Category: Sleep

REVIEW: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Melaka, Twin Guest Room

I have not been to Melaka in a while, so when a friend wanted to head up for a weekend to get some matters settled, I thought it was a good opportunity to visit the historical city.

For those not residing in Southeast Asia, Melaka – also spelt Malacca – is a city in Malaysia, about two and a half hours away from capital Kuala Lumpur. The UNESCO World Heritage listed historic city is famous for its Dutch and Portugese roots and more importantly, the abundance of great food.

For the longest time, Melaka did not have any international-branded hotels, relying on a series of small independent operators to provide accommodations. There are also some larger properties, almost all of which are independently managed.

In this post:
• Introduction
• The hotel
• The room
• The facilities
• Final thoughts

I was playing around with the Hilton Honors app and realised there was a property – DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Melaka – that has opened in recent years (that’s how long I’ve not been there). DoubleTree Melaka is part of the mixed development, Elements Mall, owned by the Hatten Group and opened in 2016. The project is part of a larger plan called Hatten City, comprising several different developments including commercial, residential and hotel buildings, aimed at shoring up Melaka’s appeal for both tourists and businesses.

DoubleTree By Hilton, Melaka

My stay at DoubleTree Melaka was in October 2019, and sad to say, the mall co-located with the hotel, Elements Mall, was barely opened, with only the ground floor filled with a couple of tenants. There were a few other outlets sparsely located across the 11-storey high mall, and the rest of the space were shuttered.

The hotel

DoubleTree Melaka is located on the 12th to 28th floor in one tower of the building. While there is a ground floor lobby, the check-in reception is located on the 12th floor of the building.

The lobby on ground floor, reception is on level 12

The hotel lobby on the 12th floor is bright and fresh, boasting of high ceilings and a great view of the city centre. The lobby lounge and restaurants were tucked to a side of the floor, so that means that the area right in front of the check-in desks were quiet and affords seating for guests.

Check-in desks on level 12

Parking is also available within the building, from the 5th to 9th floors. Note that the car park is shared with the mall, as well as another hotel on the other tower of the building.

I arrived at about 1pm, hoping to check in before the standard time of 3pm. Thankfully, there were rooms available so we were able to get our rooms. The check in process, however, was painfully slow.

As I was travelling with a group of friends, I requested for a joining room. However, the check-in agent said all of their connecting rooms were between a King room and a Twin room, and they were fully booked in the King room category for the day so they were unable to accede to my request.

This is when I suppose it gets a little contentious. I believe that what differentiates a good and an excellent agent is that for the latter, they will remember the request and offer to check for you later in the day if there’s one available, rather than to say no outright. Nonetheless, the agent offered us rooms that are side by side, so I guess we had to settle for that.

The room

DoubleTree Melaka has over 270 rooms, including 27 suites, across six room categories, including the topmost presidential suite. I booked myself into the entry level room, the twin guest room. At 40 square metres, the room is probably one of the most generous in terms of size for a DoubleTree property.

Twin guest room – DoubleTree by Hilton, Melaka

My room boasted of two generous single beds, a flat screen TV, a work desk more than enough for you to work from your room. You could also opt for a single king-sized bed if you want to.

Work desk and television

There is also a mini fridge in the room for guests to use. DoubleTree Melaka doesn’t run an in-room minibar service, so if you needed any food or snacks, you will either have to order from the room service menu, or head down to the 24-hour convenience store on the ground floor of the building to get some.

Bathroom

In the bathroom, there is a separate shower stall and toilet. As with most other DoubleTree properties, most lower grade rooms do not have bathtubs. With all other Hilton and DoubleTree properties, the hotel uses Crabtree and Evelyn amenities, which is always easy on the skin.

While the front desk was able to offer us immediate access into the rooms ahead of the 3pm standard check-in time, the state of the room leaves a little much to be desired.

When I first stepped in, the foyer area – which was not carpeted – was wet. It seemed like the air conditioning wasn’t working well and the condensation dripped from the vent onto the floor. I had to call housekeeping to deal with it, and they sure took their time to come and get it cleaned up.

Wet patch on the floor in the room upon check-in

The room doesn’t rely on a key card to trigger the room electricals, but instead uses motion sensors. While environmentally friendly, I feel this is a wrong move as you will not be able to leave anything in the room to charge while you are out.

