So I recently stayed at Conrad Bangkok, booked duringĀ one of the Hilton 40% flash sales earlier in the year. The rate worked out to be about S$150 per night, which though pricier than many other places in the city, works out to be a pretty good dealĀ for what you get.
The jury’s still out on which of the Hilton properties in Bangkok is the best to stay in, but the general consensus on the Conrad is that it offers a solid service soft product and a central location,Ā though it’s a bit of a walk (about 10min) from the nearest BTS station, and is starting to show signs of age. I agree with thisĀ assessment, but still rather enjoyed my previous stay and was hoping I would be rewarded for my loyalty inĀ thisĀ repeat visit. Boy, was I ever!
The hotel lobby was all decked out for the festive season, with a gigantic Christmas tree and a Christmas market-themed booth selling holiday snacks.
PerhapsĀ the decor had made an impact on the generosity of the hotelĀ staff as well – I had originally beenĀ upgraded to a Executive King room (from my basic King room) and decided toĀ try my luck by asking if any better room was available. The agent clicked around on her terminalĀ for a bit and proceeded to inform me that they would usually only upgrade a Diamond member up to an Executive Suite, but since those were already full they’d decided to give me a taste of the Deluxe Suite instead.
I didn’t realiseĀ it at the time, but this wasĀ akin to hitting the hotel upgrade jackpot. To give an idea of how large the room is, I’ve highlighted (and labelled) it in the floor plan below:
The Room
It started becoming clear to me that this wasn’t quite an ordinary room when, upon entering, I was greeted by a decorative piece immediately to the right of the corridor. To the left was a toilet.Ā One without any shower or bath facilitiesā¦
So apparently the room cameĀ with its very own guest toilet.
The living area was as large as many hotel rooms, sporting a sofa set, a dining table and a work desk.
Welcome amenitiesĀ comprised some fruits (dragonfruit and oranges), chocolates and some rice crackers.
Interestingly enough, it also came with a PS3 which I fiddled with for a few minutes before figuring that I hadn’t come all the way to Bangkok to play console games.
(Well, not oldĀ pixelatedĀ console games, anyway – it was hooked up to the TV via old-school RGB cables.)
The bedroom, yet another standard-hotel-sized room, offers a spacious non-claustrophobia-inducing area with a king bed, even more seating options, and yet another TV set. If you so desired, it’s probably possible to stick to this area for the bulk of your stay without really making use of the living area.
As is common in many Conrad properties worldwide, Conrad Bangkok provides guests with a complimentary stuffed animal – an elephant, in this case. There areĀ a number of colour variants, so you can have fun collecting them all if you like (or you can also try requesting for them).
I found it rather interesting to see that other than the standard (for Western hotels) copy of the Bible, the bedside drawer was also stocked with a copy of Conrad Hilton’s Be My Guest. Didn’t really think to take a look, butĀ Amazon reviews are actually pretty good!
Moving on, you would pass aĀ walk-in closetā¦
ā¦with remarkably thin-soled bedroom slippers. A little disappointing, those.
Next up, the washing area, decked with dual sinksā¦
ā¦and finally, the bathroom.
The bathtub is designedĀ such that you can enjoy your bath with full access to a view of the outside world, should you so desire. That’s great on the top floor of a tall building, but I’m not sure how practical that is on lower levels – but hey, whatever floats your boat, yah?
Yet another Conrad toy – a rubber bath elephant (kinda like a rubber duckie, onlyĀ elephantine). Again, there’re a few colour variants – gotta catch them all, am I right?
Being on the top (32nd) floor, the view is pretty impressiveĀ – although not being particularly familiar with Bangkok, it kinda becameĀ a blur of miscellaneous buildings after awhileā¦
Looking down, you can see a balcony on the floor below. I’m guessing it belongs to one of theĀ terrace suites?
Breakfast
I opted to have breakfast at CafĆ©@2, the restaurant on the second level, rather than the executive lounge. I’d tried breakfast at the lounge the last time round, and (as is typical) the lounge offerings are more limited as compared to the restaurant, though you do get to eat in greater privacy.
The spread’s pretty good,Ā and theĀ fare’s rather tasty, too. I was particularly impressed that they had a carving station (albeit for roast ham, which I’m not really a big fan of).
Suffice to say, there’s enoughĀ food to be had so you won’t get sick of it all that quickly.
Executive lounge
The Executive lounge on the 29th floor offered a large pleasant environment to relax and grab some free food.
There’s evening cocktail with canapĆ©sā¦
ā¦where you can help yourself to hot food, snacks, cheeseā¦
ā¦which make for a pretty good pre-dinner snack.
There’s also afternoon teaā¦
ā¦with more snacks and desserts on offer.
I actuallyĀ preferred the view from the lounge over what I saw from my room – I guess it just faces a more interesting direction?
I really enjoy the complimentary food offerings at Conrad Bangkok, but I’ve found that a commonĀ problem with nice hotel foodĀ is that it usually means there’sĀ even nicer food outside the hotel – Bangkok fits this pattern pretty well. It’s possible toĀ subsistĀ on just breakfast, tea and evening canapĆ©s, but… why would you want to, really?
Afterthoughts
The Conrad Bangkok website states the Deluxe Suite as occupying 1127 sq. ft., which is already larger than many residencesĀ back in Singapore, so for two nights itĀ kindaĀ felt like I was in a new home. It’s also the second-priciest room available (after the 2561 sq. ft. Presidential Suite), so I definitely lucked out with my 6-level upgrade.
This almost makes me want to go back to try my luck once more with the room upgrade lottery, though even ifĀ I don’t manage to score a suite, I’ll still be pretty satisfied with the food, lounge and level of serviceĀ available at this property.
Thanks for this post. I just got myself similar upgrade to deluxe suite from 1 king bed. Located floor 29
Looks like it’s not quite that rare after all… Okay, think I’m going back for sure!
Trust meā¦ rare, today all lower suite full.
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