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So for around the same price, we have:
-Conrad, in an exec. lounge room
-Peninsula, inc. breakfast
-WA, also with (the very famous) breakfastI’m edging towards WA for location, breakfast and
(comparatively) bargain price.I’ve only been in the other two for food and drink, but
have stayed in the Conrad area dozens of times, and the
other family members are not so enamoured with the “faff”
of the Peninsula shuttle boat!Any recent experience of any of the three? Thanks!
@Michael-C this really shouldn’t be a quandary if the price is not so different. You have the choice between two manifestations of Hilton attempting to play at luxury and a hotel that does nothing but; it’s just on a totally different level of accommodation and service.
Peninsula is very competitive and apparently underpriced in some locations because of obsession with brands/points by some travellers driving up the price of chain establishments. This is an increasing feature.
I wouldn’t see a boat ride in Bangkok as a “faff” any more than taking a boat ride in Venice; actually a pleasure. The boat ride at the Oriental to get to one of the restaurants also isn’t a faff but part of the joy!
I doubt the Peninsula breakfast will disappoint but I’m afraid I wouldn’t choose a hotel on the basis of its breakfast!
Whichever you plump for, have a great time.
The Pen has a potentially great deal at the moment depending on your exact needs. 3 for 2, including breakfast, $100 credit, 7am check in and 10pm check out. £600.
So whilst you could get the WA for less per night, we have flights that arrive at sparrows fart and leave in the early hours, so perfect for me.
The ability to get somewhere not using roads – I assume this is your first visit to BKK?
What do you want to do in Bangkok? Stay near there.
For what it’s worth, we found the WA spectacular – far beyond our expectations both in hard product, and service, which felt almost telepathic. However, it has been three years since we stayed, so the situation may have changed.
@JDB I expected your exact reply, and quite rightly so! That would also be my choice, but doubt I could sell the tranquility to the 11-yr old: hence we ended up in the Conrad in Nanjing Rd instead of your lovely Kempinski (I did walk past and was also impressed with the rates)!
@TrST – never really counted the times! 25? 30? We always get a day flight back, but you’re quite right, there are some excellent Peninsula packages around.
@John – friends/food/drink, so not that bothered.I thought the renovated Conrad was excellent.
But then I’m not a snob.I cannot really help with the question
You have asked, but I am curious as to why those in particular?I’ve stayed at the Sofitel and Kempinski and Highly rate them both.
I found the Kempinski to be superb.
I stayed at the Royal Sheraton Riverside last time, and really enjoyed the boat trip over to ICONSIAM for the food stalls in the basement. Don’t write somewhere off for needing a boat, it’s part of the fun!
Well. If you want luxury the WA is one step above the Conrad. Conrad lounge before covid gave you 2.5 good meals a day if you, for whatever reason, did not want to go out. Now it’s not so good. So if you’re going to go out anyway, either save the money and book non-exec (assuming not HH D) or spend it on a better hotel.
The boat may be fun for a few trips, but not on a multi-day stay where you want to go back and forth from the hotel several times each day and the stuff you are doing is on the other side of the river. I made that mistake the first time I went to Bangkok in 2015, at that time there was no ICONSIAM / BTS. Yes you can take a taxi etc but if all my plans for a Bangkok trip are concentrated in one part of the city I will stay close by even if that means I pick a “worse” hotel.
@yorkshireRich – good question, which I should have explained earlier!
As another poster explained, the Peninsula has an incredible Amex offer.
The Conrad is in a sale, and as for the WA, we’re fortunate enough to be
Hilton Team Members and it’s one of the (totally randomly) discounted hotels
at the moment.All 3 work out at about GBP850-900 for 6 nights. It’s VERY unusual for a WA to
be discounted, so I’m thinking we might go for that for the first and only time
(in line with the thoughts of @John)!Our decades-long go-to has been the Sheraton Grande, but last time we did 5×4 points, and
this time it’s almost double the price of the others.
@Aston100 – we’ve just done Conrad Shanghai/Conrad Orchard Singapore, and v happy. Shanghai
was fine, with its flaws but perfect location. Orchard (ex Regent) was just fantastic and
thoroughly recommended.Came to a decision with my son to save the cash and do a quick Paris trip before school
starts to do Hockney exhib./Train Bleu/bookshops.Ive stayed in the Conrad Bangkok twice, the most recently in dec last year and i still rate it highly.
