Kacee

My priorities are much more closely aligned with yours and I appreciate the thorough objectivity of your reviews.

helvetic

Personally I dislike all buffet breakfasts and only really enjoy a-la carte menus. I was not impressed by MMQP breakfast at all… food in the lounge and restaurant both lackluster. I can't really think of any BKK breakfasts that blew me away but the closest was the Le Meridien. I have yet to try SGS but I hear I'd like it.

escape4

Yes LM punches above its weight; SGS and Athenee are even better. If you like a la carte menus then indeed most likely you will enjoy SGS.

Dr. HFH

Yes, if you like à la carte breakfasts, try SGS. As an Ambassador guest, you have a choice of the regular breakfast buffet in Orchid Café on the same level as the lobby, or breakfast in Rossini, one level up from the lobby. Rossini is an à la carte breakfast.

UASPG

#1 on TA for hotels in Bangkok is VERY surprising, but any management getting involved in fake reviews would get into a lot of trouble with Marriott Corporate.

Kacee

After going through the reviews, I'll amend my comment. While there appear to be some fakes, there are also lots of positive reviews by legit TA contributors (contrast that with JW Bangkok, for example, which has a plethora of 1 contribution wonders, i.e., obvious fakes).

Based on the very low number of one and two star reviews for this property, as well as management's follow-up comments,I strongly suspect they have a very active program of contacting guests who leave negative reviews and getting those changed or deleted. Can't really fault that, it's a responsive pro-active management strategy which is obviously working well for them in a very competitive Bangkok hotel market.

Dr. HFH

I can tell you from experience that management can report the review as fake and TA will remove it. I had an experience with a tour operator who simply reported all negative reviews as fake and had them removed. If you're interested, you can read what happened to me here, -- Link.

Kacee

Yes TA very much favors the businesses, especially those that pay to play. I had a similar experience with a review of a restaurant in Budapest which was literally paying patrons for five star reviews (show them the review before you paid, and they would give a 10% discount on the check).

Back to this property, the limited number of 1 and 2 star reviews (4/713) indicates something unusual. Even the finest hotels in the world (true five stars) will typically generate 2-3% negative reviews. It's just human nature.

Dr. HFH

I recently stayed here for ten nights. I used a seven night travel package and paid for three additional nights.

Actually making the booking was not easy. One might even say that I was Bonvoyed. Setting up the three paid nights was easy, of course. Did it online. The travel package nights, not so much. I called the Marriott 800 number to do the booking. I explained what I wanted, apply my seven night travel package to the Marriott Surawongse in Bangkok. Agent typed for a minute or two and came back saying that there was no availability. I thought that that was a bit odd since I had just checked for point redemptions immediately prior to calling; but, I thought, maybe point redemptions come from a different inventory. So I contacted the hotel. I'm friendly with the Rooms Manager, Khun KK, from her previous management position at LM down the street. I contacted her by email and explained what happened. She checked and told me that there was plenty of availability for me to redeem my travel package.

Called Marriott back and told them. This agent found the space, booked exactly what I wanted, no problem. Got in touch with Khun KK again and told her that I had two separate bookings, asked her if it was possible to combine them so that I wouldn't have to change rooms. She said that she would take care of it; and she did.

But Bonvoyed again. The Marriott phone rep used points for this stay instead of the travel package. Spoke to Marriott CS several times; and they agreed that they had made an error. However, after a week, they told me that it couldn't be fixed. (I wanted the points refunded and the stay charged against the travel package.) That was particularly problematic for me because the travel package was due to expire in the not too distant future. On the advice of a friend, I contacted the Lurkers who got it fixed in under 24 hours!

I had told Khun KK approximately when I would be arriving, and after checking on my progress by phone, she was waiting at the front door when I arrived, smiling and happy to see me, as usual! She really is a very sweet person and very accommodating to guests. She understands that she's in the hospitality industry. My bags were dealt with, and she walked with me to the front desk. FDC was also smiling and friendly. I had forgotten the power supply for my laptop, and the battery died a couple of years ago, so I alerted FDC that I would be receiving a package (the power supply sent by express mail by my office). I was assured that it would be delivered to my room on its arrival, and it was.

