Tag: Thailand

FLIGHT REVIEW: Spring Airlines A320 Economy SpringPlus, Bangkok – Shanghai

I was scratching my head as to how to get from Bangkok to Shanghai on a one-way ticket, and to my surprise there wasn’t many cheap options for flights during the day.

Strangely, there were a lot of red-eye options, but I’m not particularly excited at doing a five-hour red-eye flight, having travelled from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur on a red-eye service a year before and trying very hard to survive through the day after the flight.

I then stumbled across Spring Airlines, which seemed like a perfect option given that it had a mid-day departure and arriving into Shanghai at about dinnertime.

About Spring Airlines

*Spring Airlines A320 (source: Spring Airlines Facebook page)*

Spring Airlines was established in 2004, and operated its first service in 2005. It’s one of China’s first low-cost airline, although in its early days it offered complimentary food and drinks to all passengers.

The Shanghai-based airline operates only the A320, serving over 50 domestic destinations within China and 25 international destinations across Asia.

Bangkok is one of Spring Airlines’ focus cities internationally, serving over 10 Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi’an.

The schedule

Spring Airlines operate three flights daily between Bangkok and Shanghai Pudong.

At the time of writing, the daily schedule is as follow:

Flight	Route	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Day	Aircraft*
9C8892	BKK-PVG	0205	0715	Daily	A320
9C8756	BKK-PVG	1335	1830	Daily	A320
9C8580	BKK-PVG	1810	2330	Daily	A320
9C8755	PVG-BKK	0845	1235	Daily	A320
9C8579	PVG-BKK	1245	1705	Daily	A320
9C8891	PVG-BKK	2100	0105(+1)	Daily	A320

*Aircraft types are always subject to change

How to book

I don’t usually talk about how to go about booking your ticket, but I think in this instance it’s pretty critical.

If you try to book a Spring Airlines ticket through an online third-party site, chances are, you will be booking a ticket without any add-ons. No bags, no food, no seat selection.

To book a Spring Airlines ticket with some choices of add-on, you will have to book directly on its website, ch.com.

Being a Chinese carrier, Spring Airlines’ website is available in Chinese, as well as English, Thai and Japanese. If you also read Chinese, you will realise that there’s a lot more options in the Chinese version of the website, but do note that you can only make payment through some of the common Chinese payment platforms, including WeChat Pay and Alipay, or debit cards issued in China.

*More bundle options compared to English site*

To purchase a ticket using a credit card issued outside of China, you will need to use one of its non-Chinese version of the website. Apart from the awkwardly designed website, the first couple of steps are pretty straightforward.

When you have decided on the flight timing you want, you will have to select either Spring Saver, which simply gives you a seat and a carry-on bag, or Spring Plus, a all-in-one bundle. Note that all fares displayed are before the applicable taxes.

Spring Airlines is technically a budget airline, so if you want to purchase a seat only, they have it. Note that if you purchase a seat only, you can only bring one carry-on bag no heavier than 7kg (more on that later).

If you decide to customise your own add-ons, you can add items such as check-in baggage allowance and food in the later steps.

*Add-ons can be selected in the later steps*

For add-on baggage, the weight comes in 10kg steps and the price goes up accordingly. On my flight from Bangkok to Shanghai, every 10kg cost THB1,000 or RMB220.

Seat selection can also be made from RMB10 onwards. The price of your seat actually defers from row to row, so be sure to check.

*Seat selection ranges from RMB10 to RMB70, depending on zones*

As for food and beverage, you can pre-order a hot meal at RMB79 (THB340), but everything else is buy-on-board.

SpringPlus Bundle

Being highly uncertain about whether I could survive a 4+ hour flight on a Chinese low cost carrier, I decided to splurge on the best bundle I can find, which is the SpringPlus package, which costs RMB350 (THB1500) more. The SpringPlus bundle is also known as 经济商务座，which can loosely be translated to “economy business seat”.

