Westin Grande Sukhumvit

1   Not Recommended
Executive Room
April 17, 2018 by

 Map | 2 Reviews | 50% Recommended
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The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok
 Map | 2 Reviews | 50% Recommended

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Executive Room

Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
Stats
Room
Executive Room

First, a disclaimer.  I decided to choose “not recommended” for this hotel which will probably sound harsh to some, but it’s more a reflection of alternatives in Bangkok and what you pay for it, rather than Westin being a bad property at any price.  Plus the fact that we can only choose recommended or not in a FT review, so nothing in between!  I had not stayed at Westin Grande Sukhumvit in over a year but I recently had two quick 1-night stays to try this hotel once again.  It had been a while I had been here mostly because there are several other good hotels in Bangkok (competition is fierce), rather than because the Westin is a bad property.  For both my stays in April, I found a BRG: one was 3100++ THB after 25% discount, and the other I paid 4300++ THB and took 2k Starpoints.  The BRG was the key to make me try Westin after a long hiatus.

Room

For the first stay, I was upgraded to an executive corner room.  Looking at spg.com, I confirmed that no suites were available.  The corner room is perhaps a bit larger than the regular room but it’s mostly because of a different layout; there is more wasted space near the entrance of the room.  Comparing the corner room and the regular room on spg.com, we can confirm that the overall square meters are not very different.  The room itself is ok but starting to show its age.  There are lots of newer hotels in Bangkok so it’s easy to get a nice modern room, but you won’t find it at Westin.  The bathroom was more recent than the rest of the bedroom however.  It has a separate rain shower in addition to a bathtub. 

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On my second 1-night stay, there was a suite available on spg.com but they gave me a regular room on a Club floor.  I did not mind not having a suite so I did not say anything, but it leads me to an important conclusion for my future decisions in Bangkok.  First off, I suspect there are not lots of suites at this property so it’s not easy to get a suite upgrade, plus the fact that maybe lots of other Platinums stay there and they must give priority to Westin Sukhumvit frequent guests, which is not me.  If one cares about having good odds of a suite upgrade, then I do not think Westin should be at the top of your list, and now that I see they might not even give me a suite when available (I checked-in at 6:30pm by the way so it was not very early), then my take-away is that they are not the most generous.  Perhaps they won’t give a suite for those staying with BRG, I don’t know.  There are some guests in this thread who received a suite upgrade in the past so I am sure it happens, but their policy is probably not as liberal as other hotels.  At Royal Orchid Sheraton, they have a lot of suites and I almost always get upgraded to a suite.  At Meridien, they have a decent number of suites available and they upgrade me when one is available.  At Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, it’s a bit harder to get a suite upgrade than at Meridien, but they give me a suite when available and they even go out of their way to offer me to move during my stay if I want to.  At Athenee I found it’s difficult to get a suite upgrade because suites are rarely available when I stay there, so I do not get upgrades, but I believe if there is one they will give it to me.  Westin Sukhumvit is at the bottom of the pecking order and the only hotel of this bunch where I do not get a suite even when it’s available. 

Dining

In general I have a preference for hotels with a lounge, which is why Westin is always a consideration for me when in Bangkok.  I am sometimes willing to compromise the uncertain suite upgrade at Meridien or SGS, in return for a lounge.  I found both breakfast and happy hour in the Westin lounge to be of good quality.  They are especially strong with the choice of desserts.  The lounge is quite small for a property of this size; it was quiet on my first stay, but it was nearly full on my second stay.  The service in the lounge and in the hotel in general is excellent.  The hours for drinks and hors d’oeuvres are generous 5-8pm. 

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Overall

Overall there is no big negative about this hotel: location is good, right on the Skytrain BTS Sukhumvit line, hardware is decent, lounge is above average, etc.  But rates are frequently above 4k++ THB if you don’t get BRG.  If we compare to Royal Orchid Sheraton: you are far more likely to have a suite upgrade, you also have a lounge, and sometimes you can pay 1k++ THB less than Westin.  That makes the value proposition of Westin to be not so obvious if you are on a budget.  And if you have money to spend, then for only 500-1k++ THB more than Westin you can sometimes get SGS or Athenee.  So Westin is in a tight spot from above and from below in my opinion.  And in a tight spot from the side too if you care about suite upgrades: Meridien is more often than not a bit cheaper than Westin.  Westin will always continue to be on my list of choices, but not my top 5 in Bangkok particularly not if I include hotels from other chains. 

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