Khun KK accompanied me to the elevators, then she left me and I went up by myself. (She had something else to attend to.) I usually take my own bags when I have only a rollaboard and my laptop bag, and that's what I did this time. I opened the door of my room to find that I had been upgraded to a one bedroom residential apartment. As others have noted in this thread, upgrades at this property are generally excellent. The one bedroom apartments have a well equipped galley kitchen, full service for four, including mugs, cups, saucers, glasses, serving pieces and utensils, etc.


Various shots of the kitchen showing layout, appliances, and how completely it was equipped:








As you can see, the kitchen area also has a built-in Samsung microwave oven, two burner Franke countertop stove, Electrolux dishwasher, and Franke oven. The Franke oven and microwave oven both have stainless steel fronts. A French press coffee thingy was also provided.

There’s a full-size Sharp refrigerator/freezer; the freezer has a separate external door. An Electrolux washer/dryer is in a closet adjacent to the refrigerator, with large shelves above it and drawers right next to it.



Owners’ manuals for all of the appliances were on a shelf in a small closet before (to the left of) the refrigerator.

The room is tastefully decorated, see photos. There are identical 55” Samsung flat screen TVs in the living room and bedroom. The room is a corner room on the 23rd floor, facing roughly northwest. Great views from both the living and bed rooms through floor-to-ceiling windows. Even though it’s a corner room, there are windows on one side only. Just after the kitchen, there's a dining table with four chairs.







The bedroom is as it appears in the photos. There is reasonably good closet and drawer space, plus a large closet with shelves in the living room. I would say that the storage space is fine even if you live here for an extended period of time.

In the bedroom, sofa under the large window with large round table. I set up my laptop and worked here.







My new friend. He lived on the night table throughout my stay. You can see his (her?) two pink children in the first photo of the bed, immediately above.



There are accents in traditional Thai style throughout the hotel and each room. I liked them. This is the wall between the bed and the large sofa pictured above.



There's a little hall between the bedroom and bathroom which contains the safe, closet, some drawers, and a couple of mirrors.


Separate closet for an iron and ironing board.


Luggage stand, between the closet and bathroom door. Closet is on your left, bathroom door on your right.



Sink area:




Amenities were in that little two drawer piece just under the five facecloths on the right of the sink:
(My apologies that the photos are on their sides.)



Left and center detail of sink counter:



Towels are kept under the sink counter, my preference for extra towels was noted:



Bathtub with the window into the bedroom, same as at LM up the street. There is a shade which can be lowered from within the bathroom for privacy. Picture on the right is the view from the bedroom. You can see the shade at the top of the window.



Toilet to the left of the sink. Hamper in front of the toilet is for used towels, but I'm not sure that housekeeping knows this. Once I started leaving the cover slightly askew and a corner of a towel visible, they emptied it on each visit.



Shower door, from the outside on the left, door open looking into the shower on the right:



I liked the bathroom a lot. My only complaint was that there's no soap dish in the shower. I took the one from the sink, but had to keep moving it back and forth between the shower and sink. Since the LM up the street has the same owner and also lacks soap dishes in the shower, I conclude that this was by design. IMO this needs rethinking.

On one of the counters near the nightstand, the business end of a nail was sticking out, and I caught myself on it, -- fortunately, no torn clothing, no blood. I pointed it out to the housekeeping person assigned to my room, and she called the engineering department, which sent two gentlemen up immediately to deal with it.

Overall, the room is well thought out. Bathrooms are particularly important to my comfort in a room; and I really liked this one. Two bathrobes were provided, one larger and one smaller. Perfect. They were made of the lighter weight waffle material, not the heavy terrycloth. Either is acceptable to me. There is a bench outside the bathroom which is perfectly sized and situated for a suitcase. As you can see from the photos, there are both wall sconces next to each bed and bright reading lights mounted in the ceiling above each of the two stacks of pillows. Again, perfect.

The bathroom had a veritable treasure trove of amenities, including dental kits, hair band, shaving kit, shower cap, cotton balls, Q tips, mouthwash, comb, sanitary bag, all in very nice packaging. Lots of towels were provided, just as I like, one of my many idiosyncrasies. My room was supplied with seven large bath towels, four hand towels and six facecloths. Lighting was excellent, and the switches on lamps and wall sconces were both easy to locate and intuitively obvious in operation, not something which applies to every Marriott hotel in this city.