The lounge is one of my favourite lounges in any of the Conrads, although i prefer the Hong Kong Conrad lounge.
Both times we have stayed there its been at the end of a trip so we use it for pottering about and winding down before heading home.
The omly real issue for me is its location so it depends what you want to do, and youre only a 5 min walk away from Phloein Chit tube station which will get you to most places you want to be.
Peninsula I would avoid as its in a serious need of a refurb
Four seasons, mandarin , Capella are all amazing properties if you want to be by the riverfront , MO has recently had a refurb, ( they are also currently refurbing the Chao Phraya River rooms ) other 2 hotels are relatively new
WA,Park Hyatt , St Regis ,Siam Kempinski also great hotels too, WA/Park Hyatt rooms are newer than St regis and Kempinski , however they are great hotels too
This wasn’t a question of which is the best Bangkok hotel but rather which gave best value, with The Pen having a good offer at present. It’s almost always less than the MO, Capella, Four Seasons and The Siam and there’s good reason for this with the older hard product, but imo the soft product and service is always very good and differentiates from the others mentioned in the previous posts (maybe Park Hyatt is an exception, but I don’t like the area).
So just wrapping up a stay at the Peninsula. Are the rooms dated? Yes, a bit, but the standard remains very high. Reality is if you have unlimited funds, you’re not going to be staying here but the 7am check in/10pm check out, $100 credit, etc etc and the fact I was paying for three rooms all worked for me and delivered good value. There are more refined options but the riverside location is also a massive plus. We have used the shuttle boats every day to get around and chartered a longtail boat over at the BTS pier as well. No issue getting a Grab to or from the hotel either.
Breakfast buffet is very good, but staff do struggle at times I think, presumably because the hotel is now including breakfast for most guests.
If I hadn’t needed the early check in/late check out, I’d have stayed elsewhere, but the economics made this a compelling proposition and I don’t regret my choice.
Thanks @TrST, how was the weather? A friend is going in a couple of weeks which I thought was crazy but maybe I’m being too cautious?
Weather has been glorious and whilst humid, it’s far more temperate than Japan. Haven’t had anything more than the briefest of rain shower (literally 2 minutes on one occasion) and I’ve got a handful of photos with almost clear blue skies which I don’t think i’ve ever seen in Bangkok before.
It could all change and looking at the forecast, it seems you don’t have to go far down the Siam peninsula to run into rain. Certainly been way drier than I had anticipated.
Good to hear, thanks.
I’ve stayed in the MO and the Pen. The MO was a different league alright, but the Pen was still very good. The thing I struggled with was the traffic to cross the river when going to the airport (used the boat to cross the river the rest of the time and it was fine). We were stuck for over an hour when we landed, which was painful after a long flight. Not a deal breaker – but something to consider
I can see that bridge from my room. Heading east in the mornings and west in the evenings is bad, but I recall staying in Sukhumvit area for a conference years ago. I got in fine but a colleague on a flight an hour later spent 3hrs in traffic.
We landed at 5am and fly out at 2am so traffic isn’t a major concern – but even then I won’t be counting on a 40 min journey back to the airport.
I would love to do the Oriental one day: when I looked on the Amex
travel page a year ago, it was just within “striking distance” of the
Peninsula. This time, it’s four time the price!In Hua Hin now, weather great: low 30s during the day, dropping a little
for the night markets. Definitely cooler than Singapore, and WAY cooler than Shanghai.
In contrast, Bali this year was one of the coolest in decades: on our last day, it was
about 24º at midday!That’s good to hear about Hua Hin. The BBC World weather seems to have some big blue splodges dotted around just to the South of BKK right now. Another (mostly) blue sky day here…
And in case anyone is planning a stay at the Pen, I’ve found out (too late) that they run a second breakfast in the Chinese restaurant, which looked like a rather more serene affair.
I would love to do the Oriental one day: when I looked on the Amex
travel page a year ago, it was just within “striking distance” of the
Peninsula. This time, it’s four time the price!There’s a 342 offer at the moment booking direct with MO for around £300 per night and the MO fan club gives free breakfast or other benefits.
And in case anyone is planning a stay at the Pen, I’ve found out (too late) that they run a second breakfast in the Chinese restaurant, which looked like a rather more serene affair.
Well I never! Must’ve missed this over the years but I do like the organised chaos of the riverside.
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