So what does it entail? You get:

A seat in either Row 1 or 2, with free seat selection
30kg of checked baggage allowance
Free meal and unlimited beverages, including wine and beer
Priority boarding and disembarking
A pillow and blanket

Given that 20kg of checked baggage alone will set you back by RMB440, the SpringPlus bundle was a no-brainer. Having said this, I really don’t get how they priced this, but I suppose many Chinese travellers probably travel light.

Note that there’s also a 3% credit card surcharge, and there’s no way to get this fee removed.

After making payment, you are all set! However, note that the email confirmation is a little shady as well. There are details of your flight, but it doesn’t state the bundles as well as the entitlements (e.g. baggage allowance) you have on the flight, so just try to remember what you have booked.

At the airport

While the email asked passengers to arrive at the airport 120 minutes before the flight departure time, I arrived only about 75 minutes before.

There were four check-in counters opened for our flight and a good number of people in line waiting to check in. There was supposedly a separate queue for SpringPlus, but it’s only displayed by its Chinese term. I tried to queue up there, but was directed back to the main queue anyway.

*Spring Airlines check-in row K at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport*

Never mind that. The queue moved pretty quickly so I wasn’t very bothered.

As I was queuing, I saw a few signages that Spring has put up around hand baggage. The notice was very specific: hand carry items must be 7kg or less, and must be of dimensions 20cm by 30cm by 40cm or smaller. It then goes on to say “if it is found at the boarding gate that passengers’ luggage does not meet the requirements for free luggage entering the cabin, a luggage fee will be charged for passengers’ excess luggage.”

The price for checking in bags at boarding gate? Pretty horrific:

THB3500 (RM820) per piece for luggage under 20kg, and
THB7000 (RMB1640) per piece for luggage over 20kg, but under 32kg.

That’s some really expensive ‘fines’ for exceeding the hand carry limits, which I’m very happy for some other low cost carriers such as Jetstar to pick up.

*More warnings about hand-carry baggage on the boarding pass*

To drive home the point, there was the same notice, in Chinese, being stamped on my boarding pass when I received it. By this time, I was dead certain they were going to weigh my carry-on bags.

The aircraft

Spring Airlines operate a dedicated fleet of A320 only, in a single class configuration with 6 seats per row, 3 on each side for a total of 180 seats.

The first two rows are dedicated for customers who have bought the SpringPlus bundle, while row 3 onwards are for the other customers. This also means that there are only 12 SpringPlus bundles per flight, and some customers may be ‘upgraded’ if the flight is really full.

When the flight was ready to board, SpringPlus customers get to board first.

However, I chose to wait to board last, as I had an aisle seat. The A320 only has a single door for boarding, so that means if I boarded first, I’ll be greeting every other passenger who has to flow through the single aisle.

Also, a word about budget carrier travellers. Regardless of length of flight, customers on these flights tend to bring too many carry-on items. So that means overhead cabin space is a premium on a first come, first served basis.

I forgot this, and I realised that boarding last was a mistake. By the time I was on board, there was no more space in the overhead cabins. My seat neighbour had not one or two, but four bags – including two cabin suitcases – that couldn’t be stowed overhead. Once again, I wonder if the warnings about carry-on bags were a lie. The cabin crew couldn’t find a space for all their bags, and had to stow them somewhere in the galley in the end.

So I had to keep my bag under the legs for take off, which I’m sure is a breach of safety, and also incredibly uncomfortable.

The seat

Spring Airlines install 180 seats on its A320, in a 3-3 configuration across 30 rows. As mentioned earlier, the first two rows are reserved for SpringPlus passengers.

Each passenger in rows 1 and 2 receives a green blanket and a pillow, which are pretty ugly. The seats are upholstered in a faux leather skin, making it easy to clean and fairly comfortable for a mid-haul flight. The seatbacks are also quite thin, maximising the legroom.

