Waldorf Astoria Bangkok = One of the Finest Hilton Hotels in the World

100   Recommended
Deluxe Suite
May 10, 2019 by

 Map | 4 Reviews | 25% Recommended
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Waldorf Astoria Bangkok
 Map | 4 Reviews | 25% Recommended

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Deluxe Suite

Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
Stats
Room
Deluxe Suite

Since Waldorf Astoria Bangkok opened last year I had it in my sights to try it out although I was a bit hesitant at first given the reports of limited Diamond recognition.  It seemed to have improved recently so I finally pulled the trigger and booked WA Bangkok for the first time.  Among the other hotel chains that I stay at frequently, the top Bangkok hotel in each chain is Park Hyatt (Hyatt), St.Regis (Marriott), and Banyan Tree (Accor).  Until Orient Express opens later this year, Accor does not really have a luxury hotel at the same level as the others and Banyan Tree’s lower price tag reflects that, so I think WA’s competitors are mainly St.Regis and Park Hyatt (of those I visited before).  My overall takeaway is that in its hotel class, WA does very well and is my favorite of the three.  This hotel being in Asia, WA brand, a new property, and given my positive experience there, I am comfortable saying it is most likely one of the finest hotels in the entire Hilton portfolio worldwide.

 

Location

Opinions may vary but for me the single best location in Bangkok is near the intersection of the two BTS lines for easy access in all directions.  Grand Hyatt is the best because the hotel is directly connected to BTS via walk way at that intersection, but Waldorf is almost as good because it’s immediately next door to Grand Hyatt. 

Room

I had seen in my account online before arriving that I was pre-upgraded as Diamond two categories up to the Deluxe Park View room. To be honest the price difference between the base room and the Park View room is perhaps 10-15% so it’s nice to get an upgrade but I did not think it was very material.  However when I arrived at the hotel at 1pm they asked me if I prefer views or if I prefer more space, and that I had a choice of the Park View room or the Deluxe Suite in the back of the hotel.  I have been to Bangkok many times so the view is less important to me and I chose the suite, especially since other FTers had mentioned that the suites xx06 and xx07 were more quiet.  I thought it was nice that they gave the choice of two room types at check-in because occasionally a guest might not prefer a higher upgrade depending on personal preferences.  In any event, the early reports soon after the hotel opened about Diamonds not getting upgrades seems to be a thing of the past.  

The deluxe suite is more like a junior suite because the living room is not separate from the bedroom and is much smaller than suites at competitor hotels, most notably the Metropolitan Suite at St.Regis which is normally the suite upgrade that elite guests receive at check-in upon availability.  At StR the Met Suite has 1.5 bath, a living room, a dining room, and kitchen appliances. In comparison, at WA the deluxe suite only has 1.0 bath, no dining room or kitchen, and the entire bedroom (which includes the living area) is barely bigger than the bedroom at StR.  However, what WA lacks in size more than makes up for it in the quality of the hardware.  WA opened only a few months ago, while StR is 8 years old and the difference is clear.  The room at WA looks very sharp throughout.  It has a combination of carpet and hardwood floors in the bedroom and on the entire length of the room there are floor to ceiling windows which make the room very bright, in addition to ceilings being high so the room feels airy, including in the bathroom.  The view might not be as good from the xx06 and xx07 suites than rooms in front of the hotel, but at least you have some city views.  By contrast, at StR some rooms have great views but the Met Suite has a tall building right in front, blocking the view.  

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At WA a tech feature to save energy is that curtains are drawn automatically when you leave the room and they reopen when you come back to the room.  However if curtains are already drawn when you leave the room (for example in the evening), then when you come back they stay closed, unlike the “curtain problems” reported at Conrad.  The curtains are controlled by the electronic panel by the bedside which is also used for air conditioning and lighting.  There are also international power plugs and USB ports on each side of the bed.

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The bathroom has an interesting layout. There is an open space between the two mirrors and you can see the bathtub and the shower through there. The round bathtub is very large and has a TV on the wall, which you can also watch from the walk-in rain shower.  The shower does not have a door but fortunately I did not flood the bathroom.  I liked that you can use both the hand shower and rain shower at the same time, whereas at most hotels it’s one or the other.  The Toto Japanese toilet is in a separate enclosure with various controls.  The lid opens automatically when you enter the toilet room and the seat is heated.  Amenities are the standard Salvatore Ferragamo found in other Waldorf Astoria hotels.  

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Between the bedroom and the bathroom there is a large walk-in closet including a make-up area.  

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The bed was very comfortable and has WA logos on the bed cover.  We had great sleep which was helped by the pillow menu to ensure different guests will have their needs met in addition to the air conditioning being very strong to ensure a cool night.  Day time comfort was not missing either – the bathrobe was very fluffy.  

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I don’t think many people would care, but I also liked the bulky WA Bangkok pen available in the room.  It was just one more little detail that I appreciated.  

 

Dining

Breakfast is free for Diamonds and has a slightly more leisurely schedule than most hotels because it runs until 11am every day. In my opinion breakfast at WA is better than St.Regis and certainly better than Park Hyatt.  First of all the restaurant is wrapping around a good portion the hotel in a curve, so nowhere does it feel like a busy cafeteria since many guests are sitting in a different portion of the crescent and they are out of sight.  Also, for the most part the tables are set in only one row by the window so you do not have people sitting besides you left, right, front and back.  Many spots only have 1 or 2 direct neighbors.  The layout is infinitely better than St.Regis where depending where you sit, the table arrangement is crowded and tight; you have to be careful not to knock other guests when going to the buffet and I can easily imagine an accident where someone drops food over another guest’s head. The views of the park are very similar at WA and StR – both are great.  

