catocony

Barracuda, compared to prices anywhere in North America or Europe, BKK prices are very cheap on average. What we normally pay for a roadside Courtyard or Springhill Suites gets a JW Marriott in Thailand.

As to Ryan, are you a new Gold? That doesn't get you much of anything unfortunately, certainly not concierge access or anything. But, as stated, you can have huge breakfasts at a pub or somewhere for a few hundred baht.

Kacee

Yes, I'm not sure what the comparison point is, but Bangkok hotels are typically about a third the price of "comparable" properties in major North American or European cities (or Asian cities such as Hong Kong or Tokyo). And of course, in some ways, there are few truly comparable properties anywhere, due to the special qualities of Thai service.

ryanthekiwi

I am not new, but definitely inexperienced. I just done travel much.

Also, I'm not super concerned about value in Bangkok compared to other destinations for my points and certs. My typical travel takes me to Disneyland and Hawaii and I always use my timeshares in Hawaii and the DL properties are cat 6+.

I had read in some reviews on another travel site that some Bangkok Marriotts offer breakfast to golds. It appears that's not the case based on the replies so far.

My current plan is 3 nights at the Sheraton Royal Orchid using 37.5k points followed by 2 nights at W Bangkok.

Kalboz

You probably read outdated info. Access to lounge which include breakfast for GOLDs was a benefit of the Marriott loyalty program until last August devaluation/merger with SPG. GOLD status with SPG never had the breakfast benefit.

barracuda93

Cannot say anything about US/Europe, but as for Asia, this may not be actually correct. Of course, prices in HK or Tokyo are somewhat higher generally, but x3 difference is questionable.

I will take IC brand as example since I have monitored their prices for quite a while and they are similarly priced in points.
I have just now checked a random date for IC in Bangkok vs ICs in Tokyo and got comparable rates. I'd say that aside from sakura season Tokyo ICs are more or less comparably priced to IC Bangkok and at times could be cheaper. Same is true for at least one IC in Hong Kong (Grand Stanford). The insane pricing of the main IC Hong Kong is more due to its location.

You could say that IC Bangkok is a better IC and I would personally agree here, but still, I frequently see it being sold for 6000-7000 THB/night for non-Club room, and IMO that’s an extremely poor value.
Then, when in Tokyo Ibis, as an example of absolutely basic accommodation, costs 100 USD/night, having IC for 250-300 USD/night makes sense. But in Bangkok Ibis costs 30-40 USD/night, and IC is 200-250 USD/night.

P. S. Making unadjusted comparisons to US in itself is a strange approach. Thailand has lower average income and lower prices, of course hotels are supposed to be cheaper than in US. I am lazy to dig the data, but if we calculate hotel nightly price as a percentage of median salary, I am pretty sure Thailand will turn out to be more expensive than US.

geminidreams

Yes ROS, I have had Westin for 100 a couple of times. I just troll rates until I find a BRG.

catocony

Barracuda, I doubt if too many Thais making 10,000 baht a month are looking at Flyertalk to size up Marriott properties. Most on here are frequent travelers from North America, Europe, Australia and major cities in Asia. We could stay in a 350 baht a night guest house if we wanted to, but we don't. So, we compare our costs in BKK to elsewhere for Marriott properties, as the thread is meant for.

barracuda93

Oh cool, I will try for Westin then.

Just stayed there few days ago and really enjoyed it (well, lounge is below average, but suites and front desk staff are amazing).

P. S. Been at ROS recently too, and I think I had enough of it. Would rather book a Courtyard at that reward price point.

barracuda93

You don’t have to necessarily factor in income differences, adjustment for general prices is enough. If pretty much everything in Bangkok is substantially cheaper than in Tokyo, while IC costs about the same, IC in Bangkok is more expensive in relative terms.

Besides, Bangkok is one of the major cities in Asia.

catocony

Why are you talking about a non-Marriott brand in a Marriott thread?

Kacee

It's really not.

4-5 star in Bangkok will typically price between $100 and $300 US. 4-5 star in Hong Kong or Tokyo will typically price from $400-$1000+.

margarita girl

Before the merger, you needed 50 nights for Marriott Gold. Now Marriott Gold is only 25 nights/yr. If you did 50 nights in 2018, your new status is Platinum and you will still qualify for breakfast.

helvetic

In what world are BKK hotels expensive? In what other city can you find so many 5-star properties under $200? I just paid $114 for the amazing Marriott Sukhumvit Soi 57, the Queens Park Marquis could've been had for a tiny bit more. The St. Regis can be had for under $200, and it's similarly cheap in other chain. And we're talking about hundreds of full-service western hotels… there is SO MUCH COMPETITION.

Against those cheap prices the rewards rate are outrageous… but that's because the cash rates are cheap, not because the rewards rate are expensive.

Dr. HFH

Thank you for my smile this morning. Yes, let's talk about average wages in Thailand.

The average monthly wage in Thailand as of September, 2018 was 14,075.55 baht, USD $440.15. My favorite hotel in Bangkok is SGS, at which standard rooms can usually be had in the THB 6,000++ range per night. THB 6,000++ = THB 7,062 = USD $220.74.

So, as a percentage of median (the only data I have is for average salary, which is probably what you meant, anyway) salary, one night at SGS is about 15 days' wages. However, as catocony pointed out upthread, there aren't a lot of average Thais staying at 5* properties here.

paolo64