3rdworldresident

as a local, i think the owner (central group) just wants to make this hotel being on radar for travelers.

then after a couple of years, it will be rebranded as Centara Grand (or one of other owner's hotel brands) for sure.

escape4

Perhaps they are doing a different kind of marketing and to different crowds, but my impression is that PH is heavier in terms of local/regional celebrities than other luxury hotels in BKK. While the PH might not be loved on FT, there seems to be a decent number of celebrities willing to pay 7k+ THB to go there instead of going elsewhere. 3rdworldresident might be able to confirm or deny my gut feeling?

DltaSchmlta

I spent 5 nights here over new years and had a great stay. I was concerned after reading some of the above reviews prior to going. I had the deluxe room which while smaller than usual still had a huge bathroom, separate powder room and walk in closet. I had no problem with fridge noise and the air conditioning was adequate with temperature in the 80s outside. There is a brief smell of sewage at the entrance as you walk to the elevator to go to the 10th floor lobby, but this smell is common throughout Asia and only lasted a few seconds. I found the Glob breakfast excellent and the happy hr from 6-8 was nice. You were allowed 2 draft beers or wines per person and given a plate of appetizers to share. Could sit inside or out on a nice terrace. The front desk staff was very pleasant and helpful in arranging activities. (If they arrange a driver for you, ask for Pong) The front desk staff was very young and quite different from Park Hyatt Tokyo where the concierges are my age and wear Rolexes. Was given 4pm checkout with no problems despite hotel being full.
Overall I was very happy with this hotel and would stay again. I do agree it is not as nice as Park Hyatt Tokyo

dsquared37

If you're a GlobMond, as your sig would indicate, they have no choice.

craz

Thx for this post. I have a 3 nighter coming up in a couple of weeks and after reading all the other recent posts was thinking of bailing out but felt the GH would be a mad house.

I also had my DSU approved so hoping the room will be decent in size but then its only me that will be staying in it so it cant be too bad

Hope I dont end up regretting not switching

escape4

If true, then they have downgraded happy hour which makes the 8-10k THB price tag even more ridiculous than it was. When I was there 4 months ago, it was free flow alcohol, not limited to 2 per person. And there was a buffet-style bite size appetizers to choose from rather than a single plate to share.

Kacee

delete

alexyczhu

From my experience from Dec 28 - 30:

The alchohol supply was free flow: I only have one person signed up for the room but they allowed me to bring one guest; This is in fact generous as Asian hotels need to make the number of ppl in a room match the amenity they provide for accounting reasons.
The food was one plate PER ROOM.

The bartender speaks relatively poor English as I was told I was allowed to pick two beer OR two white wine OR two red wine. What they really mean is that I was allowed to pick whatever I want from a collection of two draft beers and two red wine and two white wine. I guess that's what the misunderstanding is from. Juice is also free.

paolo64

I had a second stay here last week ( first was in May not long after opening). Pretty much a standard room ( 2102 or 2302, cant remember), but to be expected as hotel was at 100% , maybe a bit over.
This room overlooked the back of the property down wireless road. My previous room looked out over Sukhumvit and was noisy ( 18th floor from memory). This one was almost as noisy. It seems they got the glazing/soundproofing wrong ( I hear much less traffic at the Westin in a room right on the Sukhumvit corner , at the station).
Very comfortable though ( but not at the sky-high rates).

YoungSoloTraveler

Never had a single Hyatt ever question if I brought a guest, always put 2 as occupancy and they didn't bat an eye. If its really just two drinks thats a pretty terrible happy hour compared to the GH.

alexyczhu

Not quite sure about Hyatt. But I once stayed at Mandarin Oriental Pudong Shanghai and tried to bring a guest to the club (I booked into a club room). The assistant at the club simply quoted me 800 RMB ++ (120 USD or something) for one day's club access, which is ridiculous given that the price I was charged was simply a club room rate, which should allow for up to 2 PAX occupation. Shangri-la in Beijing was more flexible but still insisted that I added one name to the list of names for the room.

YoungSoloTraveler

I would have laughed and tell them he or she staying in your room and add it to your reservation.

m0hamed

In some countries the rates vary for 1 or 2 guests. In countries like Egypt if you book for 2, but only have 1 guest per room they will alter the reservation when they take your IDs, but generally otherwise you should always book for 2 then you can guest friends, colleagues etc into the club or for breakfast.

rwm818

Looking forward to 1st stay her in 2 weeks. I'm in the GH for the "work" part of my trip - then used my free night cert & pts to book 2 free nights at the PH

Agree the rates are a bit ridiculous here...10,000 Tbh++...crazy

escape4

From the GH thread:
Well P+C at PH is possibly better than cash indeed. But I would question whether $310 / $350 is good value for what you get. The St.Regis is almost always cheaper than PH and not by a small margin, so if PH=StR then PH is a bad deal at their current price level.

You mentioned in the GH thread that you have been to the Athenee. Did you go post rebranding to Luxury Collection, or only while it was Le Royal Meridien? The Athenee has a fantastic Club Lounge so PH cannot compete with its happy hour canapes, not to mention afternoon tea and 4 hours of drinks at Athenee. I found breakfast to be significantly better at Athenee as well. Service can vary based on personal experiences but I got better treatment at Athenee than PH. Not to mention that I can frequently pay half the price at Athenee with BRG than PH. Heck even if the price was the same, I would choose Athenee. One area where PH might be better is that it's easier to get a suite upgrade at PH than Athenee. It is nice that PH is attached to the mall whereas from Athenee you have to walk outside, but it's not very far so I am not sure I put much of a premium on PH in that respect.

I can see why one could put PH ahead of SGS, but they are not in the same price range. I have not been to the Pen or MO but based on what I read, it sounds like most folks would have them a notch or two above PH.