My
wife Nikki and I have been to Bangkok a couple of times before. Due to the
difference in price level between Thailand and Norway this is one city where
most Norwegians can have a really nice hotel room without going broke. So
this time I decided to look for a hotel that was above average and I also
wanted to stay at a new location. The last time we went to
Bangkok in 2002 we stayed at
Rembrandt hotel on Sukhumwit. I sent requests to various hotels to get a
price quote and I got a nice response from Lebua at State Tower near the
river. The offer was 4000 Thai Baht (about 120 US dollars) per night for the
room including breakfast. Please check this
Bangkok Google map that I have
made for the location of the hotel. The hotel in marked with a yellow pin.
I
arrived by taxi at the hotel at about 7 am in the morning on May 10th 2007.
The welcome was like one can expect at a nice hotel in Bangkok: people
opening doors for you, people greeting you with “Sawadee ka” and the
traditional wai greeting etc. The lobby was small but nice and had light
tiles in combination with dark wooden floors and dark furniture.
I was lead to a sofa and I was told to sit down and relax. All they needed
was my passport and reservation. After a couple of minutes they had filled
out the necessary form for me and all I had to do was sign. To my joy it
turned out that they had a room available for me this early and it is always
nice to be able to check in right away after a long plane trip.
The room
I
got room number 5519 on the 55th floor! The hotel is located in one
of the tallest buildings in Bangkok and this was also one of the factors why
we choose the hotel. I was shown to the room and it was a very nice first
impression when I stepped into the room. In front of me was a 66 square
meter room (about 710 square feet) and it must be the largest hotel room
that I have ever had. The room had nice medium light wooden floor and light
walls. By the entrance there were two small tables and chairs and sofas for
about 6 people. This first part of the room functioned like a “living room”
I guess and it also included a big TV. On the first table I also got a small
fruit plate and a small box of chocolate - I have a bit of a sweet tooth so
I did appreciate that. The box as even refilled when I ate the first one :-)
The
middle part of the room contained the kitchen, the wardrobe and access to
the bathroom. The kitchen was a small kitchen with a big fridge, a micro, a
small stove, a proper coffee maker and water boiler etc. For me this was not
really a big issue - there is so much good food to be found in Bangkok that
there is really no need to make food back in the room :-) But it was nice
with a big fridge to put some cold drinks in. There were lots of bottles of
Lebua water that came for free with the room. I think we had like 6-8
bottles around in the room at all times - excellent.
The
wardrobes contained hangers, robes for him and her, a small safe, umbrella
etc. The room continued further and behind a sliding door the bedroom was
revealed. The room contained a HUGE bed with one big duvet and a desk with a
TV, DVD player and a chair. I was pretty quick to setup my laptop (I have
named him Bjarne the 5th) and with the wire that I found I was plugged in
and online within minutes. I got access without any fuzz and it was included
in the price - excellent!
The bed felt a bit hard when I first tried it out but I slept like a baby
the days when I was there.
The room had a river view but
unfortunately the doors to the balcony were locked due to safety rules. I
knew about this in advance after reading TripAdvisor reviews so it didn’t
come as a shock to me. It would have been nice to enjoy the view of the
river from the balcony but I can also understand why they want to keep them
locked. But I do think you can sign some sort of form to get permission to
get the doors unlocked.
The bathroom
The
bathroom matched the rest of the room - it was big and tiled with light
tiles. It included a bathtub sort of built in with marble tiles and a
matching top for the sink. It also included a big shower corner with glass
walls. There were lots of amenities in the bathroom. They make a big fuzz
about the amenities being from Bvlgari but the shampoo, conditioner and soap
was nice. But there were also tooth brushes, shaving kit etc. The towels
seemed to match the room as they were also huge. Nikki was quite surprised
when she came out of the shower the first time and discovered that the
fluffy towel was actualy larger than her :-)
The breakfast
The
breakfast was served on the M floor (on 13th floor). We had a choice of
having the breakfast served inside or outside by the pool and we were led to
a table by a waitress. We also had the option of tea or coffee and this was
served in small hot flasks which is quite clever :-). Just beware when you
pour - the patent of this flasks are not the best and I have seen a few
people spill coffee when using it for the first time. The breakfast area was
not really that big but the selection included everything that I want for
breakfast at least. You could get eggs and omelettes made the way you
wanted, make toast, have bacon, sausages, cereal, fruit, fresh juice from
various fruits, lots of different pastries and bread etc. I don’t think it
is the best breakfast buffet that I have seen but they had a nice selection
just as you would expect for a nice hotel in Asia :-)
Pool and fitness centre
On
my day of arrival I tested out the fitness centre to stay awake. The pool
and fitness centre is also on the M floor next to the breakfast area. The
pool was OK but it is not extravagant like you hear from other hotels. Some
friends of us stayed at Sheraton on Sukhumwit and they described the pool
there as swimming through a jungle. On Lebua it was “just” a pool but it was
actually larger than expected. To get a towel it was just a matter of
signing in by the entrance and you had to do the same if you wanted a locker
in the fitness centre. The fitness room included nice and new workout
gadgets such as a regular stationary bike, stepping machine, treadmill etc.