The facilities

With over 270 rooms, DoubleTree Melaka boasts of a pretty extensive range of facilities, although it is short of an executive lounge.

On the recreational front, there is a pretty sizeable swimming pool on the 13th floor, as well as a 24-hour fitness centre. There are also steam rooms and saunas available in the changing rooms, which are open from 6am to 10pm daily. Outside of these hours, the changing rooms are locked so you won’t be able to access them.

Outdoor lap pool

24-hour fitness centre

Steam room and sauna facilities in the changing room, opened 6am to 10pm daily

In terms of dining, there is a main restaurant, Makan Kitchen, which also serves as the breakfast restaurant. Outside of breakfast hours, Makan Kitchen serves up international fare throughout the day.

The hotel also has an Italian restaurant, Tosca, located near the pool. There is alfresco seating available by the poolside, and the restaurant is only open for dinner.

Tosca Italian restaurant

For the mid-day coffee fix or evening happy hour, you can also head to the Axis Lounge located on the lobby level.

Axis lobby lounge

The hotel is also fully equipped with meeting and conference facilities, with an entire level dedicated to it. From a grand ballroom to smaller meeting rooms, this property can also be an option for those corporate retreats.

Final thoughts

Similar to DoubleTree in other parts of Asia, DoubleTree Melaka didn’t disappoint in terms of its offering. The rooms are very spacious and the hotel is fully equipped, making it a great property. However, I would caution that the property needs more urgent and pressing maintenance to keep it in its tip top condition. Housekeeping should also have a bit more sense of urgency, given that I had to call them three times over the course of an hour before the wet floor in my room got cleaned up.

The key downside to the property is that the location failed to deliver. The mall that the property is located in is virtually deserted, save for a few pathetic retail shops on the ground floor with barely a handful of visitors a day.

Jonker Street

While located relatively near to the city centre and to Jonker Street (we are talking about a five-minute drive without traffic), this often becomes easily a 20-minute drive given that traffic in Malacca is generally terrible. The heat also renders walking impossible.

The vicinity also has very little to offer in terms of sights, although food is in abundance if you are familiar with the local languages and types of local food.

At a glance:
• Room type: Twin guest room
• Room rate: RM339 + 10% tax + 6% service charge + RM12 other taxes (as of October 2019)
• Executive lounge: No
• On-site restaurants: Yes
• On-site parking: Yes, complimentary
• Fitness centre: 24 hours
• Swimming pool: Yes, 6am to 10pm
• Spa: Only sauna and steam room in changing rooms, no spa services

14 November 19
REVIEW: DoubleTree Northbridge Perth City, Twin Guest Room

Perth, as the only major city on the western shores of Australia, suffer more so given it’s relatively low population base.

Hotels in Perth are pretty sparse, with many of the bigger names, including Crowne Plaza and Hilton, built more than two decades ago and hardly refurbished. As such, it was pretty refreshing to see a new infusion of hotels into the city, including DoubleTree by Hilton and Westin as part of Tourism Western Australia’s push to revitalise the state as a preferred destination.

The hotel I stayed in this time round is the DoubleTree Northbridge in Perth. Those familiar with the DoubleTree brand will know it’s by Hilton and have been popping up rapidly around the world in the last half decade or so.

Hotel entrance

The hotel

DoubleTree Northbridge opened in September 2018. Decked out with 206 rooms over 15 floors, the hotel offers 4 room types: Regular guest rooms, regular guest rooms with panoramic view, executive rooms and deluxe executive rooms. Each of these room types come with either a King-sized bed or twin beds.

The layout on each floor is pretty simple, with a single, long corridor and rooms flanked on both sides.

Rooms on both sides of the corridor in the hotel

Check-in was a fairly efficient and straightforward affair. Upon checking in, the agent offered one of the signature DoubleTree chocolate cookie, which was a great treat given that I didn’t have time for lunch before checking in.

Front desk

DoubleTree Northbridge also boasts an executive lounge, which I didn’t have access to for this trip as I wasn’t planning to spend a lot of time in the hotel. If you are staying in an executive room, or are a Hilton Honors diamond member, you will have access to the lounge.

Note that the hotel doesn’t offer any secured parking, so if you are driving, you are pretty much limited to streetside parking, which can be rather challenging to find in the evenings.

