As we were scheduled to travel on subsequent days, we planned a stop in Bangkok to regroup before heading into the countryside. The plan was that some of us would have two nights in the city, and the rest would only have one, but due to some weather issues and missed connections we all ended up arriving on the same day. So we ended up having about 16 hours in the city.
Which, one night in Bangkok provides plenty of educational opportunities for teenage girls, so that was probably fine.
Based on some recommendations from frequent Bangkok visitors, we decided we wanted to stay by the river. This made more sense when we had two days in the city, but that’s how things go sometimes.
We chose the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers as I had a couple of SPG Platinum suite upgrades slated to expire at the end of the year, and the base rate was only $88+tax a night. The Royal Orchid is a Category 3 property in the Starwood Preferred Guest program, so I could also have spent 7,000 SPG points per room, or 3,500 points + $55 using the SPG Cash & Points rate. Clearly the paid rate was the way to go in this case.
The upgrades cleared soon after booking, and both rooms were confirmed to “Executive River View Suites,” which are described as follows:
Suite description on SPG.com
“Full buffet breakfast” is also a published feature of the Executive River View Suite, which will be important later.
Interestingly, while most hotels with club lounges offer lounge access to suite guests, the Royal Orchid Sheraton is one of those properties that considers Club rooms to be a separate thing altogether. So there’s no way to upgrade to the Club using instruments (though of course SPG Platinums and holders of the SPG Business Amex have access regardless).
There’s more to life than cubed cheese and dehydrated carrots, so I was fine with this. I figured the larger rooms were going to be more useful than anything else given our short stay, and having lounge access for one room would be just fine given our other plans.
A few days before our stay (well after the suite upgrades had been confirmed, and after the cancellation deadline), I received an email from the VIP & Club Services Leader that included the standard arrival information, along with the following note on lounge access:
“In recognition of your Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum status, we are delighted to extend complimentary access to our Club Lounge for two persons only. Please note, there will be charge for the 3rd person at THB 1,500++/person/day if they would like to join to use the Sheraton Club.”
I replied back a bit incredulous, as I’ve never heard of an SPG hotel not giving lounge access to all registered Platinum room guests (those accessing by virtue of the SPG Amex are limited to two people), particularly when one of those people is a child. But I also don’t generally travel with a group, so I could be wrong there.
The response was polite, but adamant:
“As for platinum benefits, the club lounge access is extended for the member and one guest. Children age 3-12 years old can access to the club complimentary accompanied by adults.
We have noted your preferences as well, and with your suite night award confirmed, a nice Suite River View is provided for you.”
So, whatever. I’m sure there is a rationale for the policy, though it would have been nice for it to be disclosed earlier in the process. Truly not a big deal though, and Bangkok certainly has better culinary options!
Arrival and check-in
The three of us took a taxi from the Bangkok airport, and light traffic meant we were at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers within about 35 minutes. For some reason almost all the photos I took of the lobby and grounds are unusable (which is a damn shame, because I had some fantastic footage of the children’s choir and slutty Mrs. Claus that showed up to sing Christmas carols), but you can get a sense of the style and decor in this one:
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel lobby
There were no queues at the front desk, but once the agent saw my reservation she asked if she could escort me to the Club Lounge for check-in.
This is absolutely a personal side-effect of staying 200+ nights a year in hotels, but I sorta hate lounge check-in. I feel it makes the whole process last much longer than necessary, and I would vastly prefer the six minutes spent walking me up to a lounge be spent actually checking me in. But, hotels seem to think it’s a nice perk, and I certainly appreciate the intention.
The Sheraton Club was on the 27th floor, freshly renovated, and offered expansive views of the city and river.
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge views
The lounge agent offered us towels and water, while her colleague collected our passports. She came back a few minutes later with the rate card for me to sign, and reiterated that only two of us would have access to the club lounge.
We then started what became a hilarious game of “Who’s on first?” for the second room.
“Also, for the second room, you will have to check in downstairs.”
“Pardon?”
“Only your room has lounge access, so the main reception will have to process the reservation.”
“They’re arriving a bit later, do you think you could maybe set everything up and I’ll take care of the paperwork now, so they can just show their passports and get keys on arrival?”
“Unfortunately no. Main reception only.”
Alrighty then.
Of course, when Heather did arrive, the front desk was adamant that I was a platinum member, and thus should be checking in at the lounge. The lounge sent us back to reception. The front desk agent was bewildered at our return, and protested that this was a mistake, and we MUST check in at the lounge.
And this, I learned, is when children make excellent props.
Heather whispered to my nephew, “Hey, show me Tired” and our bouncy toddler changed his limbs to noodles and drooped his head, leaning so heavily against his parents he had to be picked up.
Taking my cue, I turned back to the front desk agent with a “look, it’s been a long day, and the little one is clearly exhausted. Is there any way you can just check us in so we can put him to bed and get some dinner?”
That worked, and three minutes later we had keys.