The pool deck and fitness center are on the 18th floor. The pool area is very nice, and the Marriott website photos are pretty accurate, if, perhaps, a bit posed. Walking out of the building to the pool area, you first come to a fairly large area of tables, chairs, sofas, etc. IIRC this area is shaded, -- I spent very little time at the pool, so no pics, either. On one side is the bar; and I believe that you can order food, as well. The furniture is all well cushioned and very comfortable. Staff is both attentive and friendly. Walking beyond, into the pool area, there are numerous lounges, a few of which are installed in the very shallow part of the pool, and a few large sunbeds. The pool gets direct sunlight, so by the afternoon, the water can be very warm (just the way I like it). The fitness center is well equipped, and the equipment all looks new.

On the 32nd floor is the Yào Restaurant and rooftop bar. The restaurant was booked solid both times I tried to dine there, so I will assume that it’s popular. I have no idea what percentage of the diners were hotel guests as opposed to local Thai residents. So both times I was up there, I sat at the outdoor bar, which is a couple of levels higher than the restaurant dining room.

The outdoor bar is lovely. It, itself, has two levels, the upper level reserved for patrons who wish to smoke. I sat on the lower level. I liked it much better than Sky Bar, visible from the hotel not too far away. It has tables and comfortable chairs around the edges, so you can sit next to the glass walls and look out at the view. I sat at the same table both times, a table at the corner of the building. It was delightful.

The bar also has a snack menu, along the same Chinese theme of Yào Restaurant. Over the course of the two nights I went to the bar (a friend was with me on my second visit), I probably tasted a total of eight or nine items off the menu. They were all delicious; so I would also assume that the food in the restaurant is excellent, as well.

M Club is the Executive Lounge, on the 31st floor. It’s large, with lots of comfortable seating. Like most similar lounges, it’s where elite members (and probably suite guests) can get free breakfast and happy hour cocktails and snacks. The elite breakfast benefit is only in M Club, not in the regular restaurant.

I admit up front that I’m not a fan of club lounges. This one is no exception. The breakfast food was adequate, but not better, with the exception of the bacon, WHICH WAS GREAT! Freshly squeezed juices were available. And there are some things that can only be considered failures. Brie, for example, should be served at room temperature, when it’s soft, creamy and full of flavor. Here, they keep and display it in a sort of open-front refrigerated closet in the wall. You reach in and use tongs to help yourself to pre-sliced pieces (first brie failure). But they’re refrigerated, so they’re hard and not nearly as tasty (second brie failure). I would have thought that the F&B Manager would know that brie is not served refrigerated.

Another problem is the “bagels.” Bagels have to be cooked twice. First they’re boiled, then they’re baked. This hotel, like others in Bangkok, takes regular bread dough, forms it into the shape of a bagel, and bakes it. What do you get? Bread in the shape of a bagel, yes, but not a bagel. You get round bread. Bagels are chewy. These are not. Go to Bangkok Bagels (in the little shopping area in front of the Renaissance on Sukhumvit) and you’ll be able to taste and feel the difference.

This hotel also does not have Prosecco available at breakfast, as do LM and SGS for elite Bonvoy members. That surprised me, given that this hotel and LM have the same owner.

Happy Hour benefit really isn’t much better. The available alcohol is a selection of wines plus five pre-selected drinks. No other choices available. I tried the margarita one day. The person making the drinks is not a bartender. He’s a regular staff member making one of the five drinks for which he has recipes. Like all the staff at the hotel, he was friendly, smiling and accommodating; he just didn’t have the skill or experience to be mixing drinks.

As other posters have pointed out, breakfast was a real disappointment. For people who are entitled to eat at M Club, the hotel should consider giving them (us) the option to eat at the regular breakfast, downstairs.

Overall, I’d give the M Club a straight C for food and beverage. The rest of the hotel is so good; this was a real disappointment. That said, however, the staff at M Club was great! They greeted guests by name every morning, made pleasant conversation, were happy to assist in any way that they could. I would say that the M Club is probably slightly overstaffed, but given that the staff is so good, I'm not complaining. It was a pleasure to see them every morning.