The room

For my stay today, I booked myself the cheapest room available, which was a twin guest room. For some reason, king rooms in Australia are consistently more expensive than twin rooms, and I’ve always find myself booking a twin room to save $10 or more per night.

Twin guest room

At 30 square metres, the room is pretty spacious, although not overly generous for an Australian room. Being a very new hotel, the fixtures are still in an excellent state.

The bathroom comes with only a shower stall (there’s a rain shower) for all room types, and bathtubs are only available in the executive deluxe king room. So if that’s a must for you, you will have to pay a premium for it.

Bathroom

There are still the usual bath amenities, including hotel-grade bath towels and a bathrobe that are available in the room. DoubleTree Northbridge uses Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries, consistent with many other Hilton properties around the world.

The wardrobe is designed rather interestingly, accessible from both the bedroom as well as the bathroom. Having said that, I had some trouble trying to shove my suitcase onto the luggage rack within the wardrobe, so that was one area of weakness if you ask me.

Tiny walk-in wardrobe with the luggage rack within

Twin beds in Australia are pretty much two singles, unlike some Asian hotels (such as in Bangkok) where the twin beds are larger in size, and four people could easily share the two beds. So if you are planning to hold more than two persons in the room, you might want to think again.

There is a small round table with two swivel chairs right in front of the wall-mounted television, which can serve as a makeshift desk if you need to get some work done in the room.

Multi-use table with chairs, and wall-mounted television

There is also a fully stocked minibar within the room, complete with complimentary coffee and tea making facilities. Unfortunately, there is no coffee machine within the room, you will have to settle for freeze-dried instant coffee, although I’d very much prefer to head down to the cafe in the lobby for a flat white.

There is complimentary wifi in the room for Hilton Honors members, which works pretty well for me when I was there. Note that the hotel claims that the wifi is for basic usage only, but I had no problems streaming shows from Netflix when I was there.

The facilities

Despite being a pretty compact property, DoubleTree Northbridge still packs a punch in terms of facilities. On the third floor of the hotel, there is an outdoor swimming pool with ample number of deck chairs, as well as a 24-hour fitness centre.

Outdoor swimming lap pool (photo credit: DoubleTree Northbridge)

The fitness centre has two treadmills, as well as a cable machine and a generous rack of dumbbells, which was sufficient for a very decent workout. As I was staying there in August, it was too cold to use the pool given it was not heated.

24-hour fitness centre

24-hour fitness centre

The hotel also has a full service bar and kitchen, James St Bar & Kitchen, which was also accessible by non-staying guests. On weeknights, the restaurant offers a daily special for A$25, with featured a different dish every day of the week, plus a glass of wine.

St James Kitchen & Bar

Having been out the entire day, I decided to stay in for dinner at the hotel. I went for the daily special, which featured a seafood squid ink paella for the day. When it came, I must say that it was beyond my expectation both in terms of serving size and taste.

Seafood paella

If you would like something more substantial, or for sharing amongst larger groups, they also offer a wide-ranging menu, with tapas and share plates starting from A$6. Pastas and main meals ranges between A$20 to A$60, so there are definitely options for everyone.

The restaurant space was also rather well appointed and spacious, although I do think it’s a little too well-lit for my liking, particularly for dinner.

One thing I love about Australian hotels is that the hotel bars are usually quite comfortable for an evening drink, whether you are alone or with friends. The bar area of the restaurant was no exception, and given that it opens out to the main road, it was perfect for people watching as you sip on your favourite glass of chardonnay or a schooner of local beer.

Final thoughts

Let’s be very honest here: Australia’s hotels are usually nothing to shout about. Many of the hotels, particularly in the smaller cities, are often misses, given that tourism infrastructure spending is not a priority.

Fortunately, Perth is on a resurgence in the last couple of years, and many new hotels have sprouted up as a result.

DoubleTree Northbridge is a solid offering in a good part of the city. If you haven’t been to Perth, most parts of the city centre is incredibly walkable, so this is also a good place to base yourself at, whether for business or pleasure. If the hotel restaurant gets a little too boring, there are plenty of restaurants on the same street and you

While not the top end of what the city’s lodgings can offer, the hotel itself is relatively self-sufficient and perfect for the business traveller who needs everything under one roof.

16 September 19
REVIEW: Crowne Plaza Singapore Changi Airport, King Suite
An extended long weekend in Singapore usually means that the city will be half empty, with plenty of folks heading out to nearby destinations for the four-day break.

