pablos

from what i understand, there are only two floors now for one-night Test and Go ASQ guests the rest are as usual (but with all the recent changes, this could, and will likely, change again soon).

re: hot food, beyond the decent two pizza options they had some tomato penne pasta, "korean" beef skewers, and "grilled" lemongrass chicken. all fine, filling and free, but not exactly haute cuisine but quite okay.

addendum: the desserts on offer were pretty damn tasty. but to be fair, i am a slut for sweets.

Sohan

I was getting very consistent upgrades in 2021 with Westin when they only had 2-4 floors open. Sometimes it would not be immediately at check in, but when they became available they gave them to us without asking. Managed over 100 nights in the suites there last year.

Cplusplus

IIRC, I've received turndown service without request when staying on one of the elite floors, but not when staying on the regular floors. Can anyone confirm?

UASPG

A well informed source told me that the land lease where the Westin is (as well as the Robinson and the Mc Donald) is ending or has ended, but I was not able to find any article to confirm this information, just this 11 years old document.

http://capital.sec.or.th/webapp/corp...?ts=1577714889

Bottom line: does anybody know if the Westin is scheduled to close?

Sohan

If that's the case then explains why they never refurbed the rooms heavily.

So it looks like Robins has the lease and Westin own the land:* Land of The Westin for the land deeds owned by the Company. Other land areas are under long-term lease.

AggressiveAsian

well informed source also told me that they are still in negotiation. Grand Asset, the owning company raise a lot of money lately selling 2 plot of lands, and put Hyatt Regency on REITs, the result should be coming out soon

reggiekush

Checked in 10 nights ago splitting my stays into 5 nights at a time. I'm using 1 megatix voucher (15k for 10k) per stay. So my overall cost is 88 CAD/night. Not sure if I can use more than one voucher per stay, hence the 5 nights at a time. At the moment they have a 15 night rate (through sales team) for 75 CAD/night but I figured that the upgrade wouldn't be offered.

I was upgraded upon arrival to a suite and have been now twice upgraded for my following 2 five night stays. Staff has been exceptional throughout the hotel especially in the lounge and in Zest where breakfast is offered for elites. The lounge has been busy on occasion with overflow in the Presidential(?) just a few doors down and then another overflow being Zest. Tbh I like Zest as I can order from the apps menu and sit outside. This used to be the case for my few nights back in December

The suite itself is spacious albiet on a lower floor, I value space over a view for my needs (Currently on the T21 side). It is dated of course but not really to the point of concern. No problems with the room for deterioration as well.

Housekeeping has been on point with plenty daily fruit and plenty of water replenishment for the very hot days (They're giving me 9 a day!)

All in all I was going to head over to Athenee for a few 10 night stays but after the recent review I'm unsure. I like the product/ lounge better at Athenee but have grown to like the immediate Asok area (I've got my local eatery, foot massage, etc).

Sohan

The hotel is great with Megatix. You can definitely use multiple or even purchase during the stay if your spend goes up etc.

reggiekush

I was afraid they wouldn't keep me in the suite I've been in for almost 20 days now. But checking the app for my next batch of 5 nights I'm already upgraded (3 days from now). I'll just have one more 5 nighter after that one before heading out so I should be good with the vouchers 😀. Though for this 3 night stay I didn't use any.

Edit: I should have bought vouchers well in advance instead of one day before my next stay as they ran out 😪. But the Earn Eat Enjoy rate was only 2kish more than member flex which isn't too bad. But lesson learned

UASPG

Apparently, (the May 31st letter below might indicate otherwise) the lease of the building has been extended.

I was told that the previous GM had left the hotel because - at that time - the lease had expired and was not going to be renewed.

https://classic.set.or.th/set/pdfnew...310&sequence=0

The attorneys on FT might give us a better understanding on the legal situation of the lease:

https://investor.grandeasset.com/mis...rt-2021-en.pdf
https://investor.pf.co.th/newsroom/1...700580100E.pdf

Kacee

It's a bit difficult to decipher, but it appears there's a lawsuit over whether the land lease was extended, with the company that owns and operates the hotel claiming there was an agreement to extend the land lease for 20 more years, and the 25% owner of the land claiming there was no extension, and seeking to eject the company. The letter provides notice to the Stock Exchange of Thailand of a significant legal dispute which may impact the company's finances.

michio

Just completed a 3 night stay at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit a couple of weeks ago. We've stayed several times here (before covid) and have almost always been upgraded to a suite and find the staff and service to be pretty good and location great!