But there were also gadgets to lift weights. There were water bottles
available in the gym for the thirsty ones.
Location
The
hotel is located by the river and about 300 meters from Saphan Taksin BTS
skytain station (look at the
Bangkok Google map that I have made) and I think it took us 8-10 minutes
to walk there. From this place you can also take the Chao Praya river
express so it is pretty easy to get around Bangkok from the hotel. One night
we wanted to take a taxi to Sukhumwit but due to traffic none of the taxis
wanted to take us there. I’m not sure if there was more traffic than normal
this night and that was the reason. But it is pretty fast to take the
Skytrain. From we got on the skytrain it only took about 15 minutes getting
to Asok skytrain station (including the change at Siam).
Note that there are some “con” men
lurking about the entrance of the hotel. A couple of times when I was on my
way out I was greeted by some people claiming that they worked at the hotel,
a local embassy etc. I’m not sure how the scam works but in the end they
would always ask me where I was going and they tried to convince me that I
should go up Silom road instead of going to the Skytrain station.
Restaurants at the hotel
There
are several restaurants at the hotel - Breeze on 52nd floor serving Asian
sea food, Sirocco serving Mediterranean food etc. I also got a sneak view of
the State room which is in the Dome of the building itself and what a view
the place can offer. Located on the 64th floor with a 360 degree room it
must be quite a place to have e.g. a wedding. We got a complementary meal at
Breeze as Nikki turned 30 years old and since we also had a 10 year
anniversary. We had a table at the edge and we had a lovely view of Bangkok
and the river.
The
restaurant is outdoors so it is really quite spectacular. We also went to
the Skybar on the 64th floor for a drink after being at Breeze. Both Nikki
and I were dressed up but Nikki was still rejected as she had some nice
sandals and they don’t allow “open shoes”. I can understand that they reject
people in shorts and flip-flops but it was just silly when Nikki was
rejected. But Nikki changed into some other shoes and we got it eventually.
The people that guided us to the Skybar kept on saying “mind your step” as
the light was dim and the obstacles many :-) I tried to take a picture of
this spectacular outdoor bar but I was politely informed by one of the
employees that it was not allowed. Once again a silly rule that I can’t
really understand. The Skybar was crowded and the drinks were expensive.
So
far it might sound like this was a perfect hotel but I do have some issues
that I want to address. The lobby of the hotel does not appear like a 5 star
luxury hotel. The entrance that I was driven to and that contains the lobby
is actually a side entrance. But there is also a main entrance and when you
enter into this you find a huge “lobby area” that contains Starbuck, a few
spa shops etc but apart from that pretty empty. In this huge “lobby” there
is a door in the back that leads to the real lobby and the lifts to the
rooms. This appears a bit strange and the building seems a bit unfinished
due to this.
Talking about the lifts - other
reviewers have mentioned that it was a problem as there are only three lifts
serving the hotel floors and the restaurants/bar. Yes, we did have to wait a
few minutes a few times but I didn’t feel that this was a big problem. But
beware of the dripping air-condition in the lifts :-)
Conclusion
We
had a very nice stay at Lebua at State Tower in Bangkok. We got a huge and
comfortable room including breakfast, broadband at a reasonable price. The
hotel is close enough to the Skytrain station and the river express boat
pier so that you can get around both to shopping (at Siam) and attractions
(like Grand Palace). The view of Bangkok and the river from our room was
amazing and it would have been even better if we had gotten access to the
balcony. I would not hesitate to stay at Lebua at State Tower again or
recommend it to any of my friends.
Please check out the
hotel homepage for
more information. Please
check out TripAdvisor for reviews of the hotel. |