gleff

Friday, April 17

9:10 pm Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) to Bangkok, Thailand (BKK)
Lufthansa Flight 773 First Class Seats 83H, 83K
Duration: 1h 30m Boeing 747-400 461 miles traveled

Since we had a late flight, I asked about 6pm checkout but was told that would incur a half-night’s charge. But they extended 5pm checkout complimentarily, and offered that we could enjoy the evening h’or douerves in the lounge rather than leaving for the airport straight away, but we we decided we’ve rather be off.

We caught a cab to the airport and despite significant traffic (it took better than an hour) the cost was ~ US$8.

We entered the terminal just as Lufthansa was about to open its counters, all of the staff were huddled in a meeting while passengers began to queue. It was rather silly to be at the airport three hours prior to departure for a one hour flight, but we figured we’d just catch up on email and such in the lounge.

Check-in was quick, though slightly delayed while a couple of agents dealt with a woman who somehow managed to pre-upgrade her family but wasn’t happy that her mileage account was hit for the privilege. She wanted everyone downgraded and their original seats returned to them, but that wasn’t possible. Don’t know the eventual resolution, but apparently they were put back in business class as I didn’t see them on the upper deck for the flight.



We were given a lounge pass for the Rose lounge, there are several presumably similar lounges named Orchid, Apricot, and Daisy, perhaps others. Rose was the farthest or second farthest from the Lufthansa gate, which seemed rather odd. It’s near gate 9, and Lufthansa was using 20.



And upon seeing the lounge, they certainly weren’t doing us a favor. Though apparently the lounges were redone it looked entirely dated with drab green décor…. Very little open seating, this place was busy! We had to do two laps around the rather large lounge to find two seats together. Tood options included fruit and a fix-it yourself noodle bar, with several folks using the microwave to heat their soup further.











There was wireless, at least, and I logged onto Flyertalk for a bit before making the long walk down towards the gate. Along the way I did pass the café and spa options that SanDiego1K has written SQ offers its premium passengers, this would have been a vast improvement over the Rose lounge experience.







After such a disappointing UA F flight HKG-SGN, I was truly impressed by Lufthansa for their one-hour onboard service.

On boarding, amenity kits and slippers were passed out. I read a report from several years back that no amenity kits were provided on this short flight, which certainly wouldn’t have surprised me. However perhaps because of the light load or perhaps because the flight attendant didn’t realize initially that we would be with them only for the first short segment, we got the usual Lufthansa long-haul first treatment.











Menus were handed out as well, a nice contrast to United. The wine and spirits menu was the exact same as long-haul, but given the short duration of the flight the food menu was quite limited – cold items and no choices, but served as separate courses none the less.

Sure hit the spot, an actual three course meal in an hour. It was rather late and I was tired, so I ordered a cappuccino. Not only was it perfectly made, I was offered and accepted a refill.









The flight attendant did forget to distribute arrival cards, so as we were descending I asked about it and he fetched it for us. No fast track immigration passes were distributed, I don’t know whether they offer these only on Bangkok arrival from Franfurt or whether it was an oversight. It didn’t much matter, I had arranged my own fast track escort (though lines were short anyway, this wouldn’t have been necessary, I would have liked to pick up passes for later use however).

We arrived in Bangkok on time, about a quarter to 11. Didn’t look like too many folks deplaning in BKK, mostly connecting passengers staying on board for the continuation to Frankfurt.

Since we weren’t arriving in Thai Airways first, and since it wasn’t clear to me that we’d be getting fast track passes, I decided to try out one of the VIP escort services at Suvarnabhumi. In particular, I booked a meet-and-greet as well as round-trip car transfer with Image Limo. The car service was 1200 baht each way (this was billed as a ‘special’ rate but seemed in line with what I’ve paid for a car service on arrival in the past, though quite reasonable for something pre-booked). The meet-and-greet was impossibly expensive for a relatively unnecessary service in most cases at 3000 baht for two people (it’s less expensive for just one) but I was curious to see how it would work as I’ve only gotten escorts in the past from Thai.