Given that I was not planning to jet off, I decided to check out Crowne Plaza Changi Airport for a holiday at home.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore (photo credit: Crowne Plaza)

The hotel

Opened in May 2008, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is Changi Airport’s first full service hotel, with direct access to Terminal 3. The hotel first opened with 320 rooms, and a second extension was built in 2016, adding another 243 rooms to the hotel for a total of 563 rooms and suites. Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is owned by OUE Hospitality Trust.

The hotel is touted as a five-star hotel, complete with two restaurants, a sports bar, lobby lounge, meeting and banquet facilities. Recreational facilities include an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness centre, as well as an on-property spa. The hotel also offers a club lounge.

In recent years, the hotel has consistently won Skytrax’s best airport hotel award, having won the award five times in a row from 2015 to 2019.

Bruno Cristol, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport General Manager receiving the Skytrax Award for Best Airport Hotel Asia in 2019 (photo credit: AsiaTravelTips.com)

If you haven’t been to the room floors of the hotel, don’t let the dark interiors of the lower floors mislead you. Once up on level three, the floors are mostly open concept, with plenty of water flowing along side the corridors and ample greenery. I was very impressed at how the hotel manage to create a feel of an oasis through the use of natural light and greenery, and also make the entire property feel pretty cooling despite being in a naturally hot airport precinct.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport – Swimming pool

Check-in

My experience with other Crowne Plaza properties around the world has always been quite good. I’m not sure if this is an airport hotel occurence or a long weekend effect, but the check-in process at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport turned out to be quite a nightmare.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport – Check-in

When I got there at about 2pm, there were at least 10 people waiting to check in. At first glance, the queue situation was rather haphazard, with no clear signages where to queue, nor someone actively managing the lines. As I was an IHG Rewards Club elite member, I was queuing at the IHG priority check in queue, until a staff came and asked me to join the general queue. After I’ve moved, he told me that I could join the elite queue if I wanted to, but he would have to move another guest in front of me from the general queue. Obviously I wasn’t pleased. Eventually an agent attended to me about 20 minutes after I arrived.

To be fair, the check-in agent, Grazel, was efficient and friendly. She was also very apologetic for the long wait. Despite this, I was told that my room was only going to be ready at 3pm. As I had booked myself into a club room, Grazel then invited me to rest at the lounge first while I wait for my room, and that another staff Raymond will inform me when the room was ready.

So off to the lounge I went. Raymond, a staff from the lounge, was excellent. At 3pm when I checked in with him, he regretfully told me that my room was still not ready, and he will check on what he could do as soon as possible. In less than 10 minutes, he managed to get my room sorted, and even got me an upgrade to a suite. I was soon on my way to check out the room.

The room

Seating area for Suite rooms, with an extra bed that I didn’t ask for.

I have originally booked myself into the King Club room, essentially an entry-level king bed room with club lounge privileges. I was later upgraded to a suite as a goodwill gesture by the hotel for the delay in the availability of my room.

Even then when I got into the room, I found an extra bed in the suite, that I didn’t request for. I went back to the lounge and asked Raymond to help remove it. He was visibly embarrassed and very helpful in quickly arranging for it to be taken away.

Crowne Plaza has adorned their room with plenty of light oak and earthy coloured carpets, which hides its age well despite it being over a decade old.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport King Suite – Bedroom

The 72 square-metre room is a full suite, with a separate living and bedroom. In the living room, there’s a large work desk, a full-sized couch that seats three, and a long bench that runs alongside the full-length windows. On the workstation, there is also a Bose Wave music system, a rare touch for a hotel room.

Bose Wave music system

There is also a small refreshment corner tucked away by the side of the living area, with the minibar, as well as coffee and tea facilities. Nespresso fans will be disappointed that there is no such machine within the room, as the choice of coffee maker was Caffe Cagliari, a Brazilian coffee brand, along with its own coffee pods.

Minibar and coffee machine

The bedroom was separated by a sliding door, with a king-sized bed amid a spacious room. There was another flat-screen television in the bedroom, as well as a walk-in wardrobe.

Adjacent to the bedroom was a spacious bathroom featuring a double vanity, perfect for couples travelling together. Along the window was a generous bathtub, as well as separate shower and toilet stalls. Thankfully or otherwise, the bathtub was next to a frosted window.

