the upfront email sent by my ‘personal concierge’ with ‘tailored offers’. In real it was a standard email with standard offers, which you get from almost every Conrad or Hilton. Not personal, not tailored. Anyway it is impossible to offer something personal or tailored without knowing the guest. I’ve staid at hotels, which sent a three-paged questionnaire before the stay and where I could find the reason of almost every question in my room after arrival. I suggest to use the words ‘personal’ and ‘tailored’ only if you provide services like that. The WA Bangkok doesn’t need to show off with something, that is not provided.

The room is very nice. First of all: It’s new, of course. Everything works fine and is in a perfect condition. About the most important things: The bed is really great and you can choose from a variety of pillows. The shower is really great as well. Rain shower and hand shower, where you can choose, if you want to use one or both at the same time. And you can set the temperature by thermostat. Thank you! I never understand, why in so many luxury hotels you have to set the shower temperature by using the two controls for hot and cold water. It never works really good and too often it works really bad. It seems to be impossible to keep the temperature of hot water in hotels with many floor on the same level. The solution is a thermostat. They have that at the WA Bangkok. That is really great!

OK, sleeping and showering are the most important things for me in a hotel in Bangkok. How about other things? Wifi internet works fast and fine and you can use it for 100 devices. I had more than 25Mbps without optimizing anything. The entertainment systems works fine as well. Curtains can be opened and close by a small build in tablet, which is easy to use. You can also control air condition, light and the signs for ‘Do not disturb’ or ‘Please make up my room’ with it. There are alternative controls for that purposes as well. I also like the bathtub in this suite. Round and easy to fill up quite quickly. Last, but not least: The sophisticated toilet, Japanese style. The toilet lid opens automatically, when you enter the toilet room. The seat is heated. There is a light inside. (the toilet, not only the toilet room). Important parts of you can get washed and dried. Not everybody’s taste, but what is everbody’s taste? Just nothing. I like it.

In the 16th floor you find the spa, the pool and the gym. The pool is quite nice and located outside. The gym is well equipped with Technogym products. Each treadmill has its own tv, if you don’t want to enjoy the very nice view anymore. The overall style of the hotel is Asian, noble and warm inside and a bit cold outside.

The breakfast area is on the 15th floor, like the upper lobby. They have a concept which is a mixture of food stations, buffet and order at the waiter. At the three food stations (more or less: Western food, Asian food and sweet food) your food is make by order. The time I’ve staid there, the staff at the stations was supervised by professional chiefs. I’m quite sure, that they will prepare your individual food like you want it. The variety of choice at the buffet is a little bit limited. The variety of choice of beverages is too limited for my taste. If you offer just three types of juice and don’t have mint tea, it’s better to present a menu than to ask: ‘What do you like to drink?’. Personally I think, a luxury hotel should offer at least ten types of tea and definitely more than three types of juice. But all in all the breakfast is still very nice, even if I would choose the breakfast at the Conrad Bangkok over it. Not because of quality, but because the variety of choice: The quality of all food, that I’ve tasted, at the WA Bangkok was very good.

The staff at this hotel is very friendly and highly motivated. I really feel, that they want me to enjoy my stay. Of course every staff at a luxury hotel tries to do that more or less. But feeling like being in the focus of the staff’s attention is more. And from my point of view you only get that kind of feeling if this level of service is supported by the management. At the WA Bangkok I think it is.

So, what is my overall rating for the WA Bangkok? I think, it is definitely an excellent hotel. Good located, great hardware, very guest-oriented staff. I think, that the King Deluxe Suite is worth the money. But there are a couple of other excellent hotels in Bangkok. And the rate for a standard room at the Conrad Bangkok is about one half or one third of the WA’s rate. So it doesn’t get my ‘You are crazy, if you don’t stay here’ rating, but I can definitely highly recommend it.

On what floors are the rooms located? I would expect that the “high floor” rooms would be near the top of the building but if the upper lobby is already on the 15th...