The large and impressive lobby sets the tone in this Asoke zone hotel, which is ... large and impressive.
The cool and subtly-lit piano bar is a great place for a pre-dinner drink, but its such a relaxing place that you have to be careful, as you can easily lose track of the number of gin and tonics you've had, and end of half-tight before you've even sat down to dinner.
Editor's digression: "The Swedish have a special word for this posh tipsy feeling - 'salongberusad', presumably because they're fairly expert at all this alcoholic - it's just a bit surprising that we Brits, no stranger to a dram, don't have our own word for being slightly drunk in an upmarket setting."
Sitting down to dinner can be a bit of a drama, even completely sober, as there are 5 restaurants to choose from - coffee shop, Italian, Mexican, Italian and Indian, the last of which wins regular awards.
A Cuban band plays in the Mexican restaurant, which is a stylish and cosy placer to eat, and which offers quality night-time cityscape views through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
A western breakfast at this recently refurbished hotel is a step up from the usual rubbish served in Thai hotels. The eggs are cooked properly, and accompanied by a limitless quantity of such decadancies as smoked salmon.
The large pool gets the afternoon sun and is surrounded by a sizeable terrace containing sufficient loungers.
The softly-lit spa, through which wafts the delicate fragrance of lemongrass, is a highlight.
Accommodation
Superior
These rooms are located on the lower 5th to 8th floors, so don't get great views. The best views are from the rooms facing south.
These rather boring rooms have nothing Thai or Asian about them. Most people will be rather unimpressed by the decor, especially the carpet design, which is really rather tasteless. These units are not recommended - for the reasons why, please read on.
Deluxe
These rooms come in 2 flavours:
(a) the 14th to 21st floor units have carpets
(b) the 9th to 12th floor units have wooden floors.
The wooden floors are way nicer than the carpets, but the higher floors offer better views.
The views from the wooden-floor units, while not as good as the views from the carpetted units, are still good, so most travellers prefer to go for a wooden floor, so they don't have to put up with the unpleasant carpet.
These rooms feel significantly larger than the Superior rooms and are only a little more expensive. Also, if you spend the bit extra to choose a Deluxe rather than a Superior, you get either a wooden floor or a great view. For these reasons, the Deluxe units are recommended, but the Superior are not.
Excecutive
These rooms are significantly more expensive than the Deluxe units.
They are the same size and the decor is similar. What you get with an Executive room is (a) a guaranteed high floor and (b) access to the Executive Lounge.
It is not worth paying the extra room rate charged in order to get access to the Executive lounge. If you want a high floor, you can request a Deluxe room that has one. For these reasons, the Executive rooms are not recommended.
Prices
The above rates are net per room per night and inclusive of service charge and breakfast for 2 people.