The seats are standard width at about 17 inches wide, which is slightly narrower than most other airlines. There is also more legroom for the first two rows, at about 30 inches. All other seats have a standard pitch of 28 inches, which is fairly reasonable for the Asian traveller.

If you are in the main cabin, there are also extra legroom seats at the exit rows of 12 & 13.

Each seat comes with a fold-down dining table, and for the first row the table comes up from your armrest. There are also individual air nozzles and reading lights for every seat located above.

One critical point of all Spring Airlines seats is that: the seats do not recline. This to me isn’t really a bad thing. Most of Spring Airlines’ routes are anywhere between short to mid-haul, and in my opinion, disabling the very limited recline in an all-economy layout is probably a lot more beneficial (by preventing disputes), than whatever marginal comfort you may get with a 2-inch recline.

The service

Once we are safely in the air and the seatbelt signs have been turned off, the cabin crew in front swiftly went behind row 2 to draw the curtains, making the front cabin even more exclusive.

The very lovely crew then went around to each row of three to greet us by name, and then provided an overview of today’s flight, such as the flight duration, estimated landing time and meal service. She also gave us a bottled water each. I was impressed.

Shortly after that, the meal service commenced. The meal was fairly simple: pieces of chicken along with some potato wedges, pumpkin cubes and long beans, along with a slice of chocolate cake and a packaged bread roll. Everything was nicely encased in a plastic box and served up at once, with the entree piping hot.

In terms of beverage, this is where it got a little interesting. Unlike some other low cost carrier which only offered water or one single drink along with the purchased meal, Spring Airlines offered unlimited drinks, including soft drinks, coffee, tea, beer and wine. Even though the cart had a limited choice of drinks, the sheer fact that drinks were unlimited was, again, impressive.

*Complimentary unlimited beverages on Spring Airlines with SpringPlus*

I had a soda water to go with my meal, followed by a coffee after. Meal service was pretty prompt, and collected shortly after I was done with it. Once again, service was very attentive. As my finished meal was collected, the cabin crew asked if I’ll like another drink. I saw that they had small bottled red wines on the cart, so I decided to give it a try.

The red wine turned out to be a China-made Cabernet Sauvignon (China Wine, ha!), produced in a vineyard from Ningxia. Having not tried Chinese wine before, I took a sip and as it turns out, it was pretty decent. I made a quick search online about Chinese wines and the region has apparently been known to produce some award-winning wines in recent years.

The wine was served in a paper cup as the crew has run out of plastic ones. Personally, I do feel that has affected the taste a little, but the wine was delicious so I had three glasses.

If you are reading this and decided not to buy the SpringPlus bundle, the buy-on-board menu is very affordable. Meals begin from RMB20 (THB87) and all drinks from water to beer were RMB10 (THB43).

*Spring Airlines buy-on-board food menu*

*Spring Airlines buy-on-board drinks menu*

With about 90 minutes to go before landing, the purser opened up the curtains, and I thought this a little too early to prepare for landing. He then started wheeling out a cart, and took out the in-flight PA to start speaking.

As it turns out, he was starting to peddle the in-flight duty free items for sale, in Mandarin, of course. While he was very good, being incredibly knowledgeable and persuasive in selling the wide-range of items (I did a rough count, he mentioned no less than 20 items in the catalogue – including cigarettes, SK-II, Disney products, and electronics – over the 15 to 20 minutes of speaking), I can imagine that if you didn’t understand Mandarin, you might find it a little annoying.

*In-flight magazine (largely duty free catalogue), menu and safety card*

After he was done, there was indeed a flurry of duty-free sales going on within the cabin. For one, the Chinese traveller likes to buy cartons of cigarettes back home, and apparently they always run out on Spring flights.

Shortly after, it was time to prepare for landing. The cabin crew once again came to thank customers one-by-one, as well as provide landing information including estimated time of arrival and weather. While this was something fairly simple, I personally was really impressed at the level of service for a supposedly no-frills flight.

