yosithezet

These are the pics.

Football Fan

yosithezet, how do you think it compares to SGS? Thanks.

yosithezet

Football Fan

Room, Pool, Breakfast, Service, Status Recognition (e.g. SGS has the nice cocktail hour with Jazz Music) and whatever else you can think of . Thank you.

yosithezet

Wanted to wait until I arrived at the hotel again to answer.

Status Recognition

Status Upgrade
I'm 0/4 for suite upgrades as a Globalist. Consistently I've arrived on a Monday and the hotel is opening up more floors as time progresses. That said. the GM and several others at the hotel know me from other properties and while they have been friendly, and the staff is amazing overall, I have only received upgrades to Deluxe Rooms. Interestingly even if the room is the same in the series (i.e. xx14, yy14) they aren't designed the same. Last week I had xx14 and it had a seperate room with the toilet, this time I'm on a higher floor and xx14 doesn't have the separate room off the entry. The first stay I was in a room that had two sitting areas and the following week the same series on another floor didn't have the second sitting area. Three of the stays were redemptions and one using the opening special rate.

(Lots of info in the SGS thread, but I'd say that with suites seemingly becoming more challenging at the SGS, this may be a wash unless you are an SGS regular.)

Status Club/F&B
The Regency Club will be at the top of the building so it isn't yet finished. They temporary solution of providing breakfast in the main restaurant on the 4th floor, providing an area of that restaurant for use as a club lounge the rest of the day, and providing F&B for the 2 hour happy hour in that space in the evening is great.

Breakfast is superb and included for Globalists. They have many stations of different types of food. Lots and lots of roasted and cooked veggies, eggs cooked in different ways, on-demand egg station, salad station, cold cuts and the like. There are some interesting jams like tamarind/banana. And, although it took me time to realise this morning that they moved it, there is a station where they will prepare fresh juice from a buffet of vegetables and fruits. You select what you want and they make it on the spot.

The evening cocktail food is another highlight. The buffet is over two stations and the menu provides hot items which are impressive. I did note to the GM that the portions are too large for one person, but it is really impressive. They make mixed drinks. Beyond a gin & tonic, they also are willing to work out and old fashioned and likely whatever else they could reasonably put together from the ingredients on hand.

(The SGS has no lounge. I love the options for Living Room and Bar Su and Sala. I think the experiences are very different. Breakfast at the SGS is perhaps 15% better due to variety, but on the other hand I don't think you can get fresh juice on-demand in the cafe, but could be wrong. Apparently you could at Rosini but that is a topic for the SGS thread.)

Service

I've had really great service from everyone at the new HR. This is my fourth visit and everyone remembers you. The engagement is really excellent. The GM and Hotel Manager are often seen around the hotel. I had a physical plant hiccup during the last stay and while they didn't need to recover at all, they wouldn't take no as an answer. Much of the staff have worked in other hotels. Besides folks from other Hyatts, there are folks from the Westin and Kempinski and others. So everyone knows how to deliver proper service and the GM and Director of Rooms and others certainly know how to rachet that up to a very high level.

(I'd say that service is on a similar level of quality to that of the SGS, but I didn't use the concierge or spend time by the pool so not sure I have a full comparison)

Pool

While I didn't use the pool, I did check it out. Looks nice.

(SGS hard to compare anything to the hidden oasis that is the SGS pool and Sala)

Location

There are lots of shops along Soi 13. This evening I went to the Sportsman Pub for a travel meetup attended by over 100 people. Along the Trendy building are lots of restaurants, convenience stores, massage place, etc. The Hyatt building itself has 2 floors of retail including a Coffee Club, Let's Relax spa and nail salon and soon a butcher and a Japanese restaurant IIRC. That area of the building will be connected by bridge to the skytrain. The work is coming along well. The bridge and walkway structure are connected and seem to be finished so just a matter of time. This is a good location all in all.

(SGS similar other than the access to T21 and Robinsons

I really don't want to derail this thread with an SGS discussion, just added the bits of context as requested.