A well-dressed Thai man was at the entrance to the jetway with a sign with my name on it when we arrived. He walked us through the terminal (no buggy ) to an special passport control area with no line that was walled off from the regular lines, I didn’t notice it as diplomatic passport control per se but may well have been. He clearly knew the officer on duty and nothing had to be said or paperwork handed over to justify our eligibility for the line.

Right on through passport control, our bags were already on the belt. I pointed to them, our escort put them on a luggage cart and walked us out to a waiting car (he rang them from inside baggage claim). The car was a Nissan Teana, they had the obligatory cold cloths and waters and mints, the day’s papers, etc. in the car, and we were off onto the expressway to head down to the Royal Orchid Sheraton. The driver did get himself a bit turned around once he exited the expressway, but the back streets at night can be confusing.

ORDnHKG

Amenity kit in the 1 hour segment ? Nice ! Did they even give you the PJ ?

Any photos or at least the brand of product they are using now for their amenity kit ?

I kind of see the basket in the bathroom has Loccitane samples, can you describe what is it consist of ?

What is the white square cake of the fresh fruit desert ? It sort of looks like coconut pudding to me. Thanks.

gleff

Hah! No PJs.

I'll have to check the amenity kit when I'm back at home, it won't be for a few days, but it was the brown/cream bag with Clarins stuff inside, the same bag I received last year on four long-haul F segments. The ladies kit is slightly different, and it's the "purse" bag. As I say, would have to check on it when I'm back in DC.... (feel free to remind me )


IIRC a shaving kit was most pronounced, I believe there were some tubes of hand cream, maybe a wetnap type cloth, probably a toothbrush/toothpast kit.

Will have to ask mrs. gleff what in the world it was, it was fruit, and quite good. But I couldn't tell ya what it was!

GolfTravelr

fabulous trip report......can't wait for further installments!!

gleff

Royal Orchid Sheraton
2 Charoen Krung Road Soi 30 (Captain Bush Lane), Siphya, Bangrak
Bangkok 10500 Thailand
Phone: (66)(2) 266 0123 Fax: (66)(2) 236 8320
Rate: THB3000+tax

We arrived at the Royal Orchid Sheraton after a 25 minute drive from the airport. I was torn about where to stay, since it was just a brief overnight. The river is quite far off the airport, but it’s almost all freeway, the only issue is traffic in and around the hotel itself. But we were arriving quite late and leaving the hotel at nearly noon, I figured traffic wouldn’t be much of an issue. And I really did fancy waking up to breakfast on the river.

The hotel is somewhat disfavored, at least among Starwood properties. I know that many like the new Meridien, and the ROS is by no means the incredibly well-regarded Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. But I really do think it gets a bad rap.

We walked into the lobby and to the checkin desk. I had reserved a base level room on a 45-day advance purchase rate, but understand this hotel is usually pretty good with upgrades. On a single night stay, and with Thai tourism hurting badly, I assumed a suite upgrade would be something of a gimme.

I asked what kind of room they had for me and they told me it was a ‘nice Tower room’. Hmm. No suite? Really? I pressed, and they did give me a top floor junior suite “but only because it’s just a one night stay.” Weird. This hotel is usually good with upgrades, the room was obviously available (it was midnight, I was leaving the hotel in less than 12 hours). Why wasn’t I given it in the first place?

They then took us upstairs to complete the checkin process, and explained the Towers lounge and restaurant breakfast benefit. The Towers lounge is nice, quiet, with a modest breakfast spread and computers with internet. (I didn’t check out evening snacks of course.)

Hotel entrance


Lobby


View from the Room




Welcome drink


Living room


Desk area


Swiveling tv


Bedroom


Bathroom




Lounge




Lounge breakfast








Outside breakfast







I chose to have my breakfast in the main restaurant, outside by the river. The spread was varied and fresh, but mostly I just wanted to sit and drink my coffee along the river – the only reason I picked the Royal Orchid Sheraton for the overnight. So we had our breakfast, got changed, and got ready to head back to the airport for our flight to Chiang Rai.

I had a couple of calls to make in the morning. I had had my limo company pick up a SIM card for me (110 baht) but it had no money on it, fortunately the Sheraton gift shop had 1-2-Call top-off cards with no markup, since the SIM card didn’t have the option to add funds by credit card.

