I had not stayed at Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit for a while because during covid the hotel was stubborn and did not roll out the same heavy discounts as competitors from other chains for example Hilton and Marriott, or also compared to Grand Hyatt.  Now that rates seem to slowly go back to pre-covid levels I have returned to HR to see what changed.  

Room

Last time I received a suite upgrade and with occupancy still lower than normal I was kind of expecting a Globalist upgrade again especially since HR is a big hotel with lots of suites.  One wrinkle is that I was coming to Thailand under Test & Go and the hotel decided that Globalist benefits would not apply for the first night of the stay, therefore I knew that I would start off in a non-suite but that I might move to a suite later.

Despite the lack of official Globalist benefits, they upgraded my first night to a deluxe room nonetheless, which is a room type I had not seen before.  Unfortunately suites ended up not being available so we stayed in this same room for subsequent nights.  I guess it was a moderate surprise to see suites were all occupied (and verified online) so I am probably less optimistic about a suite upgrade in the future upon returning when covid restrictions are fully in the rearview mirror.  The difficulty in getting suite upgrades has often been an issue at Grand Hyatt before, unlike Park Hyatt where suite upgrades are plentiful.

That said, if I was ever to be “stuck” in a non-suite in Bangkok, the deluxe room at Hyatt Regency would be one of the nicer ones to be in because they are very spacious, listed at 46-57 sqm which means some of them are equally large if not more than what some other hotels call junior suites.  I am not too hung up on room names, so bottom line is the deluxe rooms at HR are more than fine and it’s a newer hotel with hardware still in good condition, therefore I know I can easily have a comfortable stay.  The hotel also put some baby amenities in our room prior to our arrival which was a nice touch.  If there was one negative (or two) about the room I would say that I wish there was less use of carpet, and also this hotel will not be confused with an Andaz, W, Sofitel SO, or a Design Hotel as the rooms are a bit bland and straightforward.

Dining

Happy hour in the lounge was as strong as before food-wise and one of the better ones in Bangkok – enough to make it a meal, including food prepared live by a chef.  The weakness is more about drinks: there was beer and wine (plus sparkling wine) but no spirits and no cocktails.  It’s the opposite of some other hotels in Bangkok where happy hour is only small bite appetizers but an extensive drinks menu.  I was told in the lounge that possibly cocktails would be introduced in the lounge next month – if so it would be a nice improvement.

Breakfast was nicer than before but it was not consistently good every morning.  On some days the dishes lacked protein varieties for example vegetarian fried rice instead of pork/shrimps/chicken, but other days were quite good with nice pieces of grilled salmon, among other things.  

Overall

Overall HR remains a solid hotel which belongs in a rotation of places I want to stay at in Bangkok.  It’s not necessarily at the very top of my list and could become “boring” too quickly so I am not willing to forego enjoying other top hotels in the city by staying exclusively at one place, but I will definitely be back.