Good, but too brief, stay in a really solid hotel in a great location.
Quick overnight here (and I’ll spare everyone the “one night in Bangkok” puns) at a very, very nice property.
Fully 45 minute drive from the new airport at 8:30p on a Sunday. (Return to the airport on a Monday afternoon at 2:30p was 50 minutes.) The location here, though, is great. It is adjacent to/linked to a Skytrain station, and across from the Intercontinental Hotel. A very high end mall is just across the street, a “crafts” mall is just next door to that, and another mall/entertainment complex is catty-corner. Excellent shopping, so long as you negotiate (at the crafts mall, that is…) From the Skytrain, you’re only one stop away from MBK (Mah Boon Krong), the monster local mall and it’s surrounding shopping and the Padthawan Princess Hotel (which has a really good Japanese restaurant). Hard Rock is walking distance from MBK, as is an Outback Steakhouse (if you need western food!). The Jim Thompson House is also walking distance from MBK.
I was on the Club floor, so check-in (at 9:30p) was handled smoothly on the 17th floor. My room was on 16 (connected by stairs to the lounge on 17). Dark hardwood floors throughout, and a large glass-topped desk next to the window, with a commanding view of the horsetrack. Internet access was a solid 100mb hardwire; wifi a lot slower, but free. Bed was new Hyatt bedding, and I slept well. Bathroom was marble, glass and hardwood, separate shower and tub, but with generic toiletries (still surprised that Hyatt hasn’t gone for a branded toiletry suite…). Room was sparkling clean, and with a large Sony Trinitron tube TV (I’m obviously getting spoiled elsewhere if I notice tube vs. flatscreen!).
I returned to the Lounge for a bite after being checked in and dropping off my bags, and they had a lavish spread of food, certainly sufficient for a late supper. Sparkling water and a nice white wine on offer. Two internet workstations available, one Mac, one PC, both networked to a free printer.
Breakfast buffet (avail at 6a) was equally nice… really well done. Soft drinks and sparkling water available throughout the day, and one of the puffiest lattes I’ve seen in a long time (that’s a good thing). I called for an iron and ironing board in the morning, and had one in just minutes.
The next day I had a chance to wander around the hotel a bit, and was quite impressed. Had coffee with a colleague in the lobby area and service was crisp and readily available. Ate lunch at the Erawan Tearoom, overlooking the Erawan shrine. Service was great, and the Thai cuisine was (according to my Thai colleague) quite authentic, and at a reasonable price.
I also had a look, for an upcoming meeting, at the Hyatt’s meeting space… they’ve done some major renovation work here, and the meeting space is called “the residence” (lower case per their use)… WOW. I’ve spent more hours of my life than I can count sitting in hotel meeting rooms, and I’ve never- NEVER- seen anything this drop dead gorgeous. They’ve taken an entire wing area, and made it look like you’re in someone’s very, very nice home. Their view is that making meeting rooms more comfortable and homey feeling, will increase participants comfort, participation and learning. Interesting concept. Each meeting room has an anteroom with living room style furniture. There is a large, airy “kitchen” area where they have breaks and such… like you walked into a very wealthy someone’s kitchen: granite and stainless steel island with stove, serving stations, etc. Tall tables with bar stools, book cases, wine racks… Just really, really a great place for meetings. They do still have some conventional meeting space, but I wouldn’t touch that… my meetings will be held in the residence, and I can’t wait.
I must note, by name, Ms. Somlak at the Club Floor desk. My flight rez from BKK-SIN didn’t have a seat assignment, so I asked her to confirm me a window seat. Ten minutes later she called to tell me that my airline (a very, very large player in SEAsia) had no record of me! Yikes! She worked to find the rez with them, and I finally had to call my airline back home to sort this. Once I did so, Ms. Somlak quickly and effectively got me a seat reserved, moved me to a late check-out, resched my car service to the airport, made me a lunch rez at the Erawan Tearoom, moved and reconfirmed my appointment with their Meetings people, and generally bailed me out of a bad situation. Hate to use an American term here, but she pulled my “wagon out of a ditch”. Particularly impressive, because I’ve never darkened her door before… I’m just another random guest wandering in. To be clear, she treated me as if my name had been Pritzker. Attention GM and HR Director: Retain her. WOW.
I’ll be back in Feb with Mrs. Gardiner and Kiddo, looking forward to returning here!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.