1P

Excellent report.

Big for the wines in the Thai Orchid Lounge.

freeupgrade

Phenomenal trip report - I feel (wish) like I am there with you.

Great detail....

gleff

1:25 pm Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) to Chiang Rai, Thailand (CEI)
Thai Airways Flight 134 Business Class Seat Assignment at Check-in
Duration: 1h 20m Airbus A300-600R 414 miles traveled

Our driver was right on time at 11:15 am for our return to Suvarnabhumi. A quick 20 minutes and we were there. This time it was dropoff at the domestic checkin, heading to the business class line. No one ahead of us, no line to speak of at security, and we headed down to the domestic business class lounge.

Royal Silk Lounge Entrance




Lounge


Lounge restroom


Lounge hallway (to vip area, there were a couple of soldiers there, so…)


Lounge food




After a quick check of email, and a too-sweet can of fruit juice, it was time to head over to the flight. Boarding was a zoo, we were being bussed to a remote stand so there wasn’t any priority boarding. Still was at the front of the line so that I could find a comfy spot on the bus, but I never sit, I figure there are folks who need that – I just want a decent place to hold onto a pole or something.

Boarding gate


Bus to remote stand








There were just half a dozen folks in business class, with coach mostly full. I’ve been on several domestic Thai segments over the years, but never paid too much attention to loads, it’s always seemed like business is nearly empty on the domestic runs on all but the big international planes, perhaps people choose them purposefully or perhaps Thai is just better at scheduling than I’d expect, timing them well to connect to international flights.

Of course, Chiang Rai only has 3 flights a day, two of which were moved over from Don Muang. And there are no international-style new business class flights in and out of CEI. Perhaps tripling the number of Thai flights between Chiang Rai and Suvarnabhumi is driving the low business class loads, in addition to the obvious of the economy and slowdown in tourism.

The crazy thing is that the “A-Bloody-6” is the best aircraft on the route. At least there are footrests.

Seat


And empty business cabin


The snack was small but tasty, flavorful and spicey, and just right for a one-hour flight (this is domestic business class only, after all).

Tuna snack


Chiang Rai is set up as an international airport which means that connecting passengers only have to clear transit immigration in Bangkok, they don’t have to pick up their bags or mess with customs. So like Chiang Mai and Phuket, there are two separate baggage claim areas – one for domestic-only passengers and one for international connecting passengers to go through customs.

gleff

What's coming up next is the Le Meridien Chiang Rai, as promised my 'favorite resort' and it really is.

The first part of the Chiang Rai trip report will be the hotel itself, and broken up into multiple posts as the discussion is long and I have a bunch of photos I want to share (yes, more than Flyertalk allows per post ).

Then I'll separately post about touring around Chiang Rai, and about the cooking class we took at the hotel.

Getting the hotel portion up shortly....

sy7

Great trip report!

I also had a one-night stay at the ROS in April on a similar rate (~$100), and as a Platinum was given a Tower Deluxe room rather than a junior suite. I didn't bother to ask for a suite since it didn't seem worthwhile for the short stay. The room was okay but tired looking. Your junior suite looks much nicer. Basically, my take-home message from the stay was that I probably would not choose the ROS for future BKK trips. It seems sort of self-defeating for the hotel to do this, unless they thought that their published rates were too inexpensive to warrant a suite upgrade?

gleff

I don't think I'd stay here for more than a night or two. Why pass up the SGS?

But it was cheap (US$85+tax) especially considering I had a junior suite, fabulous views, lounge access, and breakfast by the river.

The room more than served its purpose -- reasonably priced overnight, another SPG stay, and the lovely relaxing time drinking my coffee in the morning looking out at the (much-maligned) Chao Praya.

So I do kinda think the hotel gets a bad rap on Flyertalk. But the SGS it ain't.

gleff

Hotel: Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort, Thailand
221 / 2 Moo 20 Kwaewai Road, Tambon Robwieng, Amphur Muang
Chiang Rai 57000 Thailand
Phone: (66)(53) 603 333 Fax: (66)(53) 603 330


I had arranged hotel pickup at the Chiang Rai airport, they bill 600 baht one-way or 1000 baht roundtrip. A hotel concierge was waiting just past the arrivals hall, took us out to the waiting vehicle, assisted with luggage, and got in with us. Instead of acting as a dispatcher and sending us on our way, we were accompanied to the hotel both by the driver and concierge.