Kacee

I'm looking forward to checking this property out in a couple of weeks. That said, part of what makes SGS appealing is the sheer number of venues inside the walls, plus a very good spa. They've created something of an all-in-one oasis, such that you don't need to leave the property if you don't want to (or if it's miserably wet/humid outside ). Correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't sound like HR offers the same kind of experience on that score.

yosithezet

Kacee

For a stay at the end of the month, received an email from the property:

Sounds fine to me. Appreciate the advance notice. Love the Thai service; looking forward to the stay.

UA-NYC

Please do report back after your stay - I may be making a similar choice this fall for my annual BKK trip!

I have always gotten a suite at the SGS (using SNAs) but I may actually be out this year, and may need the stays for Globalist. Would likely be using my lounge access award so that helps equalize breakfast.

But - SGS to me has remained exempt from the general Marriott service / recognition downgrades, and I've never had a bad stay, so would be tough to leave...

Aventine

A bit off-topic but I would go enjoy SGS before it gets Bonvoyed like PG did. Make up the Globalist stays else where?

UA-NYC

Have been going for the past 10 years so well aware of how amazing an operation Mr. Chapman runs! It has been a great run there, I'm hoping they will avoid the Marriott-ization of the property.

izzik

I completed a 1 night stay here earlier this week.
Location is good - right along the BTS line. If you are arriving by taxi, make sure they enter the driveway from Sukhumvit Road. If the driver turns onto Soi 13, there's nowhere to drop you off and it will be an awkward stop in the middle of an active traffic lane.
Walkway to Nana BTS station looks almost ready but not yet open.

I had a 1 night promo stay which was upgraded free of charge (very nice of them!) to a corner suite b/c they were sold out of the regular room. Love the suite layout - the bathroom is surrounded by windows, amazing view from bathtub.. but there are some minor design flaws. Well, not really "flaws" but style differences? For example, there was nowhere in the bathroom to hang a towel. You end up throwing towels everywhere else. No luggage rack either. Shades in bathroom were motorized but shades in bedroom were manual.

Biggest downside is that the entire building (lobby, floors) smelled like new construction chemicals.. or paint. Or something. It was a bit annoying.
Electricity in the room occasionally went on/off in the bathroom and bedroom but not living room.

Pool area is nice, small, and there are 2 mini hot tub areas. Quite a peaceful little oasis except when someone is chain-smoking their lives away poolside. Gross.

Service was very good.

Kacee

I had an opportunity to check out a Regency suite yesterday (but did not stay in it). Found the finishes and furnishings quite disappointing. Floors are vinyl fake wood. Cabinetry and doors are vinyl fake wood. Furnishings are Ikea type quality, and already showing wear, as is the carpeting. Based on what I saw, this property is not the same class as the Erawan or the full service former SPG properties.

On the positive side, the staff were exceptionally gracious and service-oriented. Public space on the 4th floor (where Regency Club is currently located) is very nice.

Planned opening of the skyway connection to Nana is March 15. That will be a big plus, because currently the sidewalks on this stretch of Sukhumvit are a mess.

escape4

Thanks for the feedback @Kacee. Your comments plus the apparent low odds of getting a Globalist suite upgrade without using one of the 4 suite upgrade awards we get each year, that puts the brakes on my desire to try HR in the near future. I simply won't burn a suite upgrade on a 3-night stay when I can get suites at many Marriott properties and when I have other 7 night stays later this year where an upgrade award would be wiser to use.

Perhaps I will be better off trying the other new property I had on my radar screen, the Marriott on Surawong. Generous upgrades there and usually cheaper too.

SMK77

Just finished a two night stay there in a Regency Suite and I think very highly of this property. I like the design and the materials used and I think this gives PH Bangkok a good run for the money. This hotel is far better than what I would expect from a Hyatt Regency. The green silk and warm wood colours used remind me a bit of a refreshed Sukhothai design. Park Hyatt is minimalistic and cold while this design has local references and is warm and cozy. I looked at the toilet as an example and while PH installed the cheapest they could find, this one looked quite decent.

The interim club offering is superb and includes a menu with quite a number of items they prepare freshly for you. My personal order of Hyatt's in Bangkok: Hyatt Regency, Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt.

Service is of a pretty high standard already. Park Hyatt was unacceptable in the first couple of months after opening.