Final thoughts

I came off the flight more than impressed with what Spring Airlines have packed into a ‘value-added’ bundle.

While Asia is no stranger to low cost carriers and their ancillary products, the SpringPlus bundle that Spring Airlines offer is equivalent to a full-service economy class product, sans in-flight entertainment.

The little more, such as priority check-in, boarding, disembarking and priority baggage handling, made the entire experience even more worth it for the additional cost.

What truly impressed me was the quality of service. Chinese carriers used to be associated with poor quality food and service, but I found both to be more than acceptable in this instance. I’m not sure if this is a one-off experience or representative of the entire fleet, but I’m very sure I’ll be giving this another try if the opportunity arises.

That said, the only downside to the experience is the quality of your travel companions on the same flight. This is a common problem with Chinese travellers, particularly those who are venturing internationally for the first time as they tend to be from smaller cities and may have different levels of refinement and cross-cultural appreciation as those living in the tier-one cities.

Also, Spring Airlines obviously do not belong to any alliance, so if you are more concerned about earning miles, this will obviously not be an option for you.

13 December 19

REVIEW: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bangkok Ploenchit, King Guest Room

Having to clock a few more stays this year to qualify for Hilton Honors Diamond Elite, I did what I always resisted doing: mattress runs.

After staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Sukhumvit the previous night, I leisurely made my way to DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit, which was about 15 minutes away by car.

In this post:
• Introduction
• The hotel
• Checking in
• The room
• The facilities
• Dining & happy hour
• Final thoughts

The hotel

A little bit more about the hotel first: if you haven’t seen the property on Hilton’s list in Bangkok over the past couple of years, you are not mistaken. DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit only opened earlier this year in September 2019.

DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit

Before you get too excited, the property is not a brand new one. The hotel was previously Majestic Grande Hotel, and the deal for Hilton to manage the hotel under the DoubleTree brand was announced back in 2018. The hotel remains owned by Majestic Grande, who also runs other properties in Bangkok such as their same name property in Sukhumvit.

DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit has 251 rooms across 25 floors, although it doesn’t have an executive lounge. The hotel is also located about a 7-minute walk away from the nearest BTS station (Ploenchit), which is only two stops away from Siam and Asoke, both being popular places for tourists.

However, note that given the hotel’s proximity to Sukhumvit Road which is perpetually crawling, be sure to cater extra time if you are travelling by taxi to and from the hotel.

Checking in

I got into the hotel at about noon. The first impressions were pretty good, I had to say. Right from the moment I arrived, the porter spring into action and swiftly took over my bags and gave me a tag. I proceeded to check in, which was pretty fuss free. As usual, the agent gave me the signature DoubleTree cookie to dig in while she checked me in.

DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit lobby

I took the time to check out the lobby as well. While not the largest, the lobby was decked out in fresh and modern fittings, coupled with a very clean reception, giving the impression of a newly renovated hotel. Adjacent to the lobby was also the restaurant, which looked pretty chic.

OPEN restaurant adjacent to the lobby

The agent then told me that unfortunately, my room wasn’t going to be ready until 2pm, which was pretty common in Bangkok given the high occupancy levels across most city centre hotels. I asked if my bags will be moved into the room when I get back later, and she confirmed it.

As a Hilton Honors Gold member I had a choice of either bonus points or free breakfast. If you haven’t figured, it is often better value to take the breakfast over the points, if your room didn’t come with breakfast. If you are a diamond member, you get both.

Given I had about two hours to spare, I decided to go do a little shopping and grab a massage before coming back to the room in the evening.

When I got back, that was when everything started going downhill.

The room

DoubleTree Ploenchit has 251 rooms across 8 room types, including three suite types. For this trip, I was invested in only the entry level room, which was a King Guest Room. Unfortunately I didn’t get an upgrade even as a gold elite member.