In addition to being offered cold towels and waters, we were also offered an array of soft drinks. Wholly unnecessary for the very short (10 minute?) drive, but a nice touch.







As we exited the car on arriving at the resort, we were greeted by name. The general manager was there to see to us as well.

I had corresponded with her in advance of the stay. I had read reports on Flyertalk that the hotel’s occupancy was low, but it wasn’t until someone from this board had stayed there that we learned that not all of the rooms have been completed. The hotel only has one suite, but the “Grande Deluxe” wing is what most folks would expect as room type for Platinum upgrade. It turns out that the Grande Deluxe wing completion has been put off until late in the year. So there’s not really anything to expect by way of upgrade, other than perhaps a choice of view or floor.

My booking was for 5 nights (cash and points – which never showed as available online, had to call, the result of a known glitch with SPG.com) which most would consider too long in Chiang Rai. I began worrying that it might be, without the extra space an upgrade would afford.

The hotel GM assured me I would enjoy myself, confirmed a superior view and top floor room for me, as one Flyertalker mentioned hearing noise from above when on the 3rd floor. I’m not sure that would be an issue at all, but I thought I’d better take no chances.

We checked in, and our pre-booked activities (tour, cooking class) were re-confirmed with us. We were given tickets for our bags which were to be delivered to our room, which seemed kind of funny since not only were we the only ones checking in we might well have been the only ones checking in that day. When we spoke to the revenue manager during our stay I asked how many rooms were occupied and he said 14, which actually surprised me to hear it was so many (I never saw more than 3 sets of other guests in a day).

The lobby is quite stylish, and offers a lovely view of the river.





The revenue manager said that they were just starting to get their footing with reservations, after opening in October and seeing the Bangkok airport shut at the end of November, but then the April protests hit in Bangkok and their bookings completely fell off.

The stay started off well – there was a note from the GM in our room with a bag of meringue cookies (my absolute favorite). There was also fruit in the room, which was changed out daily and the selection varied each day.







The room was uniquely stylish, and larger than I expected, I certainly wasn’t going to have a lack of space – a large bathroom (with glass wall looking into the bedroom), and an area large enough to have a sitting area and desk in addition to the bed area. The balcony looked out at the river and pool, had comfortable furniture, but wasn’t large enough for lounge chairs or much outdoor dining.

Bedroom looking into the bathroom


Bed


Desk area




Bathroom


Bathroom sink


Bathroom amenities


Shower amenities


Balcony furniture


View from the room

gleff

There weren’t enough towels in the room, just a couple of bath towels at a time, and the toiletries weren’t refreshed except for the shampoo on the fourth day. I had run out, and was about to ring up for some, when housekeeping appeared apologetically for having forgotten to replace the shampoo. (They didn’t bring other items, but none were needed, apparently they replace only those which are virtually used up.) For a brand new hotel, and a stylish one at that, I was disappointed that the bathroom had a standard shower head and not something more interesting.

We ran into a couple of snags shortly after our arrival. First, a bug infestation in and around the sugar packets that accompany the in-room coffee. We rang the desk and the sugars were replaced while we were walking around the resort, and bugs didn’t return to our room during out stay.

After getting a feel for the place we decided to just have dinner in our room. We rang up room service, and a frustrating affair began.

We looked over the room service menu and started to order, but the staff said they didn’t have any of the things we wanted. Hmm, did they just not leave an updated room service menu? I asked them if they could bring us a new menu. No, they didn’t have a menu listing what they had to order. Instead they wanted to know what I wanted? And thus began a “Who’s on first?” routine. I could start naming foods, but odds on they wouldn’t have the item. I wanted to turn things around and have them tell me what they had, but they didn’t seem to know or “would have to check with the chef.” They kept suggesting a club sandwich. Finally, after three phone calls we determined that I could order a spicy seafood soup, some pineapple fried rice with foie gras, and.. a club sandwich.