Spacious bathroom with bathtub and double vanity

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport uses ThisWorks amenities, a UK skincare brand that is probably most well known for its pillow mists, among a huge range of other products it carries. Founded by yoga teacher Kathy Phillips (go google her), it is touted as a range of products that “offers sleep aids and energizers power-packed with natural ingredients, botanicals and therapeutic essential oils that perform as promised and deliver noticeable, long-lasting results.”

Bathroom

What do I think about it? The scent is pleasant, but yet not overpowering. It does its job pretty well, and lather up rather easily. When I’m done, it didn’t leave my skin feeling too dry, which was good for me.

The Club Lounge

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport offers a club lounge on the third floor for select guests, including guests booked into Club rooms as well as suites. The lounge seats about 70 guests, with a mix of dining tables as well as armchairs and coffee table options.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Club Lounge

Club lounge guests can enjoy complimentary continental breakfast at the lounge daily from 6.30am to 10am, as well as evening cocktails and snacks from 5.30pm to 8.30pm daily. Outside of these hours, the lounge offers all day non-alcoholic beverages, as well as a much smaller selection of snacks.

Afternoon tea – sweet and savoury snacks, along with soft drinks, coffee or tea

When I was there for evening cocktails, I was pretty impressed with the selection of food available. The lounge itself has a small kitchen next to it, which also serves the poolside bar as well.
- Evening cocktails – Selection of food
- Evening cocktails – Selection of food
- Evening cocktails – Selection of beverages
Some of the food options available for the day included a salad bar, a caciaturie board, assorted cheeses and crackers, aglio olio, cheese croquette, samosas, spring rolls, roast beef, as well as an assortment of desserts. It’s a decent spread for a light dinner, if you so prefer. Unfortunately, I can’t say that the offering is delectable, not many of the items made me want to go back for seconds.

In the beverage department, the lounge offers up a selection of still wines, beer, spirits, soft drinks as well as coffee and tea. There was also a cocktail menu you can order off. I was slightly disappointed with the absence of a sparkling wine, but that’s a minor inconvenience if you are not particularly picky. The wines were of a decent standard, and at least you get a choice between a merlot or cabernet sauvignon.

Evening cocktails – Selection of food

The lounge began to fill up at about 6pm, with most of the tables being taken up by that time. With evening cocktails stretching till 8pm, the crowd starts to thin out from 7.30pm onwards, which was pretty much a good thing. Just before the end of the session, the staff came around to ask everyone for a last round of orders, which was a pretty nice touch on the service front.

The facilities

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is a full service five star hotel, equipped with all the perks of a luxury hotel. Beyond a range of rooms (more about that later), the hotel is fully decked out on the recreation front, with a swimming pool, a 24-hour fitness centre and an in-house spa, all of which are located on level 3.

24-hour fitness centre

The swimming pool is opened up to 10pm daily, so an evening dip is always possible. Given the amount of greenery around the pool, unfortunately most of the pool is pretty much shaded, so the pool was cold most of the day, which might be unpalatable for some people. There are plenty of deck chairs around the pool with a good amount of sun, though.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport – Swimming pool

For those who love a good steam bath, unfortunately there are none in the hotel. The spa is managed by an external provider, and doesn’t have any of the hydrotherapy facilities such as a jacuzzi or a steam room.

In the food and beverage department, there is a on-property bar, as well as two restaurants: Azur and Imperial Treasure. Breakfast for club room guests can be taken either in the lounge, or at Azur.

Personally I always prefer a bigger spread and I don’t mind the crowd, so I went to Azur for breakfast the next morning. If you mind the noise and crowd, you might be better off having breakfast at the lounge, which will be a lot quieter.

Given the high occupancy, the restaurant has actually set up some tables outside of the restaurant along the aisle, as well as the sports bar next door for guests. I definitely won’t be too happy if I had to eat along the corridor.

Plenty of seats but the restaurant is almost always full at breakfast hour

As an international cuisine restaurant, Azur serves up what I call a pretty standard affair of breakfast: your usual western breakfast offerings, along with a splattering of Asian fare, including a noodle station.

Cooked-to-order noodle station

I went straight for the nasi lemak with condiments, as well as a bowl of noodles. I also hovered around the pastries and cake sections, and the only thing that stood out was the automatic pancake making station. Apart from that, the breakfast wasn’t memorable.

