tfong007

Thank you for the location instructions in Thai. I think that will be handy.

SnugglyWalrus

Ha, I just saw this. I wonder if we've seen each other. I think my husband and I are the youngest couple I've seen here. If you see me say hello! But we won't be at breakfast tomorrow unfortunately.

It's weird about your room, there is no smell in ours at all and we've had had zero problems with noise. I'm not even a PLT. :P The only thing that bothers me is the bathtub water, like you mentioned, and that when I'm on my balcony I can see a security guard down by the stream that sits there most of the day. Maybe that's picky, but it irks my tranquility.

uxb

Following up with my own report. Despite getting the directions written in Thai from the earlier post, my driver still managed to get lost. It turns out that you need a cabbie literate in Thai. My cabbie was Chinese. *sigh*

250 THB later...

Got to the hotel. This is easily a most random place for a golf course. Check-in was fast. They offered a local gift (wooden box), which they didn't have. No upgrade. New room smell. 20 THB to hail a public cab back to BKK. Hopefully, they know how to find BKK.

uxb

Also, on the subject of taxis... I paid 139 THB to get to the airport. I pushed that up to 189 because my driver was awesome. The hotel will hail a public cab for you for 20 THB.

UASPG

This is not a convenient hotel to go to. I think that it was mostly conceived for convention, with buses driving the guests in and out. It took us 25 mns to reach the airport. Just getting out of that gated community takes time and taxis are often confused. The early morning drive from city hotels do not take much more time.

The décor of the hotel is nice and the rooms fairly well designed, but too many staff members are not ready, even with a limited number of rooms opened with many of them unoccupied.
However, some, trained at other hotels, know their jobs, but others promoted to higher positions still have work to do to deliver what their new job requires. Then, then is the new staff ......
Bottom line: this is what you would expect at any new hotel.

The breakfast buffet looks nice but no individual dish is really attractive. A la carte dishes for lunch or dinner are ok.

I don't think that I will go back, but I'm not a golfer. If I was, I think that I would ask more than a golf course, when I am close to a city like Bangkok.

PS: some smell in the room, but it was acceptable.

travelswithmyself

Here's my contribution, pictures of the ground level Suite.














Will comment later.

schoflyer

Nice contribution!

UASPG

Nice pictures, Travelswithmyself.

Although I receive a Starwood survey after all my stays, I did not receive one for the night at this property. I am wondering why .......

uxb

My survey arrived within hours of check-out. Maybe it's in your junk mail.

travelswithmyself

OK I only spent about 8 hours on property so these are just impressions:

A. Transport
. arrived at BKK at 11pm with 3 large suitcases. Tired and didn't want any hassle so opted to pay 4x the taxi rate for an AOT airport limo. 800THB for a Toyota Camry, about 100 less for an SUV
. despite showing the driver kluau88's thai instructions, the driver seemed to get lost - he took the route in red which is extra long, requiring ten minutes on the wrong side of the highway to reach a U-turn for the turnoff for the hotel. Looking at Google Maps he should have approched it from the other direction which I've marked out in yellow - not sure if that's a feasible route - someone local will have to comment
. the hotel is really physically very near the airport, but because of the layout of the roads, and the approach to the airport being at the other end, travel time is much much longer than it should be



. it took 30 mins at 11+ at night, without traffic and travelling at a decent speed, including time we got lost within the small road leading off the highway to the Windmill Club/Hotel. With the same driver it took 20 mins from hotel to airport, on a weekend morning with no traffic
. I'm informed that on a weekday traffic is really heavy along that road so expect much longer travel times

. my driver seemed to know the place as the Windmill Club which is the golf club owned by the Summit Corp which owns the hotel (and several others) and apparently the land which the airport was built on (I had a loquacious driver )
. It might be easier to tell a cab driver that you want to go to the Windmill Golf Club instead of the Le Meridien. The hotel is directly opposite the clubhouse building, sharing the same driveway

. it's really far in - 5 mins by car so walking out to get a cab is not feasible. I saw one chinese restaurant just outside the hotel/club gantry. The rest were residences

. at check-in I asked about an airport shuttle and was initally told there was one available at a suitable time. However, when they realised I was on a points-only rate, I was told it was reserved for guests booking at the introductory rate which includes the shuttle. Despite offering to pay cash, points etc, they declined to let me use it, saying they would have to call and book a car for me for which they would charge more than AOT. So I gave up at that point and retained my original driver
. I'm not sure if the "shuttle" is a scheduled bus, or if they book cabs/cars to drive passengers to the airport. If it was a bus, I find it really odd that they would not allow me to buy a ticket to use it

B. Check-in
. nice grand hotel with 2-3 storey high ceiling in the lobby, cold cold A/C. All staff spoke english, and bellboy was on hand and took our bags immediately upon arrival despite it being near 12MN. I must comment that they seem to have picked up the tipping culture already - they're probably experienced staff from another hotel. They hung around after depositing our bags...
. check-in was near painless, though they initally told me I had a nice deluxe room though my phone app showed a suite. When queried she told me the suites weren't ready. I told her my app said it was a suite and she made some excuses. I didn't press it, since it really was for a few hours, but on our way to the room she came up and apologised and told me it was a suite after all - guess they're not really familiar with the room numbers yet

. it's true that most suites and indeed rooms are not ready - a quick stroll around the property in the morning proved that - it appears that only one block out of 3 or 4 is ready for use. All others are "in progress"