Prior to staying in Bangkok, we had a week at the Marriott Phuket Beach Club, also a great place to stay! When our flight landed in BKK after 11 pm, we decided to drop off our checked bag at the Westin rather than hauling it down (flying LCC Air Asia for BKK-HKT and didn't feel like paying for a checked bag that we didn't need in Phuket) to Phuket, so no problem with leaving some luggage at the Westin. And it was probably nicer to sit in the calm/clean Westin lobby during the early 1am-3pm hours and to also see the interesting guests returning after their nighttime partying or whatever.

When we arrived back at the Westin the following week, we were escorted from the first floor to the lobby upstairs. Front desk staff checking us in was a newer employee nicknamed "Bowling" (many Thais use nicknames) was really sweet and she also was working in the Club Lounge too. When she saw our reservation and saw that husband is Lifetime Titanium, she asked us to follow her and escorted us up the elevator to the Club Lounge to do our check in, which most of the BK Marriott brand hotels with club lounges do for their elites. We were seated and offered drinks while they checked us in. We didn't even have to hand them the baggage claim tag, as they moved that bag into the room with our carry ons.

Most of the Westin staff have changed and are newer, like the Club Lounge Manager Mona. But then, we haven't been in Thailand since covid hit and it's been two years. The Guest Services Manager, Prynton is still there and he did a great job of getting our room decorated with rose petals and a small cake to help celebrate my birthday (husband had emailed Prynton earlier) so that was a nice touch and surprise.

We were also upgraded to the one bedroom suite and the Lifetime Titanium benefits were similar to pre covid: Club Lounge (breakfast, afternoon tea, evening cocktails/appetizers, open from 0700-2100) access, free laundry/press (not dry cleaning) of two items. Club Lounge did get crowded in the evenings and the lounge offers several choices of hot appetizers, as well as a soup, salads, fruits, cheeses, desserts, etc. and changes out their appetizers each day and has some specialty items like pizza or eggrolls, etc. Enough for a light dinner.

Also, the elite and a guest can have breakfast in the downstairs restaurant. The Westin's breakfast buffet selection is not quite as large as the Athenees, but still pretty solid. I noticed that they still had a juice bar but no more of the fresh coconuts that they would cut and that you could put a straw in and drink out of. They had the fresh noodle bar and also one of those marble slabs to make/freeze customized yogurt.

While we were in Phuket we chatted with George V, the JW Marriott GM. He was the GM at the Marriott Surawongse when it opened and moved to the JW in Phuket a couple of years ago. George said that he heard that the Westin GM Peter Lucas was now at the Marriott Sukhumvit on Soi 57 and Prynton confirmed that. So there currently isn't a GM at the Westin property but I guess they're looking. A post above mentioned that Grand Asset owns the property and they do have on the first floor lobby, a screen display highlighting their properties. I recall seeing the Westin, Athenee and a Hyatt on that display. But not sure what the status of the Westin is in discussions above.

Admittedly, the Westin property is a bit older and not as upgraded as the Athenee or Surawongse, but the Westin's location is great being near the BTS and Metro and across from the T21 dining so we like to stay here as well as the Athenee. And the staff was pretty good from the bellmen, housekeeping to the Club Lounge. Whenever we ordered a Grab car on our phone the bellman had us stay and wait inside (cool air conditioning!) and would watch for our Grab car to arrive and then open the door for us. Prynton was so helpful and the new manager Mona and the Club Lounge staff was also very nice and efficient. And the upgrades for elites has been pretty consistent, so we do like staying at the Westin!

Westin restaurant breakfast of noodles, char siu bao, siu mai dumplings.

Westin Club Lounge desserts

more Westin Club Lounge desserts

Westin room suite, birthday cake for me on coffee service area.

Tracktime

I could not find the email on the hotel website for Westin Grande Bangkok, following instructions from Marriott.com. Anyone have their email address?

Marriott Bonvoy Lurker II

Hello Tracktime,

We are pleased to share the hotel contact email for your reference.

The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok: [email protected]

Please feel free to contact us if we can be of any assistance.

Best regards,

Carrie L
Specialist Social Media
Marriott International
[email protected]

UASPG

It looks like Robert Wittebrood (formerly HM at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit) is now the new GM at the Westin.

Congratulations to him!