Nasi lemak

Final thoughts

The property is actually a pretty amazing one for a staycation right at the airport. The rooms are timeless, and pretty well maintained for a decade-old property. The decor remains relevant today, I loved the way the architect used natural light and greenery to create a resort feel in a single-building hotel.

The service is almost perfect, albeit the poor first impression. After the hiccup, the service recovery is impeccable, and every touchpoint has been excellent.

Room service menu

Having said that, I personally didn’t find the club lounge and breakfast to be overly impressive, given that you will now have plenty of affordable options within Jewel Changi Airport and the terminal buildings itself. So, if you were to have to pay a hefty amount to upgrade, I’ll advise to skip on the upgrade and head into the airport instead for your meal fixes.
26 August 19
REVIEW: DoubleTree by Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok, Deluxe King Room

Hilton has an array of properties in metropolitan Bangkok, ranging from the newly opened Waldorf Astoria to more budget friendly DoubleTree by Hilton.

I’ve tried out several other Hilton properties in Bangkok before, including the Conrad Bangkok, and wanted to find out how does DoubleTree Sukhumvit measure up.

DoubleTree by Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok

The hotel

DoubleTree Sukhumvit by Hilton, Bangkok is located just off the main Sukhumvit Road. The hotel was opened in May 2013, after Hilton took over what was formerly known as the Imperial Tara Hotel and did a refresh. At the time of the opening, the DoubleTree by Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok was touted as Hilton’s 100^th property in Asia Pacific, as well as the first DoubleTree by Hilton property in Bangkok.

The hotel is a 7-minute walk from Phrom Phong BTS station, and that also means a short walk from EmQuartier and the Emporium. This affordable option is well-placed if you are keen to zip up and down Sukhumvit for most of your time in Bangkok.

The hotel has 177 rooms across four room categories. Rooms include three levels: Deluxe, Guest and Superior, and if you are looking for a suite you only have the King Deluxe Suite (there’s only five in the entire hotel) to choose from.

DoubleTree Sukhumvit Lobby

Upon arrival, you will be greeted with the warm Thai hospitality, and the famous DoubleTree cookie treat at the front desk, as your agent processes your check-in. I’ve stayed at the property twice now, and both times I didn’t have to wait very long to get my key card.

The hotel has a pretty eclectic decor style, similar to what I’ve seen at Hotel Indigo Bangkok before. There are hints of nostalgia with its vintage phonographs, transistor radios, cameras, wall clocks, as well as modern funk kind of furnishing around the lobby.

Lift Lobby

The room

The room I was staying for the day was the Deluxe King room. At 28 square metres, the room was a comfortable size although admittedly a little small for a Bangkok room.

DoubleTree Sukhumvit – Deluxe Room

Along with a generous king-sized bed, the room also has an armchair by the side of the window. In lieu of a work desk, there was a round glass-top table with an office armchair, which suffices for your basic hotel-office needs.

King-sized bed

Of course, there are the usual hotel amenities, including a large 40-inch flat screen TV, a mini-bar, complimentary coffee and tea as well as an in-room kettle. There are also some in-room luxuries such as bedroom slippers and bathrobes.

Window side lounge chair

As with many other DoubleTree properties, the bathroom came with a shower stall instead of a bathtub. Specifically for DoubleTree Sukhumvit, even the suites don’t come with a bathtub.

Bathroom

DoubleTree uses the same suite of Crabtree and Evelyn bath amenities as the mainline Hilton properties, which I personally like to use as it’s pleasing to the nose and yet not overpowering.

The facilities

Given the size of the hotel, the property is fairly well equipped with amenities. On the recreational front, DoubleTree Sukhumvit has an outdoor swimming pool on the 7th floor, which was fairly popular with the guests during my stay.

Swimming Pool

On the same floor, there is also a 24-hour fitness centre which is accessible with your room key card. Unfortunately there is no spa, so if you are looking for some relaxation facilities such as a hot tub or sauna, tough luck.

24-hour fitness centre (credit: DoubleTree Sukhumvit)

On the same floor there is also a poolside bar, Mosaic. As DoubleTree Sukhumvit doesn’t come with an executive lounge, the bar also doubles up as the happy hour bar for Hilton Honors gold and diamond members, offering complimentary drinks between 6 to 8pm daily.

