Lament

In the house now and time for a small update.
The lobby renovation is far from being finished, though check in is now possible again in the lobby.
The swimming pool and the gym have now been overhauled and are now reopened on the 4th floor, and look better than before.
Not sure how many rooms have been remodeled yet, but I was not upgraded to a deluxe suite (now known as an athenee suite), which always has been the standard Plat upgrade before, at least for me).
Service is always great. The club lounge is apparently going to be closed soon for renovations and will be transferred somewhere down the building in the meantime. I simply love this lounge and the people who work in it , so any interim measure is not going to make my day , but I guess I have no choice . I just hope they do the remodeling very fast .
I have been out most days from dawn till dusk so I have not been bothered with the noise from the renovation work, but I understand I could be the exception .
All in all still a robust stay , and when you are a regular the staff in this property really make you feel like you are special .
.

remymartin

Dear all,

Any updates on the renovations? How noisy can it get? According to the website, public areas will be renovated until 10pm!?

3rdworldresident

just completed a 2-nights stay here.

got upgraded to a newly-renovated Athenee Suite (formerly Deluxe Suite) 2 days prior to arrival.

Im impressed by the refurbished suite so much, though the layout remains the same. new decoration, new 48" (or bigger) flat screen tv in both living room and bedroom. new bed, new carpet, new curtain, new drape, new furnitures, everything. they also added the japanese toilet (american standard branded) to the main bathroom. however, i wish they installed nespresso machine too. (they don't). the only issue i found was the a/c in the living room was not working properly.

they said only the top 3 floors left to be renovated. i guess all the work on public area have already finished. i can tell they done a good job on renovation, much more spectacular, more luxurios than it was before especially the restaurants and bar on the lobby level, also the fitness center, pool and pool bar on the 4th floor.

club lounge also remains the same, great service as usual but i prefer the evening spread at ROS to PA. they do not serve breakfast in the lounge currently (a lady who checked me in only told me the downstair restaurant option)

breakfast was great though still a notch below Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit IMO.

overall a very nice stay and will definitely return.

p.s. sorry for my poor english

remymartin

thank you, 3rdworldresident!

Based on your review, I am very keen on staying there again. Do you happen to know whether smoking by the pool is still allowed?

UASPG

Brand incompatibily: Le Meridien has an an exclusivity contract with Illy Coffee.
Now, I agree that they should have espresso machines in the suites and they could be Illy branded machines.

The hotel might be waiting their own change of brand before purchasing the machines and they will no longer have to stick to Illy, once they are no longer under Le Meridien.

3rdworldresident

Sorry, I dont know actually. The pool was empty when i was there.

At le meridien chiang mai. There is an esspresso machine in their executive suites, though i cant remember its brand exactly but pretty sure it wasn't illy brand.

I also thought that the hotel may leave le meridien brand soon once all the renovation finish, much more appropriate to become a luxury collection hotel instead. I have a strong feeling about this.

margarita girl

I have an upcoming stay in a few days, and just noticed a Refer a Friend promo link on my confirmation. Unfortunately, it will be expiring shortly.

http://www.plazaatheneebangkok.com/forms/refer?SWAQ=1DA

Dr. HFH

I've long felt this way; but AFAICT you and I are the only ones on FT who do.


LM BKK has some type of similar machine in the rooms (well, at least in the suites, -- the PLT upgrade success rate is excellent there) and the brand of the pods is not Illy. That said, they do serve Illy coffee in the rest of the hotel and it's long been one of my favorites.

remymartin

I was going to bite, margarita, but then I read:

geminidreams

I always felt the breakfasts were similar but the Raintree setting was much more relaxed than the Orchid. To be honest I can get a good feed at any of the SPG hotels but my favourite has always been the PA until my last trip when they closed the Raintree for renovations and the alternative was ghastly.

As the PA has gone to a category 4 it is hard to find rates that make me want to stay there even though I have a soft spot for it. Last time the renovations were very intrusive and I wont return until they are complete and I get a really good BRG.

IluvSQ

I have always preferred the SGS breakfast - maybe because I am more familiar with it, and know where everything is ( except when they do one
their periodic table swaps). But my mainstays at the SGS are the banana
bread, home made cottage cheese, and fresh sliced mango. I will mix
these with dim sum, Japanese, or eggs on a rotating basis.

SingaporeDon

Last week they did have a complementary Illy Coffee coupon in the room, to be used in the Coffee Lounge outside Raintree Cafe. But I guess one coupon per stay only

MSPeconomist

That's sounds like the coffee coupons at some other LMs. IME sometimes housekeeping replaces the coupon during a stay and sometimes not.

Do PA rooms have coffeemakers in the rooms? Often I prefer to just make my own at my convenience rather than making a trip to the lounge or lobby for it when I'm working.

geminidreams

The times I have stayed at the SGS the breakfast has been busy and the ambiance more akin to a cattle sale yard. I actually preferred the more limited offerings at Sala where at least the setting is much calmer and relaxing.

So I was looking for a booking for the last 2 days of my January trip and found a whopping BRG. For a rate equivalent to staying at the 4P I will see how the refurb panned out.

UASPG

The machines were from Lavazza, another Italian coffee brand. They have now been removed.