During my review trip to Bangkok, I had one night in Bangkok. I ended up booking the Ritz-Carlton Bangkok for my one night stay, as it’s still a new property, having only opened in late 2024.
Continue reading: Ritz-Carlton Bangkok: A Great Property In An Exceptional Hotel Market
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
By any chance, have you been to Starbucks Reserve at OneBangkok? Or my eyes fooled me.
Agree on the Southeast Asia breakfast buffets. Everything thing you can think of for breakfast alone would be on offer, even things you wouldn't even think to have for breakfast!
While I haven't been (only heard by mouth), a lot of folks have mentioned that the former Sofitel in Manila had the best buffet they've ever had. From cheese, to drinks, pretty much everything you could think of.
And the prices are reasonable compared to the buffets one would go to in the U.S.
Great little preview! You were looking directly at the So/Bangkok Hotel which I love for the views but the Ritz is definitely a solid step up and a good 12? years newer. I heard the bar at the Ritz is top tier but have yet to check it out. Hopefully you didn't get caught up in all the rain and flooding they've been experiencing.
Looks fantastic and definitely worth a look, but is the toilet door see through and not even frosted glass? That’s going to upset some people!
Hi Ben, thanks for the nice review. I really enjoyed our stay in March as well. We stayed for five nights and were upgraded to the Amaranth Suite, which I believe is the second-highest suite category. After two days, we were also invited to use the club lounge complimentary, which was a lovely surprise. We loved the view from the corner area—right where you took your photo. One minor issue we noticed was the weak noise insulation in the room, which you didn’t mention in your review. Still, we’d love to come back one day!
Newsflash: The very limited (and unhealthy) range of foods that Americans consider "breakfast" have no relevance in most of the rest of the world.
@ Mark -- Including taxes and fees, I paid around $650 for the club room, before the $300 Amex credit (so I paid $350 out of pocket).
@ Gertrude -- Yeah, though to the hotel's credit, they did seem to be nearly sold out, and when I checked in, only the top suite was still for sale.
@ Bushbandit -- Happy to hear you had a great experience! And you're absolutely right about the noise insulation, it's a detail I was going to include in my full review. That was the one issue with the construction, as I saw it.
Yes that would be a hard pass. Plus one side of the bed is just too close to the tub.
When traveling alone in Bangkok I rely on the great selection of the club lounge spreads. Just too convenient, but I have not encountered one with five presentations! No need to ever leave the hotel.
Have to agree Ben, generous elite treatment in the Bonvoy program is such a crap-shoot even at the ambassador level. After our four years of ambassador, it just isn't worth making the extra effort to stay at all the extra Marriotts during the year.
The Ritz here didn't do enough (imo). It lacks distinction in a highly competitive market. Dusit has the old world charm with new face-lift, and the newer rivals in relative walking distance (Aman/Rosewood/Kempinski/Kimpton) are all a little bit more charming. If it was a Bonvoy or bust decision, then St Regis is still objectively 'better' as a luxury product.
The Langsuan area is a revelation today in a city that's struggles with being walkable - at this time of year particularly, the Christmas Market there at Sindhorn Village, proximity to Ratchaprasong, and the malls, give those hotels (Aman/Rosewood/Kempinski/Kimpton) an edge for folks that don't like sitting in bumper to bumper traffic
This is precisely the main problem with this blog, though. The author clearly never leaves his luxury hotels, and it shows.
If you want a review of Bangkok street food or parks, other blogs are available.
After multiple stays at the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok over the past year including last week, I couldn't justify more than double the Hyatt price for the Ritz-Carlton. You DO get lounge access as a Globalist, which comes with the full breakfast restaurant buffet, and an extensive happy hour dinner buffet also. It is older but well-maintained, is on the BTS line so you can get most anywhere without traffic. Best of all, the staff is incredibly gracious and helpful. Always, even when I got Covid.
We had a suite that had the same corner view as the lounge, but the balcony was in a different location that the Club Balcony. The prices are pretty steep, I guess they will come down a bit. The hotel seemed reasonably busy despite the price tag, but the Club Level lounge was quite a sanctuary, it is enjoyable that the status based overcrowding is not an issue at the Ritz-Carlton lounges.
People of course don’t come to this blog for city guides. But Lucky’s lack of actual travel experience is part of why his flight and hotel reviews are so flat. He has no insights or experience in other parts of life.
It is surprising that hotel designers don't think of varying cultures around the world.
That doesn't mean they should eb globally homogenous, but it does mean avoiding issues like this one.
Sadly the Manila Sofitel closed July 2024 for a combination of reasons including lease renegotiation, union breaking, safety concerns after several small fires and major refurbishment being necessary including water and electrical.
The reason the hotel was quite busy at 5am is that right now its the middle of wedding season and it is likely that you bumped into a lot of people headed to the traditional morning part of the ceremony. The Ritz-Carlton (along with the Dusit Thani and many hotels around the area) are common places to host luxury wedding ceremonies and receptions
Uncle Ronnie, I have friends in Bangkok. I am uncomfortable dining alone. The yummy Club lounges fill a gap in security for me. Maybe you would understand if you were Aunt Ronnie. ; )
Glass door on the toilet…? Gosh. Fine when traveling alone, but if you’re with somebody, both getting ready, and one needs to sit down on the toilet….
Ben,
How would you compare this to the Park Hyatt Bangkok? What’s your favorite property in Bangkok?
Hi Ben and as always, thank you for your posts. This one left me a bit confused though, and maybe I should just wait for the full write-up….
First let me say, as you generally say, in Bangkok, you are truly spoiled for choice when it comes to hotels and service standards generally far exceed what you get in other world class cities, even at a 4 star hotel. This review seems positive on the whole, but then the last sentence and your final thought seems askew. I think we all get that as a travel blogger, you are frequently in and out and we want you to try new places, but for the average reader who isn’t a travel blogger, it seems like this actually would be a place to come back to….
We are staying here in January based on overwhelmingly positive reviews on TripAdvisor and looking forward to it. We had points to burn and this actually seemed like a decent redemption when we booked. Would appreciate more thoughts on the location, immediate surroundings, and property amenities. After a busy (and most likely sweaty day) of sightseeing and shopping, that pool looks like look a nice place for a cocktail to unwind before dinner - thoughts?