Mosaic Poolside Bar

The ground floor has a full restaurant Dee Lite (yeah tacky name), which also serves as the breakfast restaurant. Unfortunately for this stay I left too early, even way before breakfast was served, so there’s nothing I could share with regard to the F&B.

Final thoughts

Bangkok is a land full of hotels – and cheap ones to boot. While higher quality and luxury hotels are often available at very affordable prices, DoubleTree Sukhumvit is incredibly value-for-money especially when you compare it to Hilton on the next soi. Having said that, this value comes with less amenities and will only be of good value if location is your primary consideration.

In-room amenities

For one, the hotel does not come with an executive lounge, so if you are a Hilton Honors diamond member, what you will receive instead are complimentary Happy Hour drinks daily from 6 to 8pm by the pool, which is also offered to gold members.

Overall DoubleTree Sukhumvit is a very comfortable property, albeit less than the usual frills. This is usually not a problem in cities like Bangkok, as you will usually spend much time outside of the hotel anyway. If you are in town to explore the myriad of offerings along Sukhumvit Road, this is definitely an ideal location to be in.

Hotel at a glance

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sukhumvit Bangkok
18 1 Sukhumvit Soi 26
Khlong Ton, Bangkok, 10110, Thailand
TEL: +66-2-6496666
Nearest BTS station: Phrom Phong
Approximate taxi fare from airport: THB350

No. of rooms: 177
Suites available: Yes
Executive Lounge: No

All-day Restaurant: Yes
Bar: Yes
Room Service: Yes – 24 hours

Fitness Centre: Yes – 24 hours
Swimming Pool: Yes
Spa: No

Meeting rooms: Yes
Business Centre: Yes

11 June 19
REVIEW: Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit, Deluxe Room

Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit is located walking distance from Terminal 21, which is a fantastic location given it’s at the interchange of Asoke BTS station and Sukhumvit MRT station. This provides quick access to the heart of town and also to many other new places of interests that popped up in the last few years.

Pullman Grande Bangkok Sukhumvit, Deluxe Room

When I first arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon, I was shocked at how busy and crowded the lobby was. It so happens that there was an event going on, so many of the attendees were simply loitering around lobby.

Despite that, I got to a check-in agent almost immediately. Check-in was painfully slow, and what made it even more irritating was that many other guests interrupted my check-in process with questions that rightfully belonged to the concierge’s domain (Are there any indian restaurants nearby? How do I get to this place?) and while the check-in agents dealt with these questions professionally, I was pretty much annoyed through no fault of the check-in staff.

The room

Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit, Deluxe Room

The hotel had rooms running all the way to the 26th floor, while mine was on the 16th.

I had booked myself a deluxe room, the smallest of the 7 room and suite categories available. There are larger rooms available in the hotel, as well as executive club floor rooms from the 22nd to 26th floor, but I didn’t check that out on this trip.

If you decide to pamper yourself by just going up one category to the premium deluxe room, you will get the same room, but at a higher floor and it comes with six free minibar items each day, plus one free cocktail (redeemable at the bar) and three pieces of free laundry items per stay. Not too bad for an upgrade, if you ask me!

When I first got to the room, I couldn’t work the light switch. For some reason, the card reader that activates the room power supply couldn’t read my card on the first few tries, and I managed to get it to work only after a very frustrating couple of minutes.

Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit, Deluxe Room

The room, as with many Bangkok hotels, was very spacious. At 38 square metres, the room comfortably held a king sized bed, an armchair on the side with a coffee table, a dining table and a sizeable bathroom.

The bathroom, as with many other contemporary hotel bathrooms today, boasted see-through glass panels around the bathtub. The one big plus was that if you were travelling alone, you won’t miss out on the exciting shows on Thai television.

There was also a separate shower stall right across from the bathtub, as well as a large vanity and a separate toilet stall so if you are travelling with a partner, you don’t have to worry about taking a dump in full view of your room mate.

Fully equipped bathroom, single vanity with bath tub

Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit uses Bigelow amenities, consistent with the other Pullman properties around the world.

Bigelow amenities

There are also some aspects of the rooms that I didn’t quite like. For the first time in many trips, I forgot to bring a power adapter. While you could possibly ring up housekeeping to borrow one, what really irked me was the lack of international sockets available in the room. There was only one single international socket on the work desk, while the bedside sockets were all fit for local appliances. Given that the hotel is in a prime location for international visitors, I would have imagine that having international sockets would have been a standard fit out.

