A well-appointed, beautiful hotel missing the 'Thai Smile'

The hotel is well-appointed, modern and clean. Perhaps there are a few things that should be checked in relation to the facilities, but overall they are acceptable and worked. 

The Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit is located in the Sukhumvit area, between the Asok and Nana BTS stations with the Sukhumvit MRT station within a 5-10 minute walk. 

Having stayed at various hotels in Thailand, including ibis and Mercure, I felt that the service a service was mediocre and lacked.

Breakfast offers a variety of food suiting all pallets. There are three restaurants on site (Italian, Japanese and Belgian) and a cafe. If you don't fancy dining in, there are plenty of options outside the hotel.

I would recommend this hotel but would not personally be staying here again as there is a huge choice.

Upon arriving at the hotel our bags were immediately taken and we walked to the reception area. The check in seemed disorganised and took longer than expected. 

The elite desk with staff and comfortable-looking armchairs was left empty of guests. Whilst I usually don't mind standing around, the amount of time the staff spent checking in and having just come from a day of shopping, we felt a little sitting would have helped.

We were offered Lemongrass Tea, which I believe is offered to everyone irrespective of elite status. It is a hit or miss (for me a hit).

We also presented two additional passports, advising that two additional guests were arriving later as they were shopping.

Unfortunately, when my friends arrived at check-in they reported that the check-in staff were absolutely useless and clueless, and I had to head down to key them up.

Overall, not bad, but not great either.

The location is excellent, with plenty of shopping and restaurants in the area, including Terminal 21 shopping centre and Times Square, and the Korean Town.

If you need to venture further afield, you have the Asok and Nana BTS stations. The Sofitel has a direct walking bridge to the Asok BTS station.

If you require the MRT, it is a short walk past the Asok BTS. It can take 5-10 minutes depending on your pace.

If you are planning to get around via cab/car, you may not wish to stay here. The road the Sofitel is on is always gridlocked and busy, even at early hours of the morning. The awkward layout also means some taxis will have to drive the whole length before being able to turn.

The rooms are beautifully equipped and clean, but perhaps missed on some functionality/practicality aspects.

• Slippers, fluffy bathrobes, large towels, dental and hygiene kits were provided.
• A minibar stocked with snacks and alcohol was available.
• Four glass bottles of complimentary water was provided each night (replaced if you finished it).
• Lights, TV, air con were controlled by an iPad, which can be annoying to be blinded at night when wanting to change something. There were touch-screen lightswitches around the room to circumvent the iPad.

A turndown service was also provided, with a note and Camomile Tea being left by the housekeeper each night.

The only three issues I had was that the shower knob was round and did not have a 'sticking out thing', meaning that when wet it was difficult to turn on/off.

The other is that the other room in our party had an ant infestation. Housekeeping was called and they "got rid of them", but the ants returned and subsequently the hotel moved us to a different room (this imo should have been done as soon as the issue was identified!).

The other is using Chromecast. In my case, I wanted to watch Netflix/Youtube clips, but connecting my iPad to the TV was temperamental. 

Breakfast offered a huge variety, catering to all palletes including Thai, Asian and Western. The quality varied (I had an eggs royale with an extremely sour Hollandaise sauce) but overall it was good.

There was also a cook-to-order stand for eggs, offering Eggs Benedict/Royale as well as omelettes and hash browns (not sure why this isn't a buffet item).

There is also a juice bar where the staff can make your own custom juice using the fruits you select.

Everything else was a buffet. Items included bacon, rice, cold meats, salads, etc and was beautifully presented. There is also a lovely patesserie section with delicious pastries including different variants of crossaint (ham and cheese, raspberry, matcha, etc).

Make sure you wonder around or ask for a tour before going. The breakfast offering is huge and the restaurant has separate areas. There's the central area containing the buffet and hot items, another area with the patisserie and another with salad, cold meats, cured fish, etc.

You will not be going hungry here!

If you paid for breakfast but have an early flight on your departure date:

On our departure date, we had to catch an early flight so was not able to enjoy the breakfast spread.

We asked the hotel about our options regarding breakfast. They offered to provide a bag of 'goodies'.

The 'goodies' in question was a ham and cream cheese (laughing cow) sandwich, a croissant, an apple and a banana. I was hoping for at least a proper sandwich, the 'goodies' were disappointing and not worth munching on.

This is a serious contrast to the breakfast buffet and honestly something better should have been offered. Better choice and quality could be found in a 7-Eleven. 

We only dined at the Japanese Restaurant called 'Maison Mizuki'. The food was good and the portions were larger than expected if you get the rice bowls (they come with Miso Soup and a Salad, in addition the bowl itself).

We had the eel sushi; it was a treat. (I unfortunately did not take a picture of the rice bowl).

Elite Recognition was lacking.

The elite check in desk was not open to guests.

The room upgrade was just to a higher floor (no actual room upgrade).

We were not issued welcome drinks vouchers. I discovered later that it is now on the ALL app, which the check-in clerk neglected to tell me. However, I will admit that the welcome drinks options was very good (you had a choice of restaurants and could use it on the rooftop bar).

No welcome note was provided. The 'welcome amenity' (I assume that's what it was) was a selection of four fruits placed in a formation of a smiley face, accompanied by nuts.

Most of the other hotels I stayed at said something along the lines of "thank you for being our XYZ member" but not a word from our check in clerk.

The pool was great. The pool staff were proactive and friendly, offering menus and asking if we would like anything. You can always see them walking up and down.

The pool water seemed to be a mix between freshwater and salt water. If there was Chlorine, I didn't feel it.

Cabanas are available offering a lovely afternoon nap in the sun by the pool.

However, the pool water can get a bit chilly, especially post 5pm. 

Overall, a great facility.

The service was the aspect that downgraded the experience. It was inconsistent and ranged from proactive, smiling staff, to uninterested and clueless check in/lobby staff. The latter was more common.

With the treatment of the ant infestation, I would have expected to been moved rooms straight away. Only after the ants came back did it get offered. 

The only good impressions I've had is the doorman who always smiles and says hi (it's the same gentlemen, other staff don't really care as much), as well as the poolboy and the elevator lady. Perhaps the housekeeper too due to the note, but unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to see them.

It was a good stay overall, and we were generally satisfied.

However, if given the option to go to another hotel we probably would. There is just so much more out there for less; Sofitel Bangkok is the most expensive in the portfoilio for ALL Bangkok hotels. I will probably be staying somewhere else next time I visit.

As an Elite I didn't feel like my business was welcome. Service was not as expected.