venk

The Royal Orchid in Bangkok takes the cake for false advertising and the biggest rip-off I have seen for a dialup

There is a brochure in the room with the cover that says high-speed internet. The rate detail when you book a room says high-speed internet for a fee. You open the brochure in the room and it gives instruction for setting up a dialup using your latop's modem to an extension in the hotel that provides local ISP connectivity (never got more than 28.8k even witha 52k modem). Prices: 70 Baht (a little less than $2) every time you connect and 7baht/minute or about $1 for every 6 minutes.

The higher floors are rumored to have real ethernet ports, but I don't know for this certainty.

Compare this to the other Sheraton in BKK, Sheraton Grand Sukhumvit. Same dialup to a local number (local calls are free here). At least they are honest enough to call it Instant-Internet rather than Highspeed-internet. About $16 for 10 hours of use. Royal Orchid would charge at least about $100 for this usage!

Although the Royal Orchid is a rather decent hotel, I would not recommend it at all compared to the Sheraton Grand Sukhumvit.

At RO, I was given a junior suite as a plat but not in the towers. The Towers lounge is very small with a few chairs for breakfast and you may have to wait a bit if you want free breakfast. The breakfast is rather meagre (no hot food).

The main problem is that RO's location is good only if you want to do the river tours. Otherwise, you waste 30-40 minutes going anywhere in a taxi at 3miles/hour in the BKK traffic.

SG Sukhumvit was excellent in all respects. Well worth the difference in price. The breakfast is excellent, as others have written earlier.

izzik

Why bother with hotel internet access when there are tons of dirt cheap 'net cafes in BKK?


[This message has been edited by izzik (edited 02-04-2003).]

venk

Internet cafes are not very useful for getting stuff (presentations, documents) in and out of your laptop or for VPN access to your office. Not just FT use you know?

Chiangi

You could buy a Net access package from a local ISP. Per-minute cost is even less than what those Net cafes can offer. The last one I bought had 35 hours for less than 500THB.

hillrider

I am glad I bumped into this thread. USD 6.56 for 30 minutes of internet is a complete rip-off, and internet cafes don't work for me either.

I don't care for annoyances. Sheraton Grand Sukhumvit here I come!

Chiangi

If Net access is so important, none of the SPG properties in BKK don't meet up your expectations. The Grand Hyatt, the Hilton, the Conrad all offer broadband access. I was a little surprised even accessing the Net via a regular phone jack at the Conrad gave me 50.2K. (Never at the Royal Orchid or the Sheraton.)

SNA_Flyer

When I am in Thailand, I buy prepaid minutes from http://www.loxinfo.co.th/ - it's pretty cheap and they have plenty of local dialup numbers all over Thailand.

estnet

My first stay as platinum After a few hitches things have turned out quite well.

Was upgraded to a (junior) suite - first room was VERY strange two small rooms oddly angled, not too pleased. Asked if I could possibly change if a real suite became available - was told I could change after 6 pm that night! Next was a real suite with very nice sized rooms (bedroom and living room). Odd thing is I don't seem to be able to get a comforter - froze the first night (too sleepy to figure out the thermostat - actually found the right one the next day -there are two and I had been adjusting the one for the other room )
Today I have asked twice for a comforter - got the pillows I asked for but....anyone know the Thai word for comforter?

I am typing this in the lounge. There is free wireless here - which works best in the middle of the three rooms (was told only Towers guests could use the 2 computers they have here). No wireless in the room, but have high speed for a fee. Well the view is better in the lounge. Strange thing is I seem to be the only one using it (but beware it is an unsecured system and microsoft warned me of this when I connected).

Observations - the lounge here (compared to Conrad Singapore) is populated by much more elderly aand coupled (that is twosomes). This and the lay out of the lounge makes it a bit more problematic for a single to meet new people. Food and service are good, but staff is not quite as friendly as I have found in most places in Thailand - not unfriendly, just a noticeable difference.

Odd observation - smoke seems to blow into the room through the vent even though I am on a non-smoking floor.

Pools (two) seem insufficient in size for a hotel of this size (but there really isn't anything they can do about this).

I highly prefer the service and rooms at the Penninsula (even a regular room compared to the suite - I value real down pillows (which they don't have here) and comforters). The location of the Penn is more fun also. Then again, I don't get lounge at Penn, but I do have a great rate here and am getting *wood bennies so will suffer through the rest of my stay.

All that having been said I am really enjoying the view and sunset from the lounge and watching all the hotels light up down the Chao Praya as I type this.

jchand

So where you allowed Towers Lounge access, without booking a Tower room rate, or being upgraded to Towers Level ??? Please advise.

I have an upcoming award stay at this location, but with the SGS droping a category I was considering swithching award stay to there.

rani

Just spent a night at the ROS for on a decent corporate rate. Was incredibly well treated on checkin and upgraded to a real suite - but not the towers. They offered me Lounge access immediately. However, they didn't offer me the free laundry - what a bummer.

Only real disappointment was the fact that the room hasn't been renovated and I really missed, as previously mentioned, the down pillows and comforter that they have at the Sheraton GS and the Westin GS. As for the Pen, we paid quite a bit more there because we were there just before the new years but nothing can beat it. The rooms are fantastic and we love being on the river. However, the Starwood bennies are always appreciated.

[This message has been edited by rani (edited Jan 18, 2004).]

estnet

Yes, given towers lounge privelges without being on Tower floor - but first told couldn't have drinks inbtwn breakfast and cocktails (not true), no laudry priveleges, and aforementioned not allowed to use their computers. Didn't question the computer issue because have my own and the wireless works fine (they say it is also availabe at the business center and near it - on the second floor).

jchand

So as Plat, they give you Lounge access for breakfast, and evening cocktails. THat sounds OK to ME>

Plato90s

Instead of comforter, try asking for a duvet. In most areas of Asia where the British influence was strong, that's the word in use to describe what you would call a comforter.

rani

Interesting - no one questioned my right to use the computers or the right to drinks in between the official hours. I only spent 1 night at the ROS but I spent a lot of time in the lounge since it was raining very hard. Used the computers for hours.

satori

I searched and I can't find anything about transportation from the airport to hotels. I need a recommendation for getting to the Royal Orchid Sheraton from BKK at midnight (the UA flight from NRT).

Approximately what is the cost for a taxi and what other options are there at that time of night.

Return to BKK at 5AM is also something I need.

I know the airports are always good about helping tourists, but I would like a heads up before arriving.