Trip Report & Review – Conrad Bangkok (King Room)

Bangkok is a wonderful city for luxury hotels—options are endless, and prices are usually reasonable. My friend and I were staying four nights in Bangkok, and we decided to check out the Conrad Bangkok. For reasons I will describe below, we changed rooms after one night. As usual, I will review them separately.

This trip report/review is part of a series. See also:

• 1. Trip to Southeast Asia – Introduction
• 2. Hyatt at the Bellevue, Philadelphia (King Room)
• 3. Hyatt at the Bellevue, Philadelphia (Junior Suite)
• 4. EVA Air Royal Laurel (Business Class) “Hello Kitty” Jet Houston-Taipei
• 5. Grand Hyatt Taipei (Haunted?) Grand Suite
• 6. InterContinental Hong Kong Patio Room
• 7. Coral Executive Lounge Bangkok-Don Mueang
• 8. AirAsia “Premium Flex” Chiang Mai to Bangkok-Don Mueang
• 9. Conrad Bangkok (King Room)
• 10. Conrad Bangkok Executive Lounge
• 11. Conrad Bangkok Presidential Suite Bedroom
• 12. Grand Hyatt Bangkok Grand King Room
• 13. Thai Airways 777-300ER Royal Silk Business Class Bangkok to Stockholm
• 14. Park Hyatt Istanbul Park Deluxe Twin Room
• 15. Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul (“July 15 Heroes of Democracy Lounge”)
• 16. Turkish Airlines A330 Business Class Istanbul-Washington DC

Booking

The phrase “four nights” essentially trigger the phase “Citi Prestige” in my head, since the card offers a 4th night free benefit. You are allow to book basically any published rates, and Citi will refund the cost of the 4th night to your card.

Citi contracts this concierge service to Aspire Lifestyles, which you book your hotel stay for you. I always recommend first doing some research to save some time on the phone. In my case, I found out that the only Twin room available at the hotel was on the Executive levels. Since the price was reasonable, I decided to go for it.

I called Aspire Lifestyles at 561-922-0158 and provided my address and card number. The agent asked if there was a rate I would prefer, if I have any elite statuses, and whether I am a member of any groups that would confer a discount. A few minutes later, he returned with a confirmation number, and sent me an email with all the details.

Using Citi Prestige’s 4th Night Free Benefit

In my case, I was able to get 4 nights on in Executive Level room for about $610. For the Conrad Bangkok, $150 a night is pretty hard to beat! It’s worth mentioning that nights booked through Citi are usually also elite-qualifying, and you do earn points.

Nights Booked with Citi Prestige are Elite-Qualifying

Location

The Conrad Bangkok is located right in “Embassy Row,” and it’s flanked by multiple embassies and consulates on both sides. Perhaps because of this, the traffic was consistently a nightmare. We took the BTS (over-ground) for the most part, which was about an 8-minute walk from the hotel. The hotel also provided a shuttle to the Ploenchit BTS station, but we usually found that it actually takes longer than walking.

Conrad Bangkok Entrance

Conrad Bangkok Entrance

Conrad Bangkok Shuttle

The hotel is actually inside a complex of buildings called “All Seasons Place,” and there is a shopping mall with a grocery store that you can access directly from the hotel.

Checking-In

I am a Hilton HHonors Gold member, a status that comes with a variety of credit cards. As it seems to be typical with Hilton, the agent checking me in didn’t mention my status. However, since I booked an Executive Level room, she took me up to the Executive Lounge for check-in.

I waited for 15 minutes in the Executive lounge, and the agent came back with some bad news. She told me that the Executive Twin room I had booked wasn’t available, and whether I would take a King room instead. Sadly, since I was traveling with my friend, that wasn’t going to work for us. I found it rather strange that they would make a specific room type bookable if wasn’t going to be available. I asked if there were any upgrades or even downgrades, and she told me the entire hotel is sold out of Twin rooms.

After a bit of back and forth, the agent agreed to provide us with a rollaway bed for no charge, and then move us to a “room with two beds” the next day. The rollaway bed took 4 calls to the front desk and 2 calls to the Executive Lounge—over 8 hours—to finally arrive, but they did compensate us with a bottle of wine.

