While the main purpose of my Thailand trip was to try the Singapore Airlines 737-8 Business Class, I was also keen to check out the luxury Hilton properties in Bangkok. Up until 2020, I had been a Marriott loyalist, but I then switched to Hilton. Bangkok boasts both a Conrad and a Waldorf Astoria, so I decided to split my three nights in Bangkok between the two hotels.
First up was the Conrad Bangkok. After my stay at the Avani+ Mai Khao in Phuket, I was looking forward to the familiarity of a Conrad.
Conrad Bangkok: Booking and Pre-arrival
At the time I travelled in late March, hotel cash rates in Bangkok were generally still very low compared to pre-Covid. I booked a Premium King for just over THB6,000 all-in (~SGD250 in Mar) for my 2-night stay. This is one category above the lead-in Deluxe rooms.
A quick look at the rate calendar shows that rates pretty much doubled since. If redeeming Honors points instead, the calendar shows that Standard Room Awards range from 35,000 to 40,000 points.
Exactly 72h before the check-in timing on my day of arrival, the advance upgrade email dropped into my mailbox. Checking my Honors app, it showed I had been upgraded to an Executive King.
A couple of days before, a staff member from Guest Relations also sent a separate email outlining the hotel facilities that were available and their opening hours, and the meal timings for the Executive Lounge as well.
Location and Arrival
The Conrad Bangkok is located in the All Seasons Place complex on Wireless Road, approximately 10min walk from the Phloen Chit BTS station. While it’s walkable from the BTS station, there’s a schedule bus that runs every 10-15min, depending on time of the day. The shuttle bus mainly serves the people working in office building in All Seasons, but it makes a stop at the Conrad driveway.
Since I was arriving on a domestic flight and had already fulfilled all my arrival Test & Go obligations in Phuket, I was able to take a regular taxi from Suvarnabhumi Airport. Even at peak hour (I got out of the airport around 6pm), it only took about 35min to get from airport to hotel.
Upon entering the Conrad Bangkok’s lobby, the front desk is located off to the left. The lobby atrium was probably designed to be airy and open, but I mostly felt it was rather dark and gloomy even during the daytime.
There was no wait when I got to the front desk. The front desk was polite, but there wasn’t much in the way of a welcome or explanation of Diamond benefits or hotel facilities. This didn’t really bother me on this occasion, since the pre-arrival email covered most of the details. I was handed a welcome letter reiterating the Executive floor benefits and lounge opening hours.
As mentioned, the hotel is part of the All Seasons Place complex, and there is a door directly connecting the hotel to the shopping mall.
Executive Room
My room 2717 was on the 27th floor, not too far from the lifts. The Executive King room measures 41sqm in size, which is the same as the standard Deluxe and Premium rooms. Corner rooms are slightly larger at 53sqm. A narrow entryway leads into the room, with the wardrobe on the left and toilet on the right. The wardrobe contained the usual safe, bathrobe, iron and ironing board.
Just past the wardrobe was a countertop with water, and the minibar beneath it. As part of the hotel’s Hilton CleanStay measures, there minibar was empty. Instant coffee, tea and water were still available.
The large king bed took up most of the room. Waiting on the bed was one of the Conrad Bangkok’s signature stuffed elephants. These make a great souvenir of the stay.
Controls for the window curtains and lighting were on both sides of the bed. Also available are universal power outlets and USB charging ports.
A large circular desk was near the window. These were introduced as part a refurbishment in 2019. Previously, rooms had rectangular desks facing the wall (possibly still present in some un-refurbished rooms). Beside the desk were a couple of universal power outlets, plus a HDMI port and USB charging ports.
I am not a big fan of the desk though. Trying to use my laptop was rather awkward, if I pull my laptop towards me the corners are almost edging off the table (admittedly it’s a large 15in Razer). I also don’t have the space for a mouse beside, instead having to stretch past my laptop to use my mouse.
Also beside the window was a sitting area with a small couch, table and armchair. A welcome amenity of apples, dried snacks and Acqua Panna water were placed here.
The room was separated from the bathroom by a glass wall. In the bathroom was a free-standing tub and separate shower. There was also a bath toy elephant, another fun souvenir to bring home.
