restlessinRNO

As the last FT report was over 3 1/2 years ago, I would like to note our recent experience. Bangkok hotel prices have of course increased recently. We booked a basic room, for total 3504 THB, and as a platinum member, was upgraded to a larger corner room on the 26th floor. We were happy with our room and stay. We received a choice of welcome drink coupons or points and chose the former. I enquired and executive lounge access was 1500 THB for two persons (per day) and just breakfast was 530 THB. We had their weekend (evening) seafood buffet for 799 THB pp. at Zeta Restaurant on 8th floor, beside swimming pool. The hotel is located about 1/2 way between Asok and Phrom Phong BTS Stations, and occupies floors 8 and above of the building. As noted, we were happy with our stay. 😊

kevino

No construction noise or blocked views?

restlessinRNO

There is always new building construction in Bangkok, including next door to the hotel, but we were not bothered by any noise, but it was a weekend. We had a view across Sukhumvit Road from our hotel room, so views from the front facing rooms are unaffected. 😊

Robbie0129

thanks for the update, was there lounge worth it？ i don�t have lounge access yet, so I�m really thinking about paying for lounge, what is happy hour like?

restlessinRNO

I am sorry, we did not visit the lounge. Instead we paid for weekend seafood buffet for dinner. 😊

gil123

Thanks; this specific, updated info is useful. Seems like current price of lounge access is around the same as booking the more expensive room ~$25 USD a night. I would have no problem paying that for a high end Asian lounge where I can have some solid and delicious meals but I think in a place like Bangkok where food is good and spicy and cheap (and as a vegetarian who can only eat certain items in most lounges) that is probably more than it's worth to me. I find more often than not any more I feel "burdened" by lounge access, feel I need to plan to be there certain hours and need to eat generic, usually non-local foods I don't like because that's all they have. Or I end up eating/drinking too much because it's "free". I think unless I am one of the privileged few (Diamond/Amb here) to be offered free upgrade (or maybe the half price buyup??) I'll pass on the lounge.

But i have a different question. Assuming I don't care about lounge access, which HI, this one or Silom, is better? The latter is just a tad more expensive in points or cash, but nothing significant. Which one has better rooms/location/breakfast?

Ed Size

Has anyone a recent experience with this property? What can I expect if staying there as a Diamond? Are the rooms worn & torn?

meremale

I have the IHG Annual Lounge pass, i was wondering if the lounge here is better than the lounge at the other Holiday Inn PhloenChit or even the Crowne Plaza Lumpini ?

ernestnywang

I would also appreciate a comparison between the lounge here and the lounge at CP Lumpini Park. I see CP Lumpini Park gives full lounge benefits to those with Annual Lounge Membership. Does anyone know if HI Sukhumvit offers the same? Thanks in advance!

Eskimoboy

The lounge at the CP Lumpini is much better than the HI Sukhumvit in my experience although this is based on experiences from last year

escape4

The rooms are not worn. However forget about a suite upgrade here (at least based on my stay), if that matters to you. My upgrade as Diamond Ambassador was the same as restlessinRNO who has Platinum status, ie a corner room. But the most annoying was how they behaved at reception to deny the upgrade - I would have preferred an honest response rather than making up a never ending list of rubbish excuses.

- First they told me no suites are available
- I said a couple hours prior I saw 4 suites online, so perhaps I should check again to verify if that changed
- They then said only one suite is available (up from zero) but their policy is +1 upgrade, and yet they were generous in their opinion because they gave me +2 upgrade
- I showed them the IHG app: still 4 suites available, not zero, not one.
- Then they said suite upgrades for Diamond are at IC brand, not Holiday Inn
- I answered it's not true, then they said they have indeed 4 suites for the night but they are not available yet (it was 1:30pm). Different stance than what they started with.
- I told them if they had given me the choice suite later or non-suite immediately, it would be much better and in fact that's how many competitor hotels handle it. But that's not how it went down.
- They said they give suite upgrades only if customer uses an IHG suite upgrade certificate.
- I told them their upgrade policy is not competitive in this city and that was the end of it.

Bottom line even after arm twisting, still no suite. Therefore it seems that for the upgrades, Platinum or Diamond status does not matter at this property.

Thankfully it was only a one night stay and I was solo to check it out; my only purpose to argue about the suite was to find out how they react and learn from it to steer my future stay decisions, rather than me caring about a suite for that single night. I often do this before committing to a longer stay with family (when the suite will be more important). Objective accomplished: now I know this hotel is a poor fit for me, not to mention the behavior at front desk. There are too many other hotels in Bangkok which are generous with suite upgrades when available of course, including IHG or other chains too. Just in the last few weeks both Vignette Sindhorn Midtown and Staybridge Suites Sukhumvit upgraded me to proper suites

Camflyer

I stayed at the IHG Sukhumvit for 3 nights last month. The location is fine (though annoyingly midway between 2 Skytrain stops) and I got a free upgrade to a corner room but otherwise the hotel was lacking in any character or personal touch. Breakfast was OK but nothing remarkable. Not sure it's worth the price difference over the HIX on Soi 11.

escape4

Right, the location is not awful, but because it's exactly between Asok and Phrom Phong station, either way it requires some walk so it cannot be considered a stellar location. I would much rather be at Holiday Inn Bangkok next door to InterContinental. There you are at the intersection of the two BTS lines - this location is excellent.

Regarding HIX Soi 11: I stayed there as well a few months ago, and I had the same thoughts as you. Since HI Sukhumvit does not want to upgrade to suites, then we end up in a non-suite just like we would at HIX 11 which cannot upgrade to suites since they don't have suites (same for all the other HIXes I think?) so I was left wondering after my stay at HI Sukhumvit why did I pay a price premium for this HI over the HIXes in the city.

Camflyer

Yes, agreed. The HI Bangkok is much better location if you want easy access to Skytrain even if there is less within immediate walking distance

The HIX on Soi 11 is one of my favourite of the brand (maybe with the exception of Clarke's Quay in Singapore). Always get a fantastic welcome, reasonably sized rooms and if you are in town for some fun rather than business there's everything you could want on your doorstep.

On balance, I'd probably choose the HI Bangkok is travelling on business (I'd get fired if I booked the IC!) and the HIX Soi 11 for leisure. Just not sure where the HI Sukhumvit fits.

escape4

I was also thinking HI Sukhumvit does not fit well for various profiles I can think of in terms of elite status :

1. IHG Diamond with lounge pass = probably better off staying at hotels with a lounge where upgrades to suites are possible
2. IHG Diamond without lounge pass = this is the worst fit to stay at HI Sukhumvit
3. IHG Platinum without lounge pass = better off staying at HIX
4. IHG Platinum with lounge pass, but having elite status with other hotel chains = better off staying at other hotel chains where we can possibly get suite+lounge+breakfast, unlike HI Sukhumvit where the best we can do is 2/3. Perhaps even only 1/3 because there is no breakfast served in the lounge.
5. IHG Platinum with lounge pass, and only having elite status with IHG = better off staying at HI Bangkok near IC