Executive Corner King Room

The room opens into an entryway, which ends in a console table built into the wall.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Entryway

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – “Console Table”

On the left as you enter the room was the minibar, which was well stocked.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Entryway

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Minibar

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Minibar

Really well stocked. Take a look at the item on the bottom right.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Minibar

I have seen intimacy kits in hotel rooms before, but never with Band Aids…

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Intimacy Kit

On one end of the room was a spacious walk-in closet.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Closet

As I would expect in a hotel of this class, I found a shopping bag, shoe bags, and laundry bags resting on a try inside the closet. Slippers and bathrobes were also provided.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Shopping and Laundry Bags

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Shoe Bags

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Bathrobes

The slippers were tiny, and the quality was actually pretty bad. They were torn within hours of my wearing them.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Slippers

In front of the closet was a generous workspace. The added ledge by the wall was a nice feature, since it allowed me to unload all my electronics and park them for charging.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Work Desk

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Work Desk

As I was unpacking, a staff member delivered a letter. It turns out we were in Bangkok during a Constitution referendum, and the government has ordered a temporary ban on alcohol before the vote. As a result, the Executive Lounge did not serve alcohol for those two nights, though the in-room minibar was still available.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Letter

Bedroom

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Bed

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Bed

The King bed came with some gigantic pillows, and according to my friend, was very comfortable. For what it’s worth, the rollaway (not pictured since it wasn’t delivered until almost midnight) was comfortable as well.

The night stand was fairly basic but generously sized. One complaint I had was the lack of outlets near the bed, or for that matter, in the room in general.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Night Stand

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Night Stand

As I was taking pictures, a staff member brought up the Conrad signature plush toys that are usually on the bed upon arrival. The Conrad Bangkok gives out these plush elephants, and they have several designs. The elephants also had a tag with “Conrad Bangkok” printed on them. I really liked them and took one home with me as a souvenir.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Plush Elephant

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Plush Elephant

Directly opposite from the bed was a flat screen TV with all the bells and whistles.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – TV

There were also two chairs closer to the window, along with a coffee table with a dragonfruit.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Arm Chair

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Arm Chair

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Fruit

The view from the room was actually pretty nice, and you get a cool view of the city.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – View

At this point, another staff member brought up a plate of chocolate and bag of crackers as a “welcome amenity.” The chocolates were underwhelming, but the pineapple rice crackers were amazing.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Chocolate

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Chocolate and Chips

I have to say, it was really puzzling that there were three separate deliveries within the first 30 minutes of me in the room. I appreciate the gesture, and thought everything that got delivered were useful or thoughtful. But could they have coordinated it a little better? It’s only a minor annoyance to me, and I guess the hotel wanted to make things available as soon as possible. Still, it must be taxing on the staff. And in my case, it was almost comical that everything I didn’t really ask for came, while the one thing I asked for—the rollaway—never got delivered.

Bathroom

The bathroom took up about 1/3 of the real estate allotted to the entire room. There was a nice, standalone soaking tub, as well as a rain shower. From the tub, you actually get a nice view of the city as well.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Soaking Tub

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – View from Tub

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Rain Shower

The bathroom came with its own souvenir. I guess it’s a Thai rendition of the rubber duck! I thought it was a really cute and of course, it’s now home with me next to my Lufthansa First Class lounge rubber duck a totally normal, adult, non-geeky collection.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Rubber Elephant

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Rubber Elephant

The toilet was inside a separate compartment, but there was not a separate door.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Toilet

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Bathroom

There was a floor-to-ceiling mirror wall behind the vanity, which had only one sink. I did like the small bench under the sink, which I actually used to rest my laptop as I watched TV while in the tub.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Vanity

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Vanity

The toiletries were Aromatherapy Associates -branded, but the scent to be exclusively used by hotels. Dental kits, shower caps, a sewing kit, and a shaving kit were also provided.

Conrad Bangkok Executive Corner King Room – Toiletries

Still to Come…

I will leave my overall impression for the final post about the Conrad Bangkok. As I have mentioned, I later moved to another room with two twin beds, so I will be reviewing that later. I will also dedicate a post to the Executive Lounge, since it was actually pretty specular, and a superb offering.

Stay tuned for more on the Conrad Bangkok!