Interestingly, my room had neither Shanghai Tang Mandarin Tea single-use toiletries nor the large Byredo Mojave Ghost bottles that the Conrad brand is switching to. Instead, it seemed to have some sort of house brand items.
As part of the 2019 renovations, the Executive rooms now have toilets with TOTO washlets.
The bathrooms clearly didn’t get much, if any, work during the 2019 refurbishment. The whole decor and feel of the bathroom is quite different from the room itself. The bathrooms look gloomier and more aged, whereas the rooms are have a more modern feel now. I never stayed at the Conrad pre-refurbishment, but even so I could feel the bathroom is of a different vintage.
Overall the room was comfortable, and the refurbishment has brought a more modern touch to the room. It’s packed with all amenities a modern traveller needs. The only issue is that rather awkward circular table, which is an uncomfortable and honestly a little too big for the space. Unfortunately given that the Conrad Bangkok is notorious for not giving Diamonds suite upgrades, the Executive room is probably the best that can be hoped for.
Executive Lounge
Overview
As a Hilton Honors Diamond, I had access to the Executive Lounge on the 29th floor, regardless of room type. Per the welcome letter, the lounge is open 6am to 8pm, with the following meal timings:
- Breakfast: 6am to 1030am (Mon-Fri), 6am to 11am (Sat, Sun and public holidays)
- Afternoon tea: 2pm to 4pm
- Evening cocktails: 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Outside of these timings, a selection of soft drinks, coffee, tea, fruit and light snacks (think cookies etc.) are available.
The lounge takes approximately half of the 29th floor. While that sounds large, I did notice in the evenings it gets totally full. Considering travel was still in the early stages of rebounding then, I’m not too sure the lounge could cope when visitor levels return to normal. In any case, when in Bangkok, I wouldn’t want to waste too much calories and stomach space at the Executive Lounge.
Food offerings
Breakfast
I tried all three meal offerings during my stay. In a nutshell, I would rate breakfast most satisfactory, afternoon tea was a bust and evening cocktails hit and miss.
For breakfast, there was a small buffet selection plus an a la carte menu. Each guests is entitled to two complimentary items from the a la carte menu, with additional orders chargeable at THB100 each.
Across the two breakfasts I had, I sampled the truffle scrambled eggs with mushrooms, eggs benedict, Khao Niew Gai Yang and Khao Tom Moo. I would say the Thai dishes were better than the western items. The Khao Niew Gai Yang in particular was quite tasty despite the underwhelming colour of the chicken.
The buffet was a fairly standard hotel breakfast buffet, if a little limited in variety. There was breads and pastries, cold cuts and cheeses, cereals, noodle station, egg station, various Western and Asian hot items.
I didn’t each much from the buffet, preferring the a la carte items. I found the selection of Asian dishes at the buffet rather odd, and not exactly what I would be looking for at breakfast.
Juices and other soft drinks were also available in a fridge. These are available throughout the day. I don’t know how natural and authentic is the Valencia Orange juice they serve, but I was addicted to it by the end of my stay. It was refreshing, ridiculously sweet with just a little acidity to not make it sickening. I can’t imagine the amount of sugar I might have unknowingly consumed from the several bottles of orange juice. Highly recommend it if you’re not worried about your sugar levels. I tried all the other juices as well, but all felt flat compared to the OJ.
Afternoon Tea
For afternoon tea, it’s a buffet-only approach. I only had afternoon tea once, and honestly that was enough. For me, scones are the most important item in afternoon tea, and the Conrad Bangkok’s failed to hit the mark. On that day, the scones were too soft and spongey for my liking. The rest of the items were also largely unremarkable. Perhaps I was unlucky and went on a bad day, but that standard of food was not worth wasting my afternoon in the hotel for.
Evening Cocktails
For evening cocktails, staff bring a selection of canapes, with everything else available at the buffet. There was usually around four items and various sweets. I did notice that one or more of the sweets may be making a second appearance, the first being at afternoon tea. For the hot items, there would usually be one item that is chef-assembled.
While I found the canapes fairly enjoyable, the buffet items were mostly disappointing. Many of the times were too dry, such as the mini pork cordon bleu on the first evening, and the chicken satay the next day. The sweets were nothing to write home about either.