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In terms of food available I think WA beats StR mostly in terms of quality.  For fruits, WA has berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries) which is not very common in Thailand, but also has mangoes (unlike StR) and they were absolutely delicious - sweet and juicy.  They also had figs, passion fruit, and pomelo, in addition to more standard hotel fruits.  Hot dishes were plentiful although perhaps not as many as Athenee but I had more than enough choices to choose from such as fried rice (with a rotation of protein every day, not only vegetarian), a fish dish which changed daily (salmon, sea bass, etc.), a green curry dish, etc.  Cava and champagne are available but not free.  That said, it’s not included at StR either, and Athenee has recently cut it out from their lounge for breakfast, so it’s not like WA is at a competitive disadvantage.  Le Meridien is the only hotel I know in Bangkok which still has sparkling wine included as a breakfast benefit for elite guests.  In addition to the buffet at WA, there is a small a la carte menu for eggs - the truffle eggs with caviar were memorable.  Bottom line in my opinion WA has one of the best breakfast buffet in Bangkok, in fact all things considered among the 20+ hotels I have visited before in Bangkok, I rank WA #1. St.Regis used to have a great breakfast but they have gradually cut back and the atmosphere is way too busy compared to the more serene WA.  Perhaps the same fate awaits WA regarding food cutbacks but for the moment the hotel is still new and they do not fail to impress.

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For guests who do not have free breakfast, the cost is on the high side relative to other hotels (1150++ THB), but given the superb offerings if I did not have free breakfast in any hotel, I would rather pay a bit extra for this one rather than pay 800-900 THB elsewhere for a materially inferior buffet.  Also if you compare this price level to items on the dinner menu you will quickly realize that breakfast is a bargain, relatively speaking.

We ordered room service once and I thought prices were more reasonable than at St.Regis where even basic items are relatively expensive given the local market.  

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Service

Service was excellent throughout my stay and several staff addressed me by name even though I was a first time guest, not a repeat visitor.  The hotel has been opened for long enough that staff is sufficiently trained, but not so long that staff no longer go above and beyond to please and build a new clientele. Most staff at WA come from competitors with good levels of service for example some I talked to used to work at places such as St.Regis, Four Seasons, Sukhothai, etc. so they were already trained to provide a high level of service.  One area which is lacking at WA regarding service is no laundry/pressing benefit as a Diamond guest, unlike St.Regis which offers a whopping 4 pieces of laundry per person per day (so 8 total for a couple) for Platinum, Titanium, or Ambassador guests.  You never need to worry about laundry at StR, and WA offering nothing at all pales in comparison.  WA has an ironing board in the room so they expect guests will do it themselves whereas at StR there is no ironing board because it is clear it will be taken care of by staff.  

St.Regis offers one Platinum drink voucher per person per day in addition to a small appetizer.  At WA the equivalent is the Diamond 500 THB food & beverage credit per person per stay.  Especially for long stays, the offering at WA is clearly inferior to StR.  

The other food freebie at WA is a bowl of fruits which was replenished every day.  

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To finish off regarding service, when I arrived at the hotel they asked me if I needed late check-out upon departure.  I said I was moving to St.Regis after our stay at WA so I did not have a fixed departure time.  They offered 2pm late check-out without me asking which was good because check-out time is sometimes a feature where Hilton can be fussy, unlike Hyatt and Marriott chains which guarantee 4pm check-out to elite guests.  

Gym

Not surprisingly, the gym at WA has new equipment, more modern than many other hotels.  The TVs attached to treadmills and ellipticals were quite large and have a nice glossy screen that will most likely remain in good working condition for longer than older style touch screens of equipment in other hotels.  I thought the gym was perhaps a bit small but I went there in the night due to jet lag and I was alone.  Interestingly in the gym the water is in milk cartons which after usage are then recycled to build roof tiles for the underprivileged (same water cartons are available in the room).  Not that I needed earphones, but I noticed that in the gym they also had earphones similar to what you get when you buy an iPhone, rather than the traditional cheap variety of throw-away earphones found in hotel gyms.  They also had wipes to wipe eye glasses available in the gym, another small thoughtful detail.

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Pool

Similar to the gym, the pool area is also fairly small but when I was there it was not crowded.  I was told by staff that it is busier during evenings.  The views of the golf course and the city from the infinity pool are great.  You get shadow from the curvy pillar and roof structure which extends above most chairs. This also means that most of the pool is not in the sun; the water was not cool, but I would say refreshing given temperatures up to 38C outside.  By comparison, I think many would say the pool is superior at St.Regis except for the views which are better at WA.  

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Wifi

Wifi worked great and I tested 33 Mbps download 39 Mbps upload.  

Overall

Overall, in my opinion Waldorf Astoria Bangkok is an excellent hotel within its class, which I would rate above St.Regis and Park Hyatt. If we compare with other options in Bangkok, it is more debatable whether WA is top value for the money.  In Bangkok my personal opinion is that for many hotel chains, the best value can be found for hotels in the range 4-6k THB which give generous suite upgrades, free happy hour and/or a lounge.  For example, I think Grand Hyatt is better value than Hyatt Place and Park Hyatt.  On Marriott’s side, similarly I think Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit and Athenee are better value than Aloft / Four Points and St.Regis.  That’s the sweet spot I am generally looking for. However within Hilton, I think Conrad struggles to compete in that range and Waldorf stands out more positively at the high end.  On average the base room at WA is about 8k THB compared to 7k THB for St.Regis and I believe this differential is warranted; for 1k THB difference I would recommend WA rather than St.Regis unless you care mostly about space and if you expect a suite upgrade at StR.  If WA offered more in terms of happy hour to Diamond guests then it would be more clear that it’s solid value for the money, but until then it should be considered an excellent choice if you want luxury, if you have more to spend, and if you don’t mind the lack of lounge and/or drinks for happy hour.

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