wantan

slightly OT but is ICOM Siam worth staying 1-2 nights at this property ? Compared to the other malls in Bangkok.

worldiswide

Are you interested in shopping, eating, or just looking around? ICON Siam has a great ground floor that is meant to be like a traditional marketplace with lots of places to eat. There are also several floors of restaurants, and a light show at night which is very nice.

The shopping isnt that different than the other malls - threre are some cool things to look at that you probably wont be buying like luxury car dealers in the mall but you can walk from the Hilton - its not connected on the water side, you have to walk around the front to get there, or if you are coming home from somewhere else, the mall has a boat that goes from the central pier and docks at the mall. (at least it was operating in February of this year)

escape4

I am surprised to hear about a suite upgrade - what room type had you booked? I am assuming exec room rather than entry level because I have not heard in the past of upgrades from basic to suite.

NoY

Rather surprisingly it is possible to get to the mall from the water side of the Hilton, just turn right at the boat dock (upon exiting the Hilton) & pass the small Thai restaurant, Be My Guest, & make a right. Its not the most pleasant walk & not particularly well lit at night but we saw quite a lot of people doing it, so we tried it too but wouldn't repeat it! More pleasant via front exit of hotel & turn left at street side

The Icon Mall has regular, plentiful boats to/from many points at the riverside including from Saphan Taksin BTS/pier that run year round.

It's an impressive mall that has many many shops/cafes that are suitable for many tastes & budgets & worth a morning/afternoon at least, if shopping is indeed on the agenda.

puchong

Has happened to me twice - albeit on 1-night stays

pinniped

Two questions:

- Will traffic be an issue when we're leaving the hotel in the middle of the night to go to BKK? We have a 6AM flight, so probably want to be at the airport by 4AM (?). Plan would be to take rideshare/taxi/whatever is fastest to the airport.
- Does this lounge permit 2 adults and 2 kids under 18 to enter? Diamond member...may book 2 rooms or may book the family suite. Haven't decided yet which to do. Would kind of prefer to do 2 rooms, but wonder if that would affect lounge access for the 2nd room.

Chang11

No, just book both rooms under Diamond members name and card number.

gav0106

worldiswide

we did book a basic room I believe but had 3 people so maybe it was a bit above basic.

worldiswide

don't think it will be a problem in the lounge. 2 rooms would be nicer. Rooms are not that big.

worldiswide

good to know that you can get waterside..we didn't go past be my guest to check and we were going to the mall at night so street side was the safer bet

pinniped

Also - how would you compare this hotel's location vs that of the Conrad for general tourism, visiting the markets, dinner and evenings out, etc.?(Don't need late-night "nightlife" but don't want to be a boring business district if that's possible.)

First time in BKK, there three full days/nights. No real itinerary planned yet. From what I understand the river is where a lot of the action is so I just assume we want to be close to that.

Thanks for the response on the lounge & traffic.

worldiswide

I think the millineum and the river is better location for general tourism, having stayed at both. You have easy access to either side of the river, and the BTS Skytrain which is easy to use, and lets you avoid the traffic and runs straight thru the center of the city. The Conrad is close to a BTS sky train station and there is a bus from the hotel, but its a little less convenient than the river. I am guessing first time in Bangkok you want to see the Grand Palace, Jim Thompson House potentially, Wat Pho or Wat Arun (easy to reach on the river from the hotel), the malls around Siam Square, and if you are there on the weekend the Chatuchak market. Of course, leave some time for spa, either in the hotels in nice surrondings, or foot massage in some of the shopping malls or some of even the more basic local type places. Definitely go to one of the open air rooftop bars. As mentioned up thread, the ICON SIAM is the newest mega mall just next to the hotel. A little farther out is Ayuttuya the ancient capital and the summer palace, but that is whole day out. What kind of markets are you looking to visit, and what type of restaurants?

tide

Riverside between hotel and IconSiam is not connected. You cannot walk riverside->riverside or specifically, Hilton's pier to IconSiam's pier. The Mandarin Oriental Residences, which is in between the Hilton and IconSiam, has walls up all the way from the main street to the water - impossible to pass.

nldogbert

I had within a couple of months, a trip to BKK again and after considering all the Hilton hotels (and especially since the Conrad lounge was under renovation), I just decided to come back to this property (even though I wanted to avoid it due to the lack of Elite recognition and medicore lounge offerings in the evening). This time around, I went with the lowest expectation which did help to make the stay OK. This time around I booked a Premium King and was upgraded to a King Executive. During check-in, I had a sort of discussion at the front desk (arrived very late) about the lack of elite recognition, etc...[and I do still find the agents at the front desk of the hotel to be rather rude and unfriendly]. One thing this really makes me boil is that they can just lie to you straight in the face. I asked why if they have suites available during my stay (just 2 nights) can't they upgrade me to one - and she without even the pretence to check or effort just said "O sorry but all suites are booked out for the duration of your stay" which is BS - because I did check while on my way to the hotel the availability of suites (not using 1 room but 2 rooms).

Anyway, just accepted that and went up to the room. I did check to make sure I was given a renovated room - which was confirmed by the front desk.First time staying in a renovated room - in general it is a nice upgrade. Room amenities was ok, my main complain was the bath room.

- the shower door/area designed very badly - basically no proper holder for toiletries - either placing them on the floor, or try to keep them balance in the soap holder or if small enough placing them on the narrow space next to the glass panel.

- the shower door opens outwards and made so low that placing the floor towel in front of the door means it gets pushed away into a ball (I just decided to place it at the edge of the swing of the door so at least it still remains in shape to be used

- zero place to hang any towels/clothes besides the handle bar of the shower door and the toilet door

What I found rather weird/funny - not sure on the purpose - but there was a plate of bananas in the room (just 2)- which I am not sure if it's a welcome plate or just a normal item as part of the executive room. In any way, a rather pathetic effort for either case. It looked so random (like they forgot to take it away from the last guest when it was a true fruit bowl)

Lounge was the same. For me I tried actually for the first time the main restaurant for breakfast - although busy (as expected), they do seem to have some recognition for elite members (they place some edible chocolate with your elite level on the table) - and I sense slightly better service level from the staff (not sure how true is this).

All in all an ok stay again - again this is coming with a low expectation. At least what looks to be promising is that in ~2 years time, there will be a HGI coming up opposite the current ICONSiam - seems to be the annex to the current ICONSiam. I do understand that it will be a totally different service level - but if the price is right, I am ok to do away with the lounge, suites, etc and use the saved money to enjoy at the mall. [btw, while checking out the new HGI - at least to me - I just found that actually all current Hilton hotels are owned by the same management company]



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