Drinks could be ordered with staff, but because of various services issues (detailed below) I preferred to go to the counter myself to get drinks. There was the usual red and white wines, as well as a rather poor sparkling wine. There was also a cocktail list, though I’m not sure if they could do anything besides those listed. At least they didn’t skimp on the (cheap) alcohol and the G&Ts I had were sufficiently strong.
Service
While the food offerings were perhaps hit and miss, the service on the other hand was downright disappointing. My first visit to the lounge was for evening cocktails right after checking-in. This did not start well. If the lounge isn’t crowded, I don’t have any issues seating myself. However in a busy lounge, as the Conrad Bangkok was, I prefer some guidance from staff so I know which tables are actually unoccupied and most importantly, have been cleaned. Unfortunately I was left alone floundering at the entrance without so much as a glance from any of the staff. Eventually I flagged down a staff member and was offered a table near the window.
This seating issue reared itself again on my second evening as well. When I eventually spoke to a supervisor, he clarified that it is indeed their policy to try and seat guests rather a self-seating policy. Indeed, at breakfast (another typically busy time for the lounge) and afternoon tea, the staff were more proactive in guiding guests to a table.
Frustratingly, that wasn’t the only service issue I encountered at the lounge. On the first evening, after finally being brought to a table, the staff member offered to bring a selection of canapes and took my drink order. However, on the second evening, my drink order was taken but no canapes were forthcoming. That was the final straw that made me request to speak to the lounge duty supervisor. I do understand that the hospitality industry globally was and still is struggling to ramp up staffing to pre-Covid levels and standard. The lounge supervisor assured me though that they were not actually understaffed, which makes the experience frustrating. I try to be more forgiving of service issues nowadays, but when the hotel themselves claim they’re not understaffed, there’s no reason to give a pass….
Executive Lounge Overall
The Executive Lounge is a perfectly pleasant place to spend a bit of time. I even saw a few people who appeared to be working during the afternoon. Sadly the food offerings left something to be desired, and service in the evening could be sharpened up a little. But again, why spend too much time eating and drinking in the lounge when Bangkok is such a food heaven?
Hang around for the comfortable environment, but don’t go overboard on the food.
Facilities
As expected of a large hotel, the Conrad Bangkok has a swimming pool, gym, spa and even tennis courts, all located on the 7th floor. I didn’t use any of the facilities, but I did stop by to check them out and grab some photos. The gym was pretty big and and the equipment looked like they were all fairly new and well maintained.
The main pool was a large roundish shape, but still suitable for doing laps. It was unused when I stopped by mid-morning. Besides the main pool, there’s also a smaller whirlpool with jets.
I didn’t stop by the spa, as like many Singaporeans I prefer to visit non-hotel massage outlets in Bangkok, which are cheaper and can be equally as good or better.
Service
The staff I had the most interactions with were the lounge staff, and as I’ve already mentioned earlier, they were largely poor. The front desk staff at check-in and out were also polite, though perhaps a little cold. The friendliest and most helpful staff were the doormen/bellhop, who were helpful to advise the best transport options e.g. Grab vs taxi. (for what it’s worth, I got the sense they generally seemed to think Grab is better). While all the staff interactions were not exactly “bad” per se, as I told the lounge supervisor I expected better of Conrad and Thai hospitality. Was it a case of mismatched expectations? Perhaps, but I left distinctly unimpressed nonetheless.
Conrad Bangkok Overall Thoughts
Travellers looking for a luxury hotel in Bangkok are spoiled for choice. Even Hilton loyalists have a choice between the Waldorf Astoria or this Conrad. Granted they aren’t exactly in the same market. I generally like Conrads, but the Conrad Bangkok just felt a little, lacking. It’s not a bad hotel in itself, but it somehow felt like a very good Hilton rather than a Conrad. For the rate I paid, I can’t really complain, once I factor in the Diamond benefits.
However at current rates, and crucially if I wasn’t so tied to my Hilton honors account, I would be looking up the road at The Athenee Hotel. Nearer to the BTS station and a club lounge that, pre-Covid, was brilliant.
Would I return to the Conrad Bangkok? For as long as my main hotel loyalty programme is Hilton honors, that answer is probably a reluctant yes. But that will probably be only after an intense assessment of the various options.
Anyone else stayed at the Conrad Bangkok? How did you like your stay? Let me know in the comments!