Jun 22, 2009 10:21 PM
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I stayed at this hotel last year in the summer. Was on a short family holiday with my parents. In Bangkok, there are two major areas to stay - the Sukhumvit Road area, which is close to the business district and some of the shopping malls, and the Riverside area which overlooks the Chao Praya area. Both areas have their advantages - the Sukhumvit Road area is more central, and some of the hotels there offer quite good deals. The Riverside area is the resort area.
So it's further away from the city centre, but it offers awesome views and some of the best and most expensive hotels are located there. Since we were there for a family vacation, we looked at Riverside hotels only - we considered the Oriental, the Sheraton, Shangri-La, Dusit Thani, and Marriott Resort & Spa. We picked the Marriott due to the beautiful grounds and the on-site spa and it was an excellent choice.
To begin with, room sizes are large. We were staying in a junior suite, and it was massive, plenty of space for the three of us. There's a separate work area with a desk, and the living and sleeping areas are huge. The bathroom is also huge and very plush with a separate stall shower and spa tub - very nice! The suite also came with a wrap-around balcony with spectacular views of the Chao Praya river. It's not a high-rise resort - we were on the 7th floor, which is one of the higher floors.
Amenities at the hotel are fantastic. They are (I think) eight restaurants, plus two or three bars. We had breakfast every morning at the coffee shop. They serve a buffet breakfast and it's very lavish - besides the usual array of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and breads, etc., they also had a wide range of fruits and offered customized juices and smoothies and also had a hot food station which offered made-to-order omelettes, waffles and pancakes! We also had dinner at two other restaurants - the Rice Mill (spectacular Chinese food) and Trader Vic's (Polynesian food). Both were excellent. There's also a ground-floor bakery/deli where you can pick up sandwiches, pastries, drink coffee, etc. We didn't try the other restaurants as there's so many eating options in Bangkok and we wanted to eat out a lot.
Where the Marriott scores is the grounds. Beautifully landscaped and very lush, you really feel like you are in some high-end resort and not 20 minutes from downtown Bangkok. Gorgeous swimming pool and the spa is wonderful. My dad had a massage and my mom and I got facials and hair treatments done there and we loved it. Great service and the prices while high for Bangkok, are very reasonable overall.
The best thing about the Marriott is the service. The staff is so eager to please and are always running around to ensure you are happy at all times. They are not obtrusive or hovering over you (which I hate) but are always there to help you if you need something.
We stayed 6 nights at the Marriott and will definitely stay there again when we go again to Bangkok. Highly recommended!