Royal Orchid Sheraton River View Junior Suite
As mentioned, I used SPG Platinum Suite Night Awards to upgrade both rooms to suites. I assumed both rooms were the same, given that both had been confirmed as Executive Suites.
So I didn’t photograph Heather’s room, and it wasn’t until the next morning that I realized my room had been downgraded, and were only given a Junior Suite, while she had an actual Executive Suite.
Executive suite, with bonus sleeping kid, because that’s how family trips go
There wasn’t anything to be done at that point, but it made the cramped suite we were given make a bit more sense. And we still ended up with one room that was larger, which was the main goal to begin with.
So these are pictures of the Junior Suite — the Executive Suite was about 30% larger, and a had a weird half-bath (connected to the main bathroom), but the furnishings were of a similar quality/era. Again, apologies for the photo quality here — I don’t know what was going on with my camera on this day.
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel hallway
The room opened to a living space that was a little over-furnished, but had fabulous floor to ceiling windows with great views.
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel junior suite living room
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel junior suite living room
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel junior suite views
And a boat!
Off the living room was a bedroom, which had a second desk/vanity area, and another great window:
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel junior suite bedroom
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel junior suite bedroom
The bathroom was off the bedroom, and was decently sized, with a separate tub and shower:
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel junior suite bathroom
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel junior suite bathroom
The room was fine, though it’s always a bit difficult to have the bathroom off the bedroom rather than off the living room. We figured it out, but it would definitely have been nice to have a full suite.
Royal Orchid Sheraton Club Lounge
As mentioned, the lounge was on the 27th floor, with the following listed features:
The Sheraton Club on the 27th Floor operates daily from 6:30am to 10:30pm. The following services and benefits are available to you:
∙ Continental Breakfast served from 07:00am to 10:00am
∙ Afternoon-tea served between 2:00pm to 4:00pm
∙ Pre-dinner cocktails and snacks served between 5:30pm to 8:00pm
∙ Tea, Coffee and non alcoholic beverages served throughout the operating hours
∙ Complimentary internet access from desktop terminals at Sheraton club
∙ Complimentary internet access in room for 24 hrs. per day
∙ Complimentary use for Sheraton club Boardroom 1 hour per day
∙ Complimentary access to Royal Orchid Sheraton health club (located on 1st floor) from 06:00am to 10:00pm
Going back in time a bit, while we waited for the second half of our group to arrive my husband and niece decided to take naps. I’m incapable of napping, so went for a quick swim (the pool temperature was perfect), then stopped by the Club Lounge to have a look at the afternoon tea offerings.
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge
The buffet area was around the corner from where we’d first checked in, and the lounge was quite large.
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge
For the afternoon service they had fresh fruit, miniature lemon merengue pies, and slices of cake, in addition to tea and coffees.
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge afternoon tea
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge afternoon tea
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge afternoon tea
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge afternoon tea
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge afternoon tea
We had other plans for the evening, so I didn’t get a chance to examine the offerings at the cocktail reception. In the morning, my husband and I went up to the Club Lounge to see the breakfast spread.
There was quite a decent selection, with plenty of hot and cold items, both Asian and Western.
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel club lounge breakfast
To continue the ridiculous saga of the Platinum benefits at this hotel, when Heather took her husband and the little one to the restaurant for breakfast, they asked her room number and then refused to seat her, even though she was staying in a room that included restaurant breakfast.
“Platinums must take breakfast in the Club lounge!”
At this point it was just comical, and eventually she convinced them that restaurant breakfast would be perfect, thanks, but holy cow…
The comedy continued at check-out. While everyone else was finalizing their packing I popped up to the lounge to settle our folio.
“I can only process the check-out for one room, for the other you’ll have to go downstairs…”
Which…
“Listen, I appreciate that you are just following instructions, but this is getting more than a little inconvenient. I have two rooms, both under my name, paid for with the same credit card, also in my name. I’d like to check out of them, pay for any charges with that same credit card, and I’d like to do so from a single location in the hotel. Is that something you can help me with, or could you please tell me who can?”
“Let me call the manager.”
So, after waiting 15 minutes for the duty manager, I was successfully able to check out of both rooms. I also mentioned the room mix-up to her (not as a complaint, but just so she was aware from a training/inventory perspective), and she protested that suite upgrades couldn’t be confirmed until check-in.
Which, one, no, and two, both the agent and my reservation described an Executive Suite — we were just given keys to a Junior Suite. She also insisted that the restaurant breakfast was not included for upgrades, which is patently untrue, and seemed generally unaware of how these things work.
But at some point it’s just not worth explaining further.
Bottom line
While inexpensive compared to properties in other major cities, the Royal Orchid Sheraton is not a great deal for Bangkok. The hotel is dated, not well maintained, and the staff doesn’t seem to get the “hospitality” part of the hospitality industry. The communication between the staff was not good, and there are clearly some major training issues at this property.
I know others have had good stays here, and the views were nice, but based on this experience I’d recommend against the property. There are too many other hotel options in Bangkok to settle for this one.
Has anyone else stayed at the Royal Orchid? Did I just catch them on a bad day?
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