bwiadca

I forgot to ask. Is there a way to walk by the river side to the new shopping mall? Or you need to walk to the main street only and go from there?

Thanks

Delectatio

Trough front and main street only. Only a few min walk so no big deal...

bwiadca

Thanks. I was hoping that they would make some walkway by the river end or next to the overpriced coffee shop

smithrh

There is a tiny gangway from the river to the street after the bar, but it's very narrow and completely un-lit. No recommended - walk out by the hotel.

Agreed it would be great to have a river-side walkway there.

worldiswide

If the Waldorf and Conrad have not WOW'd you then set really low expectations for this hotel.

580FA

Yes I am here right now and took that gangway/alley yesterday, thinking it a shortcut.

DEFINITELY GO OUT THE FRONT!

worldiswide

I did the same walk in December and won't do it again. Otoh it does provide a view into another side of bangkok

Kalboz

My sources tells me that it was a the Japanese Supermarket (and other merchants) requirement to get the crowds through the main entrance rather than the river end to enhance their exposure to potential sales!

But don't be discouraged, the Hilton Garden Inn is opening in 2021 just opposite the BTS Gold line extension station at Iconsiam and you will have direct access to the property.




You must have walked along the bottom portion of the wall shown in the lower right side of this photo - taken from Family Suite 2602 (December 2018).

smithrh

Yep, that's it.

Hey, I liked the Japanese supermarket in the mall...

I think a small river-side entrance would be ideal though. As it stand now, it's still not a pedestrian-friendly walk from the lobby down the driveway complex to the street.

escape4

What Marriott properties wowed you more than Waldorf?

I am sorry to say but if you were not wowed by a hotel that costs 8-9k THB per night for the entry level room then you are unlikely to be wowed by a hotel in a brand a couple of notches below which charges a third of the price. I could say this in any city of the world.

exploreaswego

Surprisingly, the Marriott Surawongse we stayed had exceeded our expectations. It was the whole experience from check in, to the suite upgrade without even asking for one, to the club lounge service quality and food offering - felt like we were in the JW, to the incredible infinity pool and the exclusive rooftop bar that gave us 30% discount for being elites. The service throughout made us felt welcomed and appreciated as elites, and during our stay, they opened at the same time as the Waldorf Astoria, so rates were under 4kTHB per night. It has the winning recipe that it can command higher rates comparable to the Waldorf now. We also adore some of the luxury collections under the Marriott portfolio, but those are stories for another time.

In comparison, the attitude at the Waldorf feels cold and like it's your privilege to even be in the property. I get that it's cool to be an ultra luxury property and the first WA in South East Asia, but the property never really done anything worthy of the "bespoke" luxury service they promised.The stay felt more like we were staying in an expensive condo service apartment, which I think it was btw, that is shared with magnolia management if I remember correctly. During our stay, we were celebrating my mom's 60th birthday, and we did hinted to them during check in. There was some miscommunication between the hotel that they wanted to do something special for us, turns out they forgot to deliver us a cake to our room as a supposedly surprise, and insisted we wait for the chef to prepare us a cake to take with us for our celebration dinner, only to have the cake charged to our folio upon check out which we never asked for in the first place. Needless to argue, we paid for the cake, and that's that for staying at a ultra luxury property as a Diamond elite paying a premium rate.

In a crowded luxury hospitality market in Bangkok, it can be no surprise that a regular full service hotel like a Marriott or Hyatt can sometimes exceed expectations and overtake a stay in a St Regis, Park Hyatt or even in this case a Waldorf Astoria. Branding can only take you so far, it's how you reward your elites and the execution of the service that creates the experience.

Overall our stay at the Millennium was on the positive side, and we can understand why rates are much cheaper. The bulk of the hotel's business is tour groups, perhaps because our stay overlapped the start of the Lunar New Year period. But it's a big hotel, massive for its size, the rooms were renovated very nicely and the large windows are one of the highlights of our stay. We liked walking proximity to the Icon Siam mall which is also massive, and the rapid extension of the BTS construction to the property which will be a plus when completed. Which will address the issue that the property is quite far from everything, that requires you to jump on a cab or a water ferry to get to anywhere.

The club lounge has exceptional views on the 31st floor, but the food is really nothing to ring home about. On our first night, the soup I had was cold, and the fried snacks which I quote "was absolute garbage" from another american guest telling his wife that was in front of me in the line. The lounge staff didn't really exercise any crowd control, and we ended up sitting beside throngs of Chinese tour groups with very unruly behavior. We spoke to the director of operations the next morning, and there was immediate improvement when they added more experience lounge staffing and a chef to tend to the food refill. Overall, if you have business to be done around that area, it's a good hotel for a few nights stay, anything beyond it's better to choose another property near the city center or downtown area.

escape4

bluestrudels I stayed at MH, Marriott Surawongse, and WA before. Marriott is a lot closer to MH in terms of hotel class than WA is. I agree with your comments about MH. The hotel is solid but far from perfect, pricing reflects that so it's fair; it's almost always cheaper than Marriott.

The one element where I disagree is your comparison Marriott vs WA. The quality of the hardware is far superior at WA by several notches and there is no comparison possible - Marriott Surawong is more basic and feels more Ikea while WA is a real luxury hotel even better than StRegis and Park Hyatt. Then regarding club lounge, WA does not have one and most luxury hotels do not have one either so we cannot blame WA for that. If you like a lounge then perhaps WA is a bad fit for you but that is not a reason for stating that Marriott is superior in my humble opinion. Speaking of quality of food offering, the breakfast benefit at Marriott Surawong is one of the weakest I have seen in Bangkok out of 20+ hotels while WA is fabulous quality. MH breakfast in Flow restaurant is also hugely preferable to breakfast in the lounge at Marriott, where they do not allow breakfast in the restaurant as Platinum/Titanium/Ambassador benefit. MH gives you the choice lounge or restaurant

MH lounge is great for views, and panoramic suites are great too... Marriott has nothing similar to offer, no views from anywhere. Yes happy hour food is subpar for MH relative to Marriott which is a bummer, no argument there.

Speaking of service, I am always treated very well at MH as staff recognizes me. At WA they remember my special pillow order and they have them ready in the room when I arrive - that is good service. Also they delivered great service for a special occasion on our last stay, sorry they fumbled for you but my experience was the opposite so I guess we can say they can be inconsistent.

littlejoshua

Just checked out. Before the stay I sent email asking for suite upgrade as a diamond member, and was told based on availability when checking in. During check in I was asked for a payment if I want to upgrade to suite from my basic room booking, otherwise they can only upgrade me to executive room for free.

I read similar story here, but I had impression that ppl pay around 1k for that. I paid 1700++ (2000.9 baht) instead. Don't know why there is a difference.

NoY

Here now for a quick one night stopover en route to Phuket, and all is well, but of course v quiet compared to normal. Upgraded to King Exec. from lowest cat. room.
The Exec Lounge is open now from 9.00am only, and its business as usual, except for brekkie which is now served in Flow on the GF by the river.

There is of course active promotion of anti-bacterial measures.

teemuflyer

I wonder how long restaurants in Thailand will remain open until ordered closed for a period of time. And hopefully they are anti-viral measures..