Originally Posted by EGW1

Originally Posted by escape4

Introduction For a change in scenery from the traditional hotels I booked a few nights at W Bangkok. I stayed there before and it’s a decent property, although not my favorite in the city which is why I am not a regular but I enjoy staying from time to time. The hotel is solid in various ways and I can recommend it, that said there is clearly a premium to pay over more standard (and boring?) Marriott chain hotels especially those with a lounge with happy hour for guests Platinum or above. The one hotel which is the most comparable is Sofitel SO and if we stack up W against SO then W wins especially because of the more generous suite upgrades. Room My booking was split in two, for the first part I booked the studio suite with cash in my Ambassador account, and for the second part I booked a free night redemption from my wife’s Platinum account. We were upgraded to the Marvelous Suite for both reservations and were not required to switch rooms which was appreciated. The Marvelous Suite is the same size overall (84 sqm) as the room type below which is the Fantastic Suite. The main differences are the color schemes and the fact that the Marvelous Suite has 1.5 bathrooms instead of only one for the Fantastic Suite. In the latter, instead of a half bath there is extra empty space near the entrance which is not particularly useful although for a solo traveler it would not matter to be missing the half bath and probably not worth paying the material price difference between Fantastic and Marvelous.A manager at W informed me that she has a friend at Marriott Surawongse nearby who told W about the upcoming birth of our baby so they prepared a nice arrangement in the room with balloons and a welcome note which was a nice touch. The room at W ticks the box for being out of the ordinary and a sharp break from cookie-cutter hotels, for example I liked the futuristic glass walls and mirrors, although having doors that we can partially see through is a bit odd for the toilets which is why the room has a sliding curtain to close off the main bathroom. Anyway, overall in my opinion the room is visually attractive and suitable for guests who want to book a special occasion. Dining At the beginning of our stay hotel occupancy was fairly low and the breakfast was entirely a la carte. The menu was fairly extensive with multiple healthy options such as smoked salmon on avocado toast, a quinoa fried rice, and a rice bowl with coconut, all of which were delicious. In the second part of our stay it was a public holiday with higher hotel occupancy so they brought back the buffet which looked quite similar to pre-covid in terms of quality and quantity which I would rate average for a hotel of this caliber – I have seen better and I have seen worse. I had a strong preference for the a la carte menu than the buffet and I suspect the former is only a temporary thing unfortunately.The House on Sathorn restaurant (not for breakfast) is not physically attached to W and is completely different style-wise to W – someone might not even know it’s linked to W. It’s one of the restaurants where dining is good enough that guests can easily be interested in going for dinner without being hotel guests. We had dinner with a fellow FTer a week before our stay at W and had a memorable feast. W still provides welcome drinks vouchers for guests Platinum or above; I received 1 per person as in the past. Wifi Wifi worked fine but speed was so-so; it was generally under 10 Mbps. Overall Overall I would say some of the newer Ws I have visited are superior to W Bangkok which is a bit older but it can nonetheless be a decent option for a different kind of hotel, especially since Bangkok does not have any Design Hotel, there is also no Andaz, no Canopy by Hilton, etc. And while W is not always the best value for the money, it beats Sofitel SO for guests who have elite status at both chains.

Originally Posted by Sohan

I'm going there on Monday to tour for a potential long stay at the W.

What other hotels have you really liked in Bangkok? Personally I liked the JW a lot, but don't like the location. SGS is sold out of suites when I went to visit yesterday. Hyatt Regency pricing doesn't really seem competitive even with long stay rates.

Originally Posted by Sohan

Thanks for this review! I was going to ask if anyone had stayed there recently and just saw this update today!

I'm going there on Monday to tour for a potential long stay at the W.

What other hotels have you really liked in Bangkok? Personally I liked the JW a lot, but don't like the location. SGS is sold out of suites when I went to visit yesterday. Hyatt Regency pricing doesn't really seem competitive even with long stay rates.

Originally Posted by eccentricfusion

even more so now that Saint Louis BTS is open. Another suggestion is the Intercontinental - it had (and still has) very good rates currently.

Originally Posted by escape4

The new BTS station is indeed something which has gone unnoticed in this thread (unless I missed it in the posts above). W did not have a great location in the past due to lack of public transportation nearby. This has now changed.

Regarding IC I am surprised that you find rates to be good there, but you might be looking at IC from a different angle than I. Personally, when I compare with other hotel chains I don't see how IC stands out. No suite upgrades as an elite guest, unlike W (and lots of other hotels nowadays) which is generous with suites. That alone is a major point for me, that said if I know ahead of time that I will end up in a standard room (more or less) at hotel XYZ due to lack of suites, then such hotel better have other material perks which IC does not have - they denied F&B credit on an IHG Luxury Collection booking, they said spa only, and there is no lounge access only 1 hour of drinks while many other hotels have 2 hours, and some snacks on top. W has a nice promo as Fims mentioned with 3.4k THB credit and many other hotels have F&B credits too at the moment, but no such thing at IC. And the room at IC is entirely forgettable, for a non-suite I would rather be stuck in a nicer room like at Indigo or some Marriott properties (like a non-suite at W) for cheaper than IC. W gym is not my favorite either, and did not try the one at IC so that might be part of where you are coming from.

For people with elite status with a few loyalty programs, I consider W to be middle of the road, good for suites, not so good for happy hour on a long stay (only 2 drinks per stay), better for one night stay. But IC is clearly at the lower end of the spectrum for loyalty program perks and subpar value proposition from what I could tell.

Originally Posted by eccentricfusion

I didn't get a suite at the IC, but upgraded (but not suite) room. Yes, IHG perks really aren't worth much. As someone who doesn't drink alcohol, drink/lounge benefits are rarely utilized for me. For a longer stay though, having a good gym starts to matter a lot more to me especially if I'm in a long stay mindset and not in a vacation mindset. I can easily and often do spend over 1.5 hours in a gym each day in a hotel.

W and IC are fairly similar in price right now for standard rooms, with IC currently only about $10 a night cheaper. The price gap is normally much more significant and upgrades at the W not as common (I got studio suites sometimes before but never got marvelous suites)

Originally Posted by escape4

The new BTS station is indeed something which has gone unnoticed in this thread (unless I missed it in the posts above). W did not have a great location in the past due to lack of public transportation nearby. This has now changed. l.

Originally Posted by escape4

I think in times of high occupancy, IC being stingy with suite upgrades becomes less of an issue because at W we would not get a suite upgrade if full anyway. But as of now, especially if we look at the cash value of suites, the $10 price difference between IC and W is quite modest and will be washed away by the suite upgrade at W and not at IC. At the moment it's hard for me to book at a hotel where I think I might not get a suite because I could book somewhere else and have 99% chance of a suite upgrade. W is a good choice now because they upgrade not only to standard suites, but premium suites as well.

Regarding the gym I am a regular user although not as long as 1.5 hour like you, too bad I did not check out the gym at IC to compare. Generally speaking I find that gyms I like the most are those which are quiet with almost nobody... perhaps not surprisingly, they tend to be at the most expensive hotels for example at Park Hyatt, Four Seasons, The Siam, or Waldorf Astoria where I was alone every time I went. W's gym was not very crowded so I liked it, but not completely alone; at some cheaper hotels the gym was more busy which was a turn off.