Preamble

It was a fair bit of " to & froing " by emails & ' WhatsApp ' to get to a stay date . The hotel is very full , running at capacity on most days .. thought it was some " buy out " but turns out not all floors of the river wing have been renovated . Quite a number have yet to be completed .

What matters is that we are finally here , :) , even though not in preferred suite

More later ..

MOBKK limo transfer

Greeted by the MOBKK representatives at the airport in their spanking new bright saffron tangerine jackets for their uniform . Spot them a mile away now :)

Smooth ride on BMW 7 . 4 L  .

Welcome ' snacks ' with cold towels , water in new biodegradable bottles . Surprise gift ( s ) too .

 Lovely sweet enticements enroute to reception , The Verandah ..The chocolate elephant ;)

The reception area ..  This was not taken on arrival 

Check In

Once again in room - an efficient warm time full of smiles throughout .
But which necessitated a switch to another on a higher floor . The original floor had new / varnish vapour drifting in from the floor below .

What the refreshed corridors look like 

View from balcony 
Water show across at Icon Siam where MO Residences are located
Busy river late at night 

Room

As the renovations at the River Wing are ongoing , note that work starts at 8 am and you may also detect the recent varnishing ..

We generally like the results of the refurbishment .

Bathroom , wardrobe , etcetera

They are trying hard to be eco friendly - go green ..
The WC is now one of those automatic ones , TOTO , similar to AmanTokyo except unlike AMANs , the calibration / timing is off . Hope the heated seats situation is sorted by today ..

Pools and surroundings

Nicely redone but basically structurally remains somewhat the same . View towards river has thankfully been opened up , and you can see the river albeit through flowers , etcetera which maybe there , & not solid structure any more ! :)

The famous spa

The spa therapists we had were excellent this time .

For once in recent years , we managed to enjoy the relaxation lounge after the session for a rather extended time . It poured , like buckets of cats and dogs , and we did not fancy getting drenched and having our various oils - anti aging and what nots washed away . 
And yes , if you are wondering , couple of segments above were posted from the lounge ;)

Looking back at MOBKK from the spa boat , with her long time neighbour , French consulate & residence

Outside the spa reception 

'The relaxation lounge

View from the lounge just before the deluge , much needed with the drought 
The refreshments area at the entrance to the relaxation lounge

Cold towels .. while your Therapists and lounge staff serve you as you are lead in , one is free to help oneself too . Hot tea including ginger , refreshing chilled drinks - herb teas , infused water , roselle - and pomelo salad & some delicious spiced chocolate crisps and fruit are offered ..

These 2 sections above were posted while the much welcomed deluge was preventing us from crossing back over

State Room

As mentioned not all the MOBKK River Wing floors are ready . They decided not to have the State Room on our original floor available either 

What was here has ..

Disappeared 

.. resume later

Continuing & trying to recall at least some - hopefully will not go missing this time round ..

'Foyer

Walk in with a view 

Small corner balcony past the day curtains 

Bathroom with a view

View from balcony towards Shangri - La 
 
& towards IconSiam , MO boat returning from The Spa

Would have preferred to be in this more spacious room but it was only available for a night and also had the varnish odour permeating through .

Graham Greene Suite

This is potentially where we will be the next stay . On the same floor as ours this time but sadly , only available for a night .

A welcoming bullock sculpture ( a painting round the corner ) , etcetera at the entrance .

 Foyer

Refreshments area by powder room 

Shades of ' Green ' colour palate in living area and throughout 

Walk in 

Comfortable bathroom with green tiles instead of teal

Dining

Hits & major misses here .

Breakfasts for us in the AC part of The Verandah is a leisurely , peaceful , stretched out affair as just about everyone else gravitates outdoors - oblivious to the smog .

Slow stroll past the bar to The Verandah 

Delicious widespread of international and local selections .

Fresh coconut every morning :)

 
Announcing what is on at the Authors ' Lounge and beyond on the Lawn , in this case .. yes , the BMW 7 ;)  , preparations in the garden began over the weekend for the main event on 15 January !

Prepping for tea time after a morning wedding reception  

Soothing music by a blind pianist who played classical to movies / showpieces , relaxing but for some loud guests who came later ( thankfully we could shut the library doors since the pianist had ended his session) .

Wonderful afternoon tea in Authors ' Lounge , Khun Ankana ' s Study for our mini Amanjunkie FTer Do since Larkin was not here this time .. nonetheless it was a marvellous time with livefromtuscany :) ..  

What was even of more significance was that retired Khun Ankana was " in the house " - actually in the lobby as we saw livefromtuscany off .

Chatted with her after , a sprightly 99 years , and still engaging !!

Well , just as well we had 2 dinners at Lord Jim ' s during last year ' s stay .

Missing the real Lord Jim ' s .

No more iconic aquarium for starters :( .. then then food :( & service or lack there of :( ..

Ordinary .. trying not to be scathing here . The magic / thrill of dining here is now absolutely absent .
 
Perhaps this is one of the better part of the changes - sofa area overlooking the lobby - to mull to dine or not to dine .. Should have listened to our local guest and the SO .

We , thankfully , adjourned somewhere else with more character and deli food .
 
We will have to return , hopefully soon , as we could not fit in a meal at Le Normandie .

Competent Concierge

They were very responsive with the requests I had . Very timely especially for time sensitive ones too . The team members knew the ' story line ' of each and different ones replied , if by email , without skipping a beat . A relief not having to reiterate one ' s query .

Superb service - almost there

With numerous new staff , it is not surprising that there are slip ups in an otherwise sublime situation . One does expect flawless though , perhaps by mid year ?? .. ;)

Location

Conveniently and strategically situated along where we like it on the Chao Phraya since we are here more for leisure - but even for otherwise - stays .

Traffic has not improved , going by boat maybe a better option to some destinations ;)

Odds and Ends

Looks like there are a number of new staff . Forgot to ask if English and other language lessons are provided for these new team members . Sorely needed especially for younger ones  - just being pretty and / or handsome does not quite cut it , helps though since eye candy is somewhat appreciated by many it seems .. Thankfully , the more seasoned ones are around but running to them all the time to have them come and having to repeat standard requests like ' olive oil / vinaigrette ' gets a bit tiresome at every meal .

They seem to know who we are as we are usually addressed by name though .

We appreciate efforts made to The Verandah , it is more welcoming now  ( unlike Lord Jim ' s which is quite the disastrous opposite :( ) .

Look at the marquetry of these tables ! The vibrant yet soothing green , the plump cushions to lean against ..

This TR is likely taking a while to finish , hopefully by the Lunar New Year ..

( what with the SIN Do coming up just before )  !!

Overall

We had another rather relaxing stay possibly only marred significantly by our Lord Jim ' s meal . Even the remaining renovations did not bother us to much , thankfully we made a room change at check in which made an enormous difference to us enjoying our stay .

Other than going out for some delicious meals , we stayed within the grounds . The haze / smog , was we gathered , in the danger zone so we were only the river once :( - rode on the boat one round trip to get to & from the spa .

Also , perhaps just as well we did not get to wander in Chinatown as the hordes were building up for the Lunar New Year , with the now known contagious lethal coronavirus being confirmed in the city .

No fault of MOBKK but it would have been nice if we could have gone on the river more , even to Siam Icon where the Mandarin Residences are .

Now , when should we return ? ;)