Hotel near Sukhumvit soi 1-24
Hi guys,
I'm headed for BKK for a few days. I want to stay close to the action since I won't be staying for long. And since I have a very early flight from BKK (so I want to be able to go to Suvarnabhumi in 30 min (by taxi) on the departure-morning). I have figured that a hotel in the Soi's 1-24 along Sukhumvit Rd would be a good choice. But they really seem expensive on the sites I have been looking at. I'm looking for a deal around 700 - 1000 Bath / Night (not necessarily girl friendly).
Cheap and convenient hotel on Sukhumvit
Last trip to BKK, I found a quite nice hotel near Phrom Phong station in Soi 39, about 3 min walk to station, called Retro 39 Hotel. About 40 USD on [URL]booking.com[/URL]. If the previous poster can extend his area to Soi 39, which is 2 bus stops to Asok, and upgrade his budget by 10 USD, this is a good choice. I think I wouldn't mind stay again.
Review: Grand President, Sukhumvit 11
[URL]http://www.grandpresident.com/[/URL]
After staying 7 nights at the Areca Lodge in Pattaya, I took the bus from Pattaya to Bangkok (Ekamai). The one-way fare was THB 119 or about US $3. 75.
[URL]http://www.pattayabus.com/en/[/URL]
A taxi might be a little faster, but taking the bus is just as quick and, in my opinion, much safer. If you're familiar with the BTS system and you don't have bulky luggage, this is my recommended way if you want to save some money.
On my last trip four years ago, I used a Bell Travel van to travel from Pattaya to a Bangkok hotel which turned out to be a big mistake.
[URL]https://www.belltravelservice.com/pages/PageHome.aspx[/URL]
The Bell Travel van first went to the airport before dropping off passengers at four or five different hotels in Bangkok. The Sukhumvit area hotels were the last on the drop off list. With the notorious Bangkok traffic jam, I think I was on the Bell Travel van for a butt-numbing, bladder-busting five to six hours. I do, however, highly recommend using Bell Travel if traveling between Pattaya and the airport, but never to Bangkok hotels.
The bus station in Bangkok is a short 1-minute walk away from the Ekamai BTS Station. From there, I took the train to the Nana BTS Station. From the Nana BTS Station, it was a three minute walk down Soi 11 to the Grand President.
This is my 5th trip Thailand, but my first time staying at the well-established Grand President. I've got to admit that I had some concerns about staying at the Grand President since some on-line guest reviews complained of rooms being "musty", "outdated", "worn", etc. I had visions of rooms similar to the Nana Hotel.
From my experience, if a mid-range Thai hotel (US $50) offers different standards of rooms from STANDARD to DELUXE and above, the STANDARD room will inevitably be a dump. I think hotel management believes those rooms are going to be "trashed" so why invest in them. It's also where they can re-cycle old and damaged furniture from DELUXE and above rooms. For this reason, I now try to stay in DELUXE rooms, but keep my daily room charge in the US $50 range.
I found the Grand President's "The Grande Promotion" on its website that offered a 33% savings on its DELUXE room. For a five-night stay, I was charged THB 7,705 (inclusive of service charge and taxes) or THB 1,545 per night. On my credit card, I was charged US $247.85 for the five-night stay. At US $49.57 per night, it was within my budget range. The downside is that you have to pay the entire room charges at booking to take advantage of "The Grande Promotion" savings.
My DELUXE room was on the 14th floor in Tower 1 which is the oldest of the three towers, but my room was better than expected. It was clean, modern, and well-maintained.
On first impression, I thought my DELUXE room was smaller than 344 square feet (32 square meters). After looking around, the room looked smaller because it had two walls lined with floor-to-ceiling closets, shelves and drawers, a love sofa, and a coffee table. The bathroom was ample sized.
The room had a microwave, an electric hot water pot, a mid-size refrigerator, and flatware / dishes.
The in-room combination safe is large enough for a laptop computer.
There is free room WI-FI; however, the signal was very weak unless I stood next to the room door. For this reason, I sometimes used the hotel's free desk top computers in its business center to check my e-mail.
Tower 1 has a swimming pool, but no fitness center. The fitness centers are located in Towers 2 and 3.
The swimming pool is 15 yards long and 9 feet wide (my estimate). The water appeared to be clean, but the pool's tile grouts in the shallow area were filled with dirt and grime. It could also be mold.
If you like to sunbath, the swimming pool / deck at Tower 1 does not get direct sun exposure until after 11:30 AM.
The floor with the swimming pool has a laundry room with coin-operated washers and dryers. There are also shelves for a book exchange (leave a book, take a book).
I only used the fitness center in Tower 2. The equipment is old, but useable. In my opinion, it's better than most mid-range hotel fitness centers.
"The Grande Promotion" does NOT include a complimentary breakfast buffet. I didn't know that so I ate free breakfasts for three mornings before a restaurant hostess asked me for my room number. I was busted. They didn't ask me to pay for the three unpaid breakfasts. The cost of the breakfast buffet was THB 400 which was way too much so I went to the nearby Au Bon Pain cafe.
The breakfast buffet has an Indian-flavor given the high number of guests from India.
The hotel requires a damage deposit of THB 1,000 at check-in. The money was quickly refunded at check-out after I was asked and I answered "NO" if had used anything from the room's bar.
I believe the hotel is GF friendly. I don't have any direct knowledge since I never took any girls back to my room. On this trip, I patronized only oily and soapy massage parlors.
The Grand President is located in "Little India". I'm not Indian, but I liked the location. The Dr. BJ's Nuru and Eden Club are one Soi away. The Climax nightclub is one block away. The Villa Market is two blocks away. Overall, nearly every thing a monger wants or needs is within walking distance of the Grand President or easily reachable by BTS.
On check-out, I walked to the Nana BTS and took the train to the Phaya Thai BTS and then connected to the airport train which made for a quick and easy departure from Bangkok.
Would I stay there again? If I could get the same rate (less than US $50 for a DELUXE room), I would say YES.
