UASPG

Your favorite is about to get even better:

http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news17...mBangkok.shtml

MikeFromTokyo

Yes, I have already stayed in renovated accommodation. They have done an excellent job.

Abyssin

The Pen is our favorite since 2003. We spent few weeks every year there and it's always a plus to be close to the river and not in the crowded city center.
My only concern it's the lobby which is not very friendly but we don't spend our life there!

MikeFromTokyo

Indeed, as a long time regular in the past, I don’t think I have ever actually sat in the lobby. Used the lobby terrace for a late night nightcap sometimes, though.

vuittonsofstyle

Patrick Both, GM at Anantara BK is very good indeed. The hotel has really changed since Anatara first took over management and money has been spent very well in the public areas. I saw some of the refurbished rooms and they look much better than before, but now they need to redo the suites, as even Jim Thompson Explorer Suite is looking a bit dated.

Bill Heinecke does have a penthouse apartment in the nextdoor St Regis, but then, he has residences all over the place, also in many of the hotels/resorts he owns in Thailand and elsewhere, such as at FS Chiang Mai.

MikeFromTokyo

I am also very impressed with Patrick Both, and also other management including the F&B director and assistant director. For me, it is really the only option in Bangkok for me these days along with Mandarin Oriental. The suites are in the process of being refurbished, and the Explorer Suite will also be refreshed, I am told. The beautiful Deluxe Corner suites and the Cabanas, which are my two favorite categories, are going to be brought up to date and refurbished without any major changes to their already beautiful designs.

I see that the St.Regis has more than one penthouse unit. So, he must occupy one of them.

vuittonsofstyle

This is true - but he has the nicest

BENLEE

How is the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok nowadays? Will have an upcoming stay this Dec. Haven't been back for like 8 years.

Kagehitokiri

luxurybangkokapartment.com/BuildingEle.html
53 'sold' st regis condos including 8 penthouses
45 regular 3/4BR on 15 floors means 3 per floor
some unit owners added to hotel inventory
presume guests have access to 24th floor pool

curious to see re upcoming FS/MO BKK condos
although FS floorplans seemed mostly odd

at MO, state room and royal suite look great

vuittonsofstyle

Better than ever, especially if you have not been back for 8 years. Beautifully renovated garden and author's wings + big improvements in food throughout + emhanced main Spa with relaxation room etc, and 2nd spa in Garden Wing for quick treatments. River Wing is next on their list, so best to stay in the Garden Wing if you can.

bhrubin

Do you know yet when the River Wing renovation is expected to begin and/or conclude?

We visited the Oriental in May 2009 for a very nice but very formal high tea, after having visited (and far more enjoyed) the Peninsula and while staying (and very much enjoying our stay) at the Sukhothai. We weren't so impressed with the Oriental's rooms/suites, actually--they were way too dated at the time--and we despised the inherent formality in such hot and humid conditions (no shorts allowed after 6 pm or so, as I recall).

I'd be interested to try a stay based on so many herein loving the Oriental...but only if the renovations are completed and if they don't have that no shorts rule.

Aventine

Yes, and their AC is right up your alley aka freezing!!

bhrubin

It will come down to the Oriental being fully renovated, no more "no shorts" rule after sunset, and how well the air con works...all compared with the exceedingly high service standard I'm likely to receive being Plat100 Ambassador status at the St. Regis. Surprisingly, I've never seen nor stayed at the St. Regis here, either.

MikeFromTokyo

The Oriental is excellent, but will certainly be the significantly more expensive option if you book a suite there as opposed to receiving an upgrade to one at StR. If your Plat100 status is still in effect at the time of your visit, I’d take advantage of it.

Locals will not wear shorts in the evening at any hotel, unless perhaps if sitting on the pool terrace. Whether, or how strictly that is enforced as a rule varies from hotel to hotel.

bhrubin

Indeed! My guess is that, all other things being equal, we likely would stay at the StR. My husband and I far preferred the Pen when we last visited, so it would be up to my hubby--spending more for the Pen or even more for the Oriental or getting max value by staying at the StR.

But I'd love to see these renovated rooms and suites at the Oriental that everyone raves about. We were very underwhelmed in 2009. Same reaction to the Oriental then as we had to Le Bristol in Paris a few weeks ago, actually.

It's not the locals I'm concerned with as a hotel guest. There was no "no shorts" rule for the public areas/lobby at the Sukhothai OR Peninsula when we were there last (2009), but there was at the Oriental. To each, their own, of course...but that level of trite formality will never appeal to us.

Locals don't wear shorts in Paris, either--yet there is no "no shorts" rule after sunset in the lobbies of a single Paris luxury hotel. And Paris merits formality for me far more than hot and humid SE Asia!