It was delivered to our room, presentation was lovely, and the food was flavorful (well, except for the club sandwich). The soup was incredibly spicy, and the foie gras accented the fried rice just right – I would never have thought of the combination.

But the experience of not being able to order room service easily, and the hotel not having many food options, began to sour our expectations for the stay. My wife and I kept speculating on what we’d be eating on property, whether for breakfast or dinner in the restaurant… club sandwiches?

We were quite surprised, then, to find one of the more bountiful breakfast buffet spreads we have encountered. We even felt a little bit guilty. The entire buffet was set up… for us? After all, there was no one else around.

The breakfast was a real highlight. Each morning we picked the same outside table, after we selected the table a second time we never had to ask for it again – every staff member just automatically brought us there when we entered the restaurant.





Breakfast is served in the restaurant Latest Recipe. There’s all-day dining there, and we ate there incessantly. The “concept” restaurant is Favola, Italian food on the river. But honestly, I don’t come to Northern Thailand to eat Italian. And the Asian dishes at Latest Recipe were all quite good. Usually I’m not a fan of resort food, there’s a lowest-common denominator element to it where they try to satisfy all tastes and wind up with bland, overpriced food. That wasn’t the case here at all, and the Northern-style dishes were all especially interesting and flavorful.

The best parts of breakfast were the excellent cappuccinos, the varied hot items (dim sum some days, other days a hot soup bar, in addition of course to cooked-to-order eggs and such), not to mention that it’s complimentary to Platinums.



















The breakfast buffet even pays attention to the little things (not just the delicious juices above!) like how honey is provided, straight out of a honeycomb:



But the thing that really set it apart is that the staff would bring out little tasters of different dishes that weren’t available on the buffet, usually every 10 or 15 minutes. That was especially appreciated because we tend to go to breakfast and just drink coffee for an hour or so before ever going up to the buffet, just relaxing but sometimes we wait too long to eat. This way the food came to us while we enjoyed our coffee and the beautiful scenery.









Dinner at Latest Recipe was a highlight, as well.





During my stay the General Manager explained the room service debacle (and acknowledged it was handled badly). Since we arrived the day after Songkran, they had been having issues with food delivery. My supposition that the lack of food items was related to low occupancy was incorrect, they do keep at least three of every item on hand at all times in case guests want any of the items on the menu. And the delivery issues were solved by our first full day at the resort.

In fact, we gave room service one more shot and it was quite good – Latest Recipe’s food (more or less, with a little variation in the menu) along with outstanding presentation.

gleff

Having everything ready “just in case” seemed to be a major theme of the property. They seemed fully staffed, with more employees available at all times than guests anywhere you went. They have an activity schedule of such things as archery, Thai boxing, ball exercise, Batic Art (I admit, I had to look it up) and Yoga. Guests almost never showed up, but the staff members were prepared and in place – just in case anyone did.



The same is true for the pool, and the gym. The fitness facility is lovely, with a large supply of bottled water and towels and a nice bathroom to accompany the brand new machines with built-in TV (I didn’t notice if there was internet, but don’t think there was) and weight machines as well as ample free weights. The gym attendant would offer to assist with workouts. I don’t think anyone else visited the gym besides us during out stay. [Tip: if you want self-service complimentary bottled water, and for whatever reason the hotel doesn’t give you enough – they do deliver to your room more than once a day, and provide it at the pool, but only a bottle each at a time – you could grab some down in the gym.]





The pool, at least with how deserted it was during our stay, was a highlight.





There’s a pool attendant whose job is to make up lounge chairs and bring each guest a cold bottle of water and cold towel. He’s invisible and non-intrusive, while you approach and pick out your preferred spot. But once you make your selection he comes running and springs into action. (I did like that the pool lounge chairs had stowable drink trays built-in.) The staff member at the pool would wait hours and hours on end, just in case somebody decided to come out to the pool. Chances are, no one would.

The pool-side menu was served from the Italian restaurant, Favola, right next to it. The food arrived quickly and was high-quality.



The revenue manager explained that the Italian restaurant focus was aimed to some degree at the local Chiang Rai market – a nice Italian place on the water to bring in outside business. We did see some non-guests there our first evening (a Saturday) but not again during our stay.