The room categories can be a little confusing: across the basic rooms, there are Deluxe, Guest, Premium and Superior rooms. The Premium and Superior rooms are significantly larger, the only difference between Deluxe and Guest is the state of renovation. Deluxe are newly refurbished rooms while the Guest rooms are inherited from Majestic Grande.

The hotel is still in the midst of progressively renovating the rooms, so I will expect that at some point, all rooms will be minimally “Deluxe”.

Standard King Guest Room

When I first stepped into the room, the staleness of the room hit me – you could literally smell the age of the room. Adorned in dark wood and warm tones, the controls for the lights was my first challenge. After switching on all the lights, I went, “that’s all?!” The room is clearly in need of more lights.

At 28 square metres, the room was adequately sized, although it didn’t feel that spacious compared to similar rooms I have had in Bangkok. There was a standard sized work desk, as well as other standard amenities including bathrobes, bedroom slippers, complimentary coffee and tea, and bottled water.

In-room minibar

On the bedside table, there was also a set of room controls which have clearly seen better days. The room phone was also placed beside the bed.

The room was pretty well stocked out in the food department. There was a full minibar, as well as an in-room dining menu with food available round the clock if you are hungry. Only problem with the minibar? The fridge was hardly doing its job of keeping the contents cold.

In-room dining menu, with 24-hour options

Complimentary water in the room comes in glass bottles, which are cleaned and reused (yay for the environment!). If you do stay in a DoubleTree property in Bangkok, please be careful when you consume the complimentary in-room water. There are some bottles, such as the Evian and Badoit bottles on the countertop, which are chargeable. The free ones are clearly marked.

Very dated bathroom

The bathroom is where the signs of age was the most obvious. It was laid out in the classic manner, with the vanity running one side of the toilet, the toilet seat across from it and the bathtub opposite the door. There was no shower stall, so you are expected to shower in the bathtub, which some people may find it cumbersome given you need to climb in and out of the tub.

Crabtree & Evelyn amenities

Amenities remain the same set from Crabtree and Evelyn, as with all other Hilton and DoubleTree properties I have been to.

The facilities

DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit facilities

Given that the hotel was newly taken over by Hilton, most of the facilities were inherited from Majestic Grande. There was a fitness centre, which can be accessed with your key card. However, note that the fitness centre is only opened between 6am and 8.30pm, which again, is a very strange timing.

Fitness centre, open daily between 6am and 8.30pm

While the hotel states it has a pool, the swimming pool was undergoing rebuilding during the time I was there.

Swimming pool clearly under renovation, to be ready in 2020

While the former Majestic Grande had a spa, DoubleTree Ploenchit didn’t cater for one, and that also means there are no relaxation facilities such as a steam room or sauna within its premises.

Also, the hotel does not have an executive lounge, so if you are a Diamond elite member and was looking for an exclusive space to rest during the day (why though?!), this may be a point of consideration.

In terms of dining, there is only one all-day dining restaurant at the lobby, as well as a bar adjacent to it. The restaurant doubles up as the breakfast venue for all guests.

Dining & Happy Hour

For guests who has breakfast as part of their room rate, breakfast is available daily at OPEN, the ground floor restaurant, between 6.30am and 10.30am. Breakfast is provided for guests who has booked a bed and breakfast rate, as well as complimentary for Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond elite members.

Breakfast situation at OPEN

The breakfast spread at DoubleTree Ploenchit is pretty standard fare. Beyond the usual American breakfast offerings, there are also some Asian offers, including a live noodle station, along with a buffet spread of rice and stir-fried dishes.

Asian fare at breakfast

Egg station at breakfast

Honestly, the food wasn’t all that great, so if you have to pay for breakfast, I’ll strongly suggest that you skip it and head out for breakfast instead. After all, you are in the land of good food.

Given that the property didn’t have an executive lounge, DoubleTree by Hilton Ploenchit offers its members complimentary drinks at the lobby bar daily between 7 to 8pm.

