http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

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Please have a look at my round-the-world travel blog and leave some comments - thanks :-).

Attorney28:

You take some amazing pics (in particular the Mexico City shot)! Looking forward to your BKK FR with particularly emphasis on how Diamonds are treated. I have a couple of business stays coming up and I'm in two minds between the JW and the Conrad.

Thanks for the compliment. I am right now uploading some more pictures from Las Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco, Hawaii, Tokyo, Singapore, Colombo and the Maldives from the computer in the Conrad Bangkok lounge (hooked up my hard drive to it). I don't know anything about the JW, but I am in the Conrad right now (am here due to the recommendation of a fellow flyertalker, ws8n (thanks again! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif), and I think I can safely say that in terms of service quality, diamond treatment and staff friendliness, this hotel is probably one of, if not the best I have ever stayed in. Also, in terms of how the room is designed and how comfortable it is (I am not in a suite), it is excellent. At a rate of about $ 100 per night, it is also probably the best value, considering the excellent lounge (I have been using their computer for hours, they told me because it is not so busy, I would not have to pay (normally, only one hour is complimentary)) and the hotel overall. They let me check in very early yesterday (8:30 a.m.) and offered late checkout (4 p.m.) without me asking, all this even though I did not have a reservation for that day (I had accidentally made my reservation for one day later). At check-in, they give you a paper with all the benefits listed for diamond members (don't have it with me, but late checkout, etc. etc.).

The room on the 27th floor (great view) is not huge, but adequately sized. It has a floor-to-bottom window and some distinctive Thai look, while being very modern. It is done in a clever way down to the detail - there is a glass window from bathroom to bedroom, so you can turn the TV and watch TV from the bathroom (volume can be adjusted separately from the bathroom). 4 bottles of water per day are free. Highspeed Internet access in the room is available. Room service food and service was excellent, down to the warm bread that came with the food. Express laundry service (within two hours) is available for reasonable prices (no extra fees for Diamonds for express service). The laundry came back gift-wrapped in beautiful boxes.

The lounge is beautifully designed and has a great breakfast variety. The lounge attendants are outstandingly friendly (I have been spending hours here today, not going out because I am a little sick and it is raining outside). They keep bringing me tea without me asking. Yesterday, I asked if there was a laundry place outside because I had a lot of laundry (t-shirts, socks, underwear) which I did not really want to give to the regular room laundry service. They called up an external laundry place for me which was cheaper, had them come to the lounge, pick up my laundry and picked up the laundry when it came back and then delivered it to my room. I did not have to do anything. They also recommended a place to me (writing down the name of the place in Thai, so that I could show it to the taxi driver) where I could get my broken computer fixed (big computer center called Puntip Plaza, unfortunately, I had bad luck and got to one of the most incompetent computer people I ever met, who not only not fixed my computer in four hours, but severely damaged it, but this is surely not the Conrad people's fault). I have not seen the aforementioned Julie here in the lounge (she might have the weekend off), but especially Vanessaporn was super helpful (not only that, but I would also give her the distinction of unofficially having the coolest name of any hotel employee I have ever met http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif).

Overall, I would return to this hotel anytime. In fact, I think all Hilton managers should visit this hotel to learn about good service, I think it has been suggested in this thread (comparing the diamond lounge especially in the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii and in this hotel here, it is like night and day, seriously). I have not seen the JW, but this hotel would be hard to beat.

I actually have a question. I know tipping seems to be kind of discouraged in Asia, but how would you handle showing the lounge attendants some appreciation (thought about buying some pralines and leaving them here, plus I will leave a note to the hotel manager commending the lounge staff)?

Will try to take some pictures of lounge, room and hotel later today (hope I will also feel a little bit better so that I can venture out a bit into the city before I leave, got the flu or something from a passenger sneezing constantly in my direction on my night flight CMB-BKK!).

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Please have a look at my round-the-world travel blog and leave some comments - thanks :-).

Any Hilton properties in BKK offer internet access for free?
 

Thanks

Not the Conrad. 642 Baht per day for highspeed in the room. One hour of Internet access is free in the exec. lounge for diamonds, though.

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Please have a look at my round-the-world travel blog and leave some comments - thanks :-).

[This message has been edited by attorney28 (edited 10-13-2003).]

The Hilton International is not free either, I can't recall the exact charge but I think it's close to the Conrad BKK's charge, i.e. ~US$10-15/day.

Thanks. That is acceptable. Regards

I´m quite sure the Bangkok Hilton was about to leave Hilton for another smaller Asian chain?!

I was able to use the computer in the lounge as a Gold.

I see these hotels were featured in the weekly email from hilton but no photos in the hotel homepages but the one with water villas sounded nice (Panwaburi Resort)

Cheers

Alan

Yes the Conrad http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Free wifi in the exec lounge and the lobby!

You are absolutely right. I forgot, mainly because I cannot use my own laptop right now http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

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Please have a look at my round-the-world travel blog and leave some comments - thanks :-).

True - but I don't think it is scheduled until January (?)

The exec lounge welcome letter implies that you only have 1 hour of free wifi a day, but there's no log in required and there's no time limit. There's one login point in the lounge and at least two in the lobby ("lobby" and from the cafe on the 2nd floor atrium).

I was told that the one hour (free) limit on the shared lounge computer is usually only limited to an hour if someone else wants to use it.

The direct home page for Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort, if this is the same hotel, doesn't say it's a HHonors hotel yet, but does look really beautiful and is the first 5-star hotel to be ISO9002 certified. The rates or special promotions listed on their website is significantly cheaper than what's listed on HHonors.com; HHonors.com's lowest price is USD$126.87 whereas on the hotel's special promotion page, you can get a package deal where the room is only US$59 per night.