Some general comments. The hard product is excellent. The hotel is well designed and has a pleasing color palette. Everything is modern but not overdone modern; and the lines are clean. Thai influence is visible throughout.

The hotel is very environmentally conscious. Bed linens, for example, are changed every three days unless you request more frequent changes. On days when they’re not changing the linens, housekeeping strips the bed completely, then remakes it using the same sheets. You get a totally freshly made bed each day, whether the sheets are changed or not. I like that.




All requests are made by pushing the button on the phone marked At Your Service. I used in-room dining a few times. Each time, I was greeted by name. And they did something that I’ve never experienced at a hotel before. For all orders, the phone person asked if I had any food allergies. When I ordered an item that had pork in it, the phone person informed me that there was pork in that specific item, and asked if that was acceptable. What great service!

Internet connectivity is excellent. There are wireless routers/repeaters more or less everywhere. No problems connecting, and the signal was strong. In my room with the door closed, I consistently got speeds of around 100 Mbps download and 20 upload on my laptop.

There has been some discussion in the thread about the hotel’s location. It’s fairly far down Surawong Road. One evening I walked from this hotel to LM, up the street near Patpong. It took 13 minutes to LM’s driveway entrance. It wasn’t bad at all, except for the heat. Additionally, the hotel provides transportation to the Sala Daeng BTS station approximately every 30 minutes.

I think that the strongest point of this hotel is the staff. Without exception, every staff member whom I encountered during the ten days I was there was guest oriented, solicitous, smiling and only too happy to accommodate. I would like to give special thanks to Khun KK, Rooms Manager, who helped me arrange my visit after some initial difficulty with Marriott central reservations; the staff at M Club, who took such good care of me every day; and Pui, my room attendant from Housekeeping, who kept my room spotless and orderly.

Overall, the only thing that I would change is the breakfast policy for elite members. Breakfast in the lounge just isn't making it.

Other than that, this is an excellent hotel, despite its slightly less than ideal location. You will probably find a post by me upthread where I said that the location would be a non-starter for me, and I wouldn't stay here. I've changed my opinion. I'd stay there again in a minute. And I will!!

escape4

Thanks for the detailed review, well done. I see that your opinion and observations are fairly well aligned with mine from a couple of months ago.

Offering breakfast in the restaurant to elites would not cost much to the hotel given that such guests will most likely eat in the lounge anyway. It's an easy fix from my point of view which will improve the elite guest experience.

Thunderroad

Great review, Dr. HFH. Makes we wish/think that perhaps my wife and I should stay longer than 36 hours at the tail end of a trip to Laos this December.

I agree that it would make sense and cost little for the hotel to include the regular restaurant in the breakfast benefit, especially since so many other properties do so.

Did you make it down to the river at all while there? From my initial research, it sounds like it's an easy, quick taxi ride to one of the relatively close hotels on the river for lunch or dinner.

Anyway, thanks for all of the useful information and impressions.

lost_in_translation

Are you sure the location isn’t a complete deal breaker for you, Dr. HFH? I’m not sure I appreciate the extra upgrade competition here!

As I said previously (can’t remember if it was here or another thread) this isn’t the best Bangkok hotel but it could be the best value for money. Other than the location and the poor lounge breakfast (I don’t agree the evening spread is poor, it’s a great quality selection of snacks including an unusual amount of healthy options plus selected cocktails which is enough for me) I struggle to criticise in the price range. The idea that you could end up at the ROS for the same price is just sad.

Kacee

That would be unusual pricing for both properties. ROS is typically priced at 50-75% of Surawongse.

escape4

Correct. ROS is cheaper than Marriott Surawong more than 90% of the time. The lowest I have seen Marriott Surawongse is 3.8k THB and the lowest I have seen ROS is 2.1k THB therefore it can be significantly cheaper. In addition, ROS is much easier to find a BRG than Marriott Surawong which can compound the rate difference.

Given that ROS is also very generous with upgrades (just a notch below Marriott Surawong), it has a lounge, breakfast can be had in the restaurant, I would say ROS is very good value for the money for people on a budget. But without any doubt Marriott Surawong is the better hotel if money is no object.

Thunderroad

Does anyone have a contact name and email for the hotel?