Evening complimentary drinks between 7pm and 8pm for Hilton Honors Gold & Diamond members

When I got down at 7pm, there was already a handful of people waiting for drinks, with only two staff tending to everyone. Within 15 minutes, all the seats were taken up, so all other guests had to stand around to enjoy their drinks during the hour. The staff were very attentive though, constantly topping up the drinks proactively even without asking.

Final thoughts

While DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit is relatively new to Hilton’s portfolio, the property is relatively dated. Having stayed in both DoubleTree properties (this and the one at Sukhumvit), the other one is definitely superior, both in terms of comfort as well as location.

Lobby bar at DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit

The hotel is in a dire need of an upgrade, as shown by the state of the room I was in as well as some of the facilities. I believe this is in progress, given how new the lobby looked. The lack of facilities may not be a major issue for most people, but if you are the type that likes to spend plenty of time in the hotel to work out or relax in the pool, you may want to avoid this property for a while.

The happy hour is a nice touch for Hilton’s loyalty members, but the space needs to be better thought given the number of guests who were eligible for it. I believe the spillover crowd usually goes to the restaurant, but unfortunately during the evening I was there, there was a private function happening at the restaurant.

At a glance:
• Room type: King Guest Room
• Room rate: THB2,548 + 17.7% taxes (Hilton Honors rate as of November 2019)
• Executive lounge: No
• On-site restaurants: Yes (one)
• On-site parking: Yes, complimentary
• Fitness centre: 24 hours
• Swimming pool: Under refurbishment
• Spa: No

4 December 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
REVIEW: Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park, Deluxe Room

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.

Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park, access from King Rama IV Road

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.

Check-in lobby decked out in wood fittings and elegant decor

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.

Deluxe Room

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.

Deluxe Room

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.

Deluxe Room bathroom

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.

Crowne Plaza Bangkok Swimming Pool

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.

Fitness centre

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.

Panorama restaurant at the lobby

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.

City view from the room

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.

20 September 18
REVIEW: W Bangkok, Spectacular Room

As the year was coming to a close and in need for a few more qualifying nights to renew my SPG Gold status, I booked a night with W Bangkok for a weekend stay after a couple of working days in the capital city of Thailand.

Spectacular Room

W Bangkok is located along the commercial zone of Sathorn, near the Chong Nonsi BTS station. A stone’s throw away from Silom, the location is great for those who needs easy access to the city centre where Siam Paragon, Central World and the likes are located, but quite a hassle if you wish to café hop along the Sukhumvit area.

This Starwood property is a Category 4 hotel, the lowest category for the W Hotels brand (there are only eight Category 4 W hotels globally, with four in Asia).

Welcome cookies placed in my room

The hotel runs 31 floors high, featuring 403 guest rooms and 34 suites.

For this stay, I booked myself into the entry level Wonderful Room. Being a SPG Gold member, I was upgraded to the Spectacular Room instead. And of course, I enjoyed the perk of a 4pm check-out as part of the SPG Gold benefits. Note that this benefit cannot be enjoyed at W Hotels that are resorts, such as W Sentosa and W Bali.

Giant gloves on every bed – perfect for that Instagram moment

The Spectacular Room boasts a rather unique layout, around the curved parts of the floor, giving the room a curved window to form a triangular layout. The décor is in the usual loud and modern W Hotel style, adorned by a huge pair of glitzy boxing gloves on the bed.

The room overlooks the swimming pool on the 6^th floor, as well as the front porch of the hotel which has a fountain.

View from the room

The bathroom is integrated as part of the room, separated only by a huge yellow frosted glass strips and a heavy red curtain that serves as a ‘door’ for the bathroom. For those traveling with friends and family and prefer a bit more privacy in the bathroom, W Bangkok may not be the best choice.

Open concept bathroom

Most of the recreational facilities are located on the 6^th floor, including the gym (FIT), outdoor splash pool (WET) and the AWAY Spa.