Bedside telephone and wall switches

Another thing that really bugged me was the confusing electrical switches in the room. While there was a master switch by the side of my bed, it really doesn’t control all the lights in the room – all the lamps, and the toilet lights, had to be individually switched off. To make things worse, the position of the switches were not intuitive too, so you had to fiddle around before finding the right one.

The facilities

Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit is a full service hotel, offering a restaurant, bar, spa, swimming pool and fitness centre.

The fitness centre, while not expansive, packs a punch. Fairly spacious, it has ample equipment, including cardio machines, cable machines and also a full rack of dumbbells for those who love working with free weights.

Fitness centre, accessible 24 hours

The swimming pool, however, was pretty tiny. It is a reduced lap pool, and I reckon only a handful of swimmers could get some serious laps done before it becomes too crowded. There were however ample deck chairs available for a good tan provided you get good weather. I unfortunately had to put up with rather crappy weather when I was there.

Outdoor swimming pool

For people who love a good soak or steam, you’ll be happy to know that the changing rooms are very solid, boasting a jacuzzi, a steam room and a sauna. At the time I took a look there was no one using the facilities, so I figure that they may not be well utilised. A note though: the jacuzzi in the changing room is in full view of everyone else using the dressing tables, so you might feel a little awkward if you prefer some privacy.

Jacuzzi in the changing room

The in-hotel spa, the Antidot spa, offers a range of treatments at what I’d call standard hotel pricing. Their signature offering is the Siam Reviver, an aromatherapy type of massage going for THB3,400 for 90 minutes, or THB 4,300 for 2 hours. There are also regular offers going on from time to time, so be sure to check that out.

The restaurant – Atelier

Breakfast is served at the Atelier restaurant on level 2, the hotel’s anchor restaurant for all-day dining.

Atelier breakfast buffet – breads and spreads

There was a good spread of offerings for breakfast, ranging from local dishes to the standard western breakfast. A couple of live cooking stations, including an egg station and a noodle station, was also available if you prefer cooked to order items.

Atelier breakfast buffet

What was certainly interesting was a pretty extensive Japanese selection, including Japanese curry rice, sushi pieces and miso soup. I had a bit of the Japanese rice which was surprisingly on point, so it’s worth going for that if you are in a mood for something more substantial for breakfast.

Japanese curry with fried rice

The noodle station also offered up some interesting items, including a spinach noodle which was green in colour. Honestly I couldn’t really taste the difference from regular noodles.

For those who love a tipple to go with your first meal of the day, you’ll be happy to hear that there’s a do-it-yourself Bloody Mary cocktail corner. With the entire bottle of vodka on display, fill free to go crazy with your cocktail. This alone is probably worth the price of your breakfast.

DIY Bloody Mary

If you didn’t get breakfast with your room, you can always pre-purchase breakfast when you check in for about THB380++, which is still pretty much a deal.

Apart from Atelier, Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit also features several watering holes, including Vino Tapas, a cosy tapas bar, as well a deli at the lobby for the quick bites and coffee kicks.

Barbeque nights at Backyard by Pullman (photo credit: Pullman Grande Bangkok)

One unique offering by the hotel is the Backyard by Pullman, an outdoor bar that features barbeque food along with your favourite booze every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Of course, given that Bangkok is relatively warm most of the year, this is an option you should check out during the cooler months of November to January.

Final thoughts

The Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit is what I feel an undiscovered gem: near enough to the heart of action and yet packs pretty much many things into a hotel. Even though it’s considered a four star property similar to Crowne Plaza, in terms of amenities it definitely stands out.

The hotel is also fully equipped, with enough food and beverage outlets and recreational facilities for you to hang around in the hotel all day round.

Pullman Grande Bangkok Sukhumvit

What is truly excellent is the central location. Right at the junction of Asoke BTS station and Sukhumvit MRT station, the hotel is well-placed for the traveller who wants to check out all corners of Bangkok, whether is it the cafes along Sukhumvit area, or to the night markets, or heading into the city.

The only weakness lies in my experience with the fittings, judging from my tussle with the lights in the room. This is incredibly simple to get right, but also sometimes easiest to overlook. Of course, this is an easy one to conquer, returning visitors will sure be used to it, or the hotel could simply upgrade the electricals into a better system.

30 April 19