. Lobby is on level 2 and the room I was assigned was a ground level unit with a patio, and mini-garden

. Welcome Letter -
- complimentary coffee, tea, soft drinks at Latitude bar, from 0900-2300H
- evening cocktails at Latitude bar from 1800-2000H
- complimentary high-speed internet
- late checkout at 1600H subject to availability
- special 20% off food when dining at Latest Recipie (not sure if this is related to the Triple Crave promo)

travelswithmyself

C. The Room, Bathroom and Patio
. upgraded to a Grande Suite, ground level. Waiting for us were two bottles of Chang Beer, a tray of bon-bons, and a steel lamp filled with fruits
. very impressive, nice new room smell
. furnishings seem reminiscent of LeM BKK. Hmmm I wonder why?
. suite lacks a guest toilet, but a passage from the entryway leads directly to a small walk-in closet, and thence to the bathroom
. the living room has a longish sofa for watching the tele, and a small pantry area with table and stone bench. I didn't explore the coffee maker and goodies but I'm sure they are up to standard
. bedroom is spacious with a long desk and circular sofa, with the usual multi-media ports. Made even more spacious when you open the sliding doors to the bathroom. Unfortunately, they are transparent doors, with decorative motifs. Which means if you share the room and want privacy, you aren't getting it (see my pictures above)
. blackout drapes overlap - very important feature

. bathroom is huge, as is the round tub. Surprisingly, it's not a jacuzzi bath but a simple giant tub. Water fills fast and is temperature easly controlled. Flexible shower hose
. there is a nice rubber cushion stone bench at one side for one to sit and chill, if that's your thing
. shower stall and toilet are adjacent and the lower half has a frosted sticker over the glass. Flexible shower water pressure is adequte, but the rain shower pressure is pathetic, considering that the room was on the ground floor
. toilet has no auto-bidet but has a flexible hose/spray, for those who need it
. toiletries are the standard Le Meridien ones, in larger sizes than usual
. again, hardly any hooks for hanging up towels. I can't understand why hotel bathrooms don't have more of these

. patio from is separated into two parts - one for the living room and another for the bedroom. A nice dual sun lounger with shade faces the path and the golf course. Nothing can be seen from the upper rooms which is a plus
. being on the ground floor is nice, but it does mean that the gardening staff can see into the room, and probably the golfers too. The golf course is just a stone's throw away, across the path and a 2 metre wide stream. I can imagine issues with stray balls and all that plate glass
. electronic mosquito repellents were plugged in in the room and outside, so obviously being near all that water has it's drawbacks too


D. Gizmos
. lighting is good, AC seemed a bit weak in the living room but fine in the bedroom
. soundproofing seemed good too even though we were opposite the lifts. Then again there weren't many guests in the first place
. internet access was easy to log into, and seemed fast enough. Too tired to run any tests though. Wired is available at the writing desk
. likewise, didn't check out the TV channels, but two very large flat-screen TVs, mounted on swing out arms which allow easy access to the rear ports if that's your thing
. table clock radio looks really fancy - didn't have a chance to explore it. Phone comes connected with a circular case of phone charging plugs of various sorts - if anyone has a chance to take a picture of this, I'd appreciate if you could post it or send it to me - might want to buy one

travelswithmyself

E. Food
. breakfast for two was offered as part of the Platinum privilege
. the spread was decent, not exceptional but certainly no slouch either. I particularly enjoyed the pastries
. service was attentive, though they were not busy
. the restaurant again has high ceilings with floor to ceiling glass, and looks out over the swimming pool area where there is an open-air dining area, and portions of the restaurant feature a view of the golf course
. rather than comment too much about the food, here's some eye candy




F. Gym, Pool and Facilities
. I took a short walk around part of the property before my flight home and it's very obvious that the hotel is really not ready. I'm guessing 65-70%
. however, the pool is ready - to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. The artist impression pictures made the pool look like a really big feature. It is large but certainly not that big. I believe the changing rooms are still under construction in the boarded-up areas
. the gym looks ready - I didn't venture up but could see spanking new treadmills on the second floor - looks like the view is again of the golf course
. the path outside my patio winds it's way along the stream separating the hotel from the golf course and there are a few unfurnished and indeed unvarnished gazebos which will presumably be nice places to have a cuppa and get bonked on the noggin by a golf ball :P
. I did not have a chance to explore any more of the hotel - but seeing that much of it is not ready perhaps there wasn't much more to see anyway

travelswithmyself

G. Comments
. nice well-designed, well-furnished hotel. Will be better when it's really ready
. not too sure about the location though - as a transit hotel travel time from the airport is long and it lacks easy access - if they want to attract that sort of clientele they ought to have a regular shuttle. If you fly into DMK you can get to any of the other SPG hotels in pretty much the same time
. as a resort the hotel is nice, but beyond the pool and just lazing in your room there isn't much else unless you are there for the golf
. I predict island fever for anyone staying more than 2 or 3 days
. there is supposed to be a shuttle to Mega Bangna mall but reviews of the mall seem to be lackadaisical. I haven't been there but I'm guessing it doesn't really compare to the ones in the city proper
. I'm still a bit hard-pressed to figure out where this hotel fits in with all the other SPG options in BKK. Even for mattress runs there are other options like Aloft or 4P

lcpteck

Nice review!

If they put in a permanent shuttle between BKK airport and the Resort, it will be a great transit hotel option for everyone.

uxb

+1. Despite the taxi hassles, it was still more convenient than going to the Aloft Sukhumvit.