Conrad Bangkok
The Conrad Bangkok is located at Wireless Road close to a station of the skytrain and close to Lumpini Park. Going there from the airport will need around 25 to 35 minutes depending on the traffic and the fare should be around 250 THB to 350 THB.
Adjacent to the hotel is a shopping mall, but the number of shops are very limited and nothing to compare with the huge malls a few skytrain stations away.
The building is set back a few meters from Wireless Road and there is a driveway to the hotel. It is a high-rise shaped like a triangle and the higher floors are set back from the lower ones making this building easy to spot in the skyline of Bangkok not only due to the red Conrad sign on the top of it.
After entering the hotel one is right in the lobby, which is a bit dark and lacking a bit natural sun light. The lobby is over two floors with a staircase to the upper level. Lounge chairs and tables are placed in the lobby. A few of the many restaurants of this hotel could be reached directly from the lobby.
On the left side is the check in desk. It is huge and there are four places to check in guests as well as a cashier desk and the concierge.
The gym, SPA and the big pool are located on the fourth floor.
The gym is equipped with modern machined by Technogym. Available are treadmills, stepper, cross trainer, bodymachines and many more. They are new, in very good shape and staff is available helping and giving information for your exercise and giving you a new water bottle if the one used before is empty and you are still doing your workout on the treadmills or bike.
A separate area for dance and ballet activities and yoga courses is located adjacent to the gym. It is by far one of the biggest and modernest (hotel)gyms I have experienced so far. I have not seen this place too busy during my visits there. It will be of course more busy in peak time (morning and early afternoon), but it has been never overcrowded.
On the roof-garden next to the gym (the roof of the mall) is a tennis court and the huge free form pool with a separate smaller pool with features as a jacuzzi. There are palms and sun chairs as well as chairs and tables placed around the pool. It is a very nice and relaxing area and you did not really feel like being in a busy metropolis like Bangkok. Towels and water bottles are provided by staff at the pool as well as in the gym. Staff also pays attention and you will not be without an empty bottle for a long
time.
I have not visited the SPA so far.
The hotel has an executive lounge, which is located on the 29th floor and covers most of the 29th floor . In the lounge breakfast is also served for guests staying on the executive floor, which is an extensive buffet and equals a buffet in the most hotel-restaurant.
Later in the day, between 15:00 and 17:00 an afternoon tea is served in the lounge with sandwiches, scones and cakes. An hour later, between 18:00 and 20:00 the evening snacks are served. Alcoholic beverages are now available (and as far as I noticed later in the day) as well as finger-food and hors d'oeuvres (e.g. spring rolls, satay, dim sum, sushi, cheese, olives, etc.).
The lounge has a small business corner, with three Apple computers, two are running with a Windows OS while one is running Mac OS, all connected to a laser printer.
Stays: February 06, 2009
visited on Two days in Bangkok
direkt link to hotel Conrad Bangkok
Arrival Date: 07 February 2009
Departure Date: 08 February 2009
Room type booked: King Bed Executive floor (got upgrade to Corner Room)
Rate Plan: January Sale
Room Number: 2721
Room Rate: 4150.00 THB
Status of Guest Program: Gold
I arrived around 13:30 from the Hilton Hotel by taxi and was friendly greeted by the doorman, who took care of my carry on, but as I needed some things out of it for check in, I took it myself.
I approached the check in desk, which was manned with three agents. One was available, while the other ones were busy assisting other guests. The agent verified that I had booked a room on the club floor and therefore told me the check in would be done in the Executive Lounge. She accompanied me up there and explained on the way to the lounge some of the features of the hotel like location of the gym, pool and spa. On the club floor the agents working there welcomed me as well and offered me a glass of mango
juice while the formalities where done. I requested a late check out which was confirmed immediately and also told, that I could enjoy the lounge until I had to leave for the airport. I learned that I received an upgrade to a Corner Room on one of the club floors. I was addressed by name and the procedure was warm and friendly – Thai hospitality as its best.
I was accompanied to my room by one of the lounge agents and the features of the room were shown to me and I was also told, that the use of internet was free. I should ignore the fee mentioned on the sign in page, as this is waved for guests staying on the executive lounge. As the agent left, she told me if I need any further assistant, just to contact her or the colleagues at the executive lounge. A very good first impression.
A hallway with wooden floor led to my corner room. Corner rooms are located at the corner of the triangle shaped building and are slightly bigger than the average room of the hotel. On the left side, right at the entrance is a walk-in closet with a safe big enough to store a laptop, iron and ironing board.
Also on the left side is the desk which is L-shaped and big enough to place documents and also work with a laptop on it. A phone is placed on the desk as well as a lamp. All club floors offer free internet.
Also on the left side of the room is the bed with two bedside tables with reading lamps and another phone on one of them. In addition to the lamps there are two halogen spots on the ceiling over the bed. In front of the big floor-to-ceiling-window is a lounge chair with a small table placed.
Opposite the bed is the Flat TV with DVD Player and iPod docking station, which also has an audio-jack for a mp3-player, so one could use the loudspeakers of the stereo, if listening to mp3 files.
A sliding door on the right side led to the bathroom, which is right at the corner of the room and big. It has huge windows, which could closed by shades. On the left side is a big shower with both a hand shower and a rainforest shower. The bath is a stand alone one and very modern, while on the right side is the sink and the toilet. A huge mirror is behind the sink, which did not became foggy after showering; I assume due to the seize of the bathroom as it did not seems to be a heated mirror. A small rubber
elephant was sitting in the bath, which was a nice gift. Towels of small, medium and big size were provided for three persons as well as bathrobe and slippers and two small bottles of drinking water. Towels were changed and bottles refilled not only during the regular service but also during turn down service in the evening (between 17:00 and 19:00). Bathroom amenities were a Conrad brand, not the ones by Crabtree & Evelyne.
I liked the sculpture at the entrance of the room, which was very nice and gave the room a special touch. The ambiance of the room was contemporary with warm and dark colours. There were only a very few stains in the carpet and scratches at the wall, one has to search to find them. Overall the room was in very condition, though not of the modern style and design of the Millenium Hilton or the Hilton in Kuala Lumpur.
The amenity was a small fruit plate.
The air-condition was very good, there was no draught and one could bearable hear the air condition.
Breakfast was served in the lounge and as written in the overview an extensive buffet. There is a selection of sausages and cheese, a variation of rolls, bread and pastries and also marmalade and jam. A great selection of fresh fruit, cereals are available and hot dishes like scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, rice, rösti. A wider selection of hot dishes like omelet will be prepared in the kitchen of the executive lounge. Tea or coffee will be brought to you by the staff in the lounge while juices are available
on the buffet. The service during breakfast as well as during afternoon tea and in the evening were very attentive. I found the service very proactive, something one could not always experience in Asian hotels, where the service sometimes is not pro-active at all. Not so here, the service cared and did the things before one had to ask.
I checked out in the executive lounge around 16:00. I was asked if everything was okay and the invoice was prepared, though this was a prepaid stay, but I had asked for an invoice of all expenses including the room rate. I could store my carry on and use the lounge for some work until I had to leave for the airport.
I liked the Conrad very much and I will definitively stay there again, if the rates are not too high. The big pros are the location near Lumpini Park in a more quiet neighbourhood than the busy shopping or entertainment districts and the easy access to the skytrain. The nice pool area and the very attentive, friendly, warm and proactive system in combination with a nice but not overall stylish interior are also on the pros. There is not really nothing negative about this hotels other than it is not always the
cheapest option and the number of good hotels in Bangkok is high.