The gym is one of the smallest in the W Hotels I have stayed in. It is an open area on the floor, and is accessible 24 hours. The outdoor pool is not large, but throughout the day you will find people basking in the sun on one of the many deck chairs around.

The AWAY Spa is located on the same floor as well. At the time I stayed, W Bangkok was running several promotions for spa services, including a room package, Fuel Your Glow, which includes a 60-minute AWAY Massage for one. My feel is that being a destination known for its great spa and massage scene, hotel spas such as AWAY will find it incredibly challenging to offer a premium product when similar alternatives can be found easily and at a fraction of their price.

AWAY Spa – Men’s changing room

Guests may use the AWAY Spa facilities, including the steam room and sauna free of charge. The relaxation facilities are gender-segregated, but they are rather small and often underused. Note that the staff do not keep the steam room on at all times, so it’s best to call 15 minutes ahead for them to switch it on if you intend to use it.

There is also a jacuzzi somewhere within, but I didn’t check that out.

While my room didn’t come with breakfast, I asked about it during check-in and they offered a 30% discount on the breakfast at the Kitchen Table if I took it up at check-in. That comes up to about THB700 nett, which was quite a steal for a hotel breakfast but obviously extravagant by local standards.

The Kitchen Table

The Kitchen Table is located on the second floor of the hotel. First thing that caught my eye was the abundance of space and natural light. Of course, the high ceiling helped too. As with all W concepts, the Kitchen Table boasts of mod décor, the use of bold colours contrasted with black.

At first glance, there was a good spread of food choices: from your usual English style breakfast items such as bacon, eggs cooked-to-order, waffles, pancakes, to a wide variety of Asian fare, including congee, DIY miso soup and a live noodle station, serving up tom yum or chicken broth soups with noodles.

Cooked to order noodle soup, chicken broth

When I first took my seat, I was presented with an eggs menu. I ordered a pair of poached eggs. Honestly, the eggs weren’t fantastic so I only managed to finish one. The pastries were on point as usual – with the pancakes being my favourite. I only wish that the pancakes and waffles can be made to order so that they remain hot and fluffy.

Plenty of pastries and baked goods available for breakfast

Consistently across Asia, the Asian fare is much better. The noodles were on point, and the dim sum was decently delicious too.

Outside of breakfast, W Bangkok has got one of the most vibrant dining and drinking line up across Bangkok hotels.

Available for breakfast too – Dim sum

Every alternate Saturday, The Kitchen Table features ‘W does Brunch’, offering a vast spread of fine cheeses, salads, cold cuts, carved meats, BBQ, seafood, céviche and many sweet treats. Food and non-alcoholic beverages goes for THB2,500++ per person, while free-flow alcohol adds only THB600++ to the bill. SPG members enjoy additional discounts.

At Woobar on the ground floor, they have a daily happy hour one-for-one deals, but note that the one-for-one offer is based on a more expensive and limited menu. Still good value overall, especially if you imbibe alcohol like water.

Woobar, ground floor

What’s more exciting are the mid week events: apart from the usual ladies night every Thursday called “Girls Love Bubbles”, Woobar also features a “Boys Love Bubbles” every Wednesday night with free flow prosecco!

Next door at the House on Sathorn, there’s also a plethora of dining offers and options available for guests and walk-in customers, such as the high tea offer at the Courtyard available daily from 2.30pm to 5.30pm at THB1,350++ for two, including a selection of TWG teas. In the evening, the Courtyard and the Bar also runs a happy hour from 5pm to 7pm on weekdays offering 25% off all cocktails and beers.

W Bangkok

Overall, W Bangkok offers good value for the money you pay – in terms of its offerings as well as its excellent location in metropolitan Bangkok. The thing that didn’t quite work for me was the small swimming pool. As one of the cheapest W properties globally, this hotel is definitely a great place to sample the W style and top notch service without breaking your wallet.

29 October 17