The one criticism I’d have of the pool service, and it’s minor, is that one day during our stay it began to rain heavily. We gathered up our stuff, and retreated back to our room. This would have been a perfect opportunity for the pool staffer to come out with an umbrella and escort us.

In addition to the pool, there’s a lovely spot to relax with lounge chairs right on the river.





Consistent with Le Meridien’s branding themselves with art, there’s a complimentary hotel shuttle which takes you not only to Chiang Rai town and back (four times daily) but also to the Royal Collection of Lanna Art at Rai Mae Fah Luang (twice daily, timed to give you a little over an hour to visit before bring you back).

Evening turndown service included not just refreshed towels and more waters. They also brought a different history card each day, talking about the local area, for example Doi Mae Salong, Wat Prakaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Monument of King Mengrai, and Phra That Doi Tung.

And each evening different chocolate treats were delivered complimentary, along with a note about an honor or accolade the hotel had won (it’s on the Conde’ Nast Hotlist for 2009, for instance). Usually the accolade was written in chocolate on chocolate, accompanying the chocolate.



The spa was an outstanding facility. And of course nobody was using it. They were offering 20% off as well as treatment specials in order to encourage use, and the spa manager would accompany a masseuse out to the pool on occasion when guests were there to offer a complimentary brief massage, in the hopes that such might stimulate the thought of additional treatments. I didn’t take them up on it poolside, but did have a couple of excellent treatments.


















There’s wireless internet in the lobby, and wired internet in the guest rooms. It’s complimentary in the lobby, you just need to get a code (which you sign for) for one-hours’ use from the library attendant (the library is a very peaceful space) or from the concierge if it’s outside of the library’s usual hours. One tip is that the code they give you for wireless in the lobby will also work for wired in your room, so if you load up on those codes then internet in the room can be had for free as well.

Personally I’m not a fan of wired-only internet in the room, which is why I bring my own pocket router. That way we aren’t tied to the desk, and we can both be online at the same time.

One little frustration was the desk area, there just weren’t enough outlets, they really could use a power strip by the desk. The outlets are universal, so I never took out my converters during the trip, so that was a positive.

The room has a menu of extensive Instant Award offerings, from room upgrades (the bottom room category up to the Grande Deluxe River View runs 2250 points/night), late checkout (6pm checkout is 2250 points), DVD Player – which the hotel website lists as standard in all rooms though mine didn’t have one – at a whopping 4500 points per day, airport transfer, spa services, meals, internet access, day tours, even sundries like floss and shaving gel.

I realize in re-reading this review that I’ve focused mostly on the small negatives, and other than the room service issue on our first night they weren’t even really negatives at all. In point of fact, Le Meridien Chiang Rai was amazing. On the whole, it may well have provided the best service I’ve had at a hotel – in large measure because it was universally warm service. Everyone knew you, knew your name, knew your preferences, sought to engage you (but also to be unobtrusive).

When we left the resort, the General Manager was there again to see us off. But she wasn’t alone. We had mentioned to her how much we had enjoyed the food, and so the hotel’s chef was there to thank us for the compliment and bid us well. And that last morning we had done a cooking class at the hotel (more on that in a subsequent post), and so the chef who guided our instruction joined them in seeing us off.

I have no idea how well the hotel will execute with occupancies at 70% (or for that matter even 50%!) but it was a special place, indeed. I’m truly lucky to have visited and to have had the place virtually to myself. I like the Le Meridien Khao Lak, for instance, because it offers the best value for money in hardware – an oceanfront bungalow with private pool for less than $250 a night. But the food, service, and ambiance were so much better here. And in essence we had our own private pool – the resort’s main three-layered infinity pool.

All in all it’s better than what I have seen at one of the Four Seasons properties in Bali. And such a value, with rates running around $135 a night or $45 plus 2800 points for a cash and points redemption. And there’s some chance perhaps that if they’d reduce rates a bit (and perhaps they do, in package offers?) that they would wind up a category 2 next year.

gleff

Here are just a few more photos to leave you with.

Resort from the river




Pool view from our room


Various views around the resort