Being incredibly familiar with Bangkok and having stayed at over a dozen properties, I was looking to try out yet another one so I stumbled across Crown Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park, located in the Silom area.
Crown Plaza Lumpini is located along the main street of King Rama IV Road, just around the corner from the more popular Silom Road and diagonally across Lumpini Park. Situated less than 100m away from the Silom MRT station and a little further away from the Sala Daeng BTS station, I actually kind of like where the hotel is – near enough to major transport options and yet away from the crazy streets that Silom can be in the evenings.
The hotel is co-located with the Ramaland Building, with the office space taking up the lower floors. The hotel technically begins on the 25th floor, and that’s where the lobby and the breakfast restaurant is. Rooms take up floors 26 to 33, with the club rooms on the upper floors.
The room
For basic rooms, there are essentially only two room types: Superior and Deluxe, for both Club and non-Club rooms. Junior suites and executive suites are also available, all of which comes with Club access.
I had originally booked myself into the entry-level room type, the superior room. At check-in, I was pleasantly upgraded to the deluxe room, which was significantly larger at 46 square metres.
Guest rooms are all on levels 24 through level 33, of which levels 31 & 32 are reserved for club rooms, with the club lounge on level 33. I didn’t book myself into the club room this time, so I didn’t have the chance to check that out.
The building itself is triangular in shape, that also means that the rooms laid out across the three edges of the building with the middle of the floor hollowed out to form a large open void right above the restaurant on the 25th floor.
The deluxe room is a rather longish room, with a deep walkway from the door into the room. At 46 square metres, you are in no lack of space, and this was clear from the moment you step into the room.
The only notable difference in the layout from other standard business hotels is that the bathroom entrance faces the bed, but had a divider between the two in the form of a wardrobe. This creates a little walk-in wardrobe area right outside the bathroom, which was rather pleasing. What I’d like? Another door that I could close the wardrobe from the room, so that I could step out of the bathroom and get dressed in privacy if I had a person to share the room with.
During my stay, I noticed a good number of Japanese guests in the hotel. Upon closer inspection, I saw that most signs and notices, including the information booklet and the in-room dining menu, were not only in English and Chinese but also Japanese, hinting that this property may be popular with Japanese guests. There was also an option for a Japanese breakfast.
The bathroom featured a separate bathtub and shower stall, along with double vanities. The toilet has a Japanese style bidet as well.
The facilities
Like many other five-star hotels in Bangkok, the hotel has its own health club, complete with a spa, a swimming pool and a gym. Due to the size of the hotel, the facilities are pretty tiny.
The swimming pool is an outdoor lap pool, probably about 20 metres in length. There is also an outdoor whirlpool at the end of the swimming pool, for those who may prefer a soak amid some hydrotherapy. For those who prefer sitting in a hot room, there is a sauna in each of the changing rooms, but note that there’s no steam rooms available in the property.
The fitness centre is small but packs a punch, with several cardio machines as well as a full rack of dumbbells, along with some cable machines.
There are massages and other spa treatments offered by the health club, which can be taken at the treatment rooms. Do not expect a full spa sensory experience, given that these rooms are not within the confines of a typical hotel spa, but rather some random small rooms that spills out to the hotel corridor. Anyway, why would you be taking a massage in a hotel in Bangkok, given the plethora of good options in town?
The hotel also have meeting and conference facilities, located on levels 21 & 22, making it a possible location for business functions or events.
The main on-property restaurant is the Panorama Restaurant and Bar located on level 25, which is also the venue for the daily breakfast. Outside of breakfast hours, the restaurant offers all-day dining offering up an international cuisine spanning Thai, Asian and Western fare. What’s noteworthy is the open kitchen display where you can see your food being prepared in front of you.
On the 22nd floor, there’s also Xin Tian Di, a Cantonese restaurant better known for its dim sum. It offers a daily dim sum buffet at THB750++ on weekdays and THB900++ on weekends, with over 20 dim sum selections as well as some hot dishes and desserts that you can indulge in.
There is also a club floor along with an executive lounge, which I didn’t get the chance to check out on this stay.
In summary
While not in the heart of town closer to the big malls, the hotel is incredibly well located given the spitting distance to both BTS and MRT stations, making travelling around the city a breeze especially during peak hours.
The hotel has a pretty solid gourmet offering, although none of it particularly stood out in a city well known for its culinary scene.
Regretfully, it’s one of the few hotels I’ve seen in Bangkok that’s not entirely self-contained, but stayed as part of a mixed development building. This also means that the hotel could only offer a limited range of facilities, and I personally would have preferred if it had larger recreational facilities such as a bigger sized pool, and a larger gym.
The hotel is also looking tired. With its dim lighting across the common areas and within the room, the signs of age were still showing on the walls and in the bathroom fittings. Having said that, the hotel is still good in its own right, and definitely worth a visit if you ever need a convenient place to stay at with a wonderful view of the city from every room.
