semantic

Looks good, as Fliar said, do get the two nights for one on the peninsula suite (grand deluxe $550, thai $1,100) - can only be booked directly through the pen bangkok website I believe ("the suite life").

ZeroHour

Hm ... sorry for stealing the thread, but I just have to ask this: does the IC Ambassador certificate work for ANY kind of suite? i.e. if I were to do the insane thing next year (I have a very special occasion coming up) and book the $11K/night presidential suite over the weekend, would I be able to use it and basically get the second night for $150 or thereabouts?

Thanks!

DrivingRain

That would be;
-an effective rate of $550/night for Thai Suite with no important perks
or
-$400/night for Grand Deluxe Suite with comp breakfast dailly, comp lunch 1x during stay, 6pm checkout and r/t transfers & airport greeting
or
-$275 for Grand Deluxe Suite and no important perks


hmmm....

Raffles

Yes

That's the same dilemma I faced in February. Remember the key points - bedroom and bathroom are identical in size and facilities in both rooms (Thai Suite has a 2nd loo by the entrance) so the extra space is all in the reception. The Thai Suite does have a massive 'wow' factor when they open the doors and you first see this ludicrously huge reception room, though - although 10 seconds later you'll realise that the room is too dark and too high.

Kagehitokiri

i seem to recall having the same impression, and people saying it was possible, but then reading a dicussion where luxury and some others (in IC forum) said ICHK did not allow the free night on the top suites, nor RAs to upgrade to them, even from chairman to presidential.

top >
presidential 80K HKD
chairman ~50-55K HKD

then >
DLX suite ~10K HKD right now, can go up to 15K HKD IIRC

IC DLX suite (with free night if they let you) / MO Oriental Suite (free night) / FS Exec Suite are all about the same price.. wouldnt MO and FS be much better in that situation? especially because of other benefits? or are the views from DLX suite that much more incredible?

plus even if they let him do free night on top suite, that would be 25K-40K instead of ~5K per night.

BKK >
megatoplover brought up an interesting point - since MO is on "good side" of river, you look at bad side / Pen

Fliar

This is the main deciding factor for me when choosing between these two hotels. The views from the Pen (I also seem to get a room in the high twenties or up) are fantastic.

aa4ever

I just got back from China/HK. I plan on writing up some notes soon, but I'll weigh in on the MOHK vs the LMO now.

I had 2 stays in HK - one at the beginning of my trip and one a month later at the end. I chose the LMO for the first stay and had bookings at the LMO, MOHK, Pen, and FS for the return. I ended up returning to the LMO after taking a look at the other three on my first trip. I'll just talk about the two in question here.

About the LMO:
Very small and intimate. Very minimalist. An excellent staff. Although there were some minor inconsistencies (mostly at breakfast), the staff was generally excellent and very caring. They really went all out to help whenever they could. They did not seem bound by rules, and just wanted to make our stay incredibly pleasant. They seemed very sincere. The concierges were quite good. Also, b/c the staff is relatively small, they were incredible with addressing us by name.

The rooms are excellent. Enough has been said about them that I won't say that much. I was in an L600 room which was beautiful. Large for the price. I would venture to say it was a good value at 580USD, but "value" doesn't seem like the right word to use at this price level. Also, things like housekeeping and room service were very efficient. Do note, the views are really terrible, though the rooms are designed so that it is not such a hindrance.

The only meals I ate at the LMO were the buffet high tea (incredible but they cancelled it in July) and breakfast. Breakfast was very nice. High quality food, beautiful restaurants (a la carte in Amber/buffet in MO Bar).

Also, I found the LMO the most centrally located for tourism, although even staying at the MO the walk to where you need to be wouldn't be more than 3 min longer than from the LMO.

MOHK:

I went there several times to eat. While it is a nice hotel, in very good condition, there were a couple things I didn't like. First, it is very big. It does not have the same intimate feeling as the LMO. Second, it has a relatively large shopping arcade. Perhaps in a loner, but I absolutely detest these arcades in hotels. While this one isn't that huge or disruptive (if you want to know really disruptive, go to the Pen Beijing where it is abosolutely horrible), I still don't love hotels that do this.

The rooms were very nice. Quite in the style of a lot of MOs now (the US ones especially) but very well done and with nice design. They are smaller than comparatively priced rooms at the LMO, though, if that matter to you. Service seemed like it'd be very good but not as personal as the LMO would be do to its size.

Personally, I would stay in the LMO and eat some meals in the MO for the views. They're connected by skybridges, if you haven't been to HK so you can walk between the two in about 4 min. Unfortunately, though, you can't charge to your room at the other hotel.

Above all, DO NOT EAT AT PIERRE in the MOHK. It is nothing compared to his place (or any good French restaurant in Paris). The food was uninspired and old-fashioned and the service was lukewarm at best. Very nice views, though, to be fair. I think the best way of giving you an idea of the food is to describe the main part of the dessert: a giant cream puff.

Also, the best Chinese food I ate in China and HK was at Man Wah in the MO. I went there 4 times and every dish I ordered was incredible. Although someone here commented that the Peking Duck was not very good, I got one and thought it was better than any I got in 3 wks in the mainland. Especially the second dish (stir fried with cashews). Regular menu stuff was better here than dim sum, but I found that that's true in almost every restaurant. Also, service is excellent at this particular restaurant (probably the best restaurant service I had throughout China/HK).

And finally, M Bar really seems to be quite hot. Very, very full (although it is tiny) every time I went through to Man Wah.

If I can answer anything else on either hotel, please tell me. I'll try to write a report in the next couple of days on the other 2 HK hotels plus the mainland China stuff.

aa4ever

Dupe! Sorry

DrivingRain

...thanks so much for your comments.

This seems to be the generally agreed upon snapshot review of the LMO.

We're looking for urban hustle/bustle on this trip and the views matter too...so the MOHK seems to be the choice this time. The price difference, however, is cause for heistation.

Noted re: Pierre. Please take a look at this thread and feel free to weigh in on my HKG food itin!

DrivingRain

Here's a snapshot of the outcome of this trip so far:

Unexpectedaly upgraded to Ritz Carlton suite. Highlight though was the surprise resort-style service at the "city" hotel. For the price ($239 w/ Centuirion benes)...probably the best in Miami

Incredibly charming grounds. Massive villas. Is there such thing as too much space? The plunge pool setup is not very private or resort-like. Your villa is more of a base of operations for eating and exploring the resort & Chiang Mai.

A top-notch hotel. Service was the best we had in Thailand. Boat service prompt. Meal at the Thai restaurant also the best we had in Thailand. Very strong hotel and a good value.

Perfect setting for a getaway. Positano comes to Thailand as the resort seems to be built into a cliff. More beautiful and authentic feeling than Bali FSs. The rest of the island wasnt very interesting. The service was great, but too much in a sales mode at times. Food at the resort seemed to be the best on Samui. Seemingly great value at $600/night vs. Langkawi. Would return in a heartbeat. A real winner.

Upgraded to a named suite. This may be the best hotel in the world. Room features, bathrooms, ambiance, dining options, bar options, the Cake Shop, service-level...it has it all. Very impressed.

All in all a very satisfying vacation...