Review: Waldorf Astoria Bangkok

Name: Waldorf Astoria Bangkok
Address: Bangkok, Thailand
Price range: $$$

By: Ben Schlappig

Updated: December 13, 2024
Published: August 13, 2019

54 comments

Booking the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok

I booked my one night stay using an Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® rate, which cost about $320, and included complimentary breakfast, a room upgrade subject to availability, guaranteed 4PM check-out, and a $100 property credit. I thought that was a pretty good deal when you consider all that was included.

Getting to the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok & check-in

The drive from the airport to the hotel took about 45 minutes. The hotel is located in the same area of town as so many other hotels, including the St. Regis and Park Hyatt. It’s located in the Ratchaprasong area, in a 60-story mixed use building.

Like so many hotels in mixed use buildings, the lobby wasn’t on the ground floor. Rather there was a ground floor waiting area, along with bellmen and a concierge.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok entrance

The hotel’s lobby is located on “UL,” which stands for “upper level.” This is located between floors 15 and 16, though oddly they don’t actually skip any floors to account for that. So I guess you could say the lobby is on floor 15.5 (which kind of drives me nuts). 😉

The hotel has about 170 rooms, and is located on floors six through 16 of this building. It might seem undesirable to be on such low floors, but at least when you’re facing the direction of the park you have mostly unobstructed views.

As you’d expect, the hotel has two sets of elevators — one between the ground floor and the lobby, and the other between all the guest floors.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok elevators

The lobby had quite a bit of seating, and was elegant and beautiful. It didn’t feel particularly Thai, though it did feel luxurious.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok lobby

At the end of the lobby were three reception desks where you could sit down to be checked in. I was offered a welcome drink and a cold towel, and within a few minutes my check-in was processed.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok welcome drink & cold towel

The friendly associate recapped all the Fine Hotels + Resorts® amenities. Rather annoyingly, she informed me that the $100 property credit couldn’t be applied towards in-room dining, spa products, or minibar items. It’s not unusual that it can’t be applied towards spa products or minibar items, but not even in-room dining?! Odd.

She also informed me that I had been upgraded to a room with a view. I genuinely wasn’t sure if I had included my Hilton Honors number in the reservation, given that I’m a Diamond member, so I asked (usually they acknowledge your status and/or give you a further upgrade).

She said “yes,” and then pointed to where that was listed on the registration sheet, and it showed the word “Diamond” next to my name. There was no other recognition of the status or upgrade to a suite. I guess I should have brought laminated terms & conditions, right DCS? 😉

I was escorted down to my room, located on the 14th floor.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok elevators

What beautiful public areas, including the elevators and hallways.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok elevators

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok hallway

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok king deluxe park view room

I was assigned room 1410, a king deluxe park view room.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok room entrance

The room was cozy and well appointed. There was an extremely comfortable king size bed, then next to that was a loveseat, and opposite that was a circular dining table that could double as a desk.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok king deluxe park view room

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok couch

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok desk

The room did have lovely, unobstructed views of the park.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok view

Waiting on the desk was a welcome amenity, consisting of a note and some strawberry and custard tarts.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok welcome amenity

Back near the entrance was the minibar, which was a beautiful setup.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok in-room minibar

The hotel had cartons of water, which you almost never see. Along the same lines, they had either paper or metal straws in their F&B outlets, best I could tell.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok bottled water

The bathroom spanned the whole length of the room. It featured double sinks, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, a toilet in a separate room, and a closet.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok bathroom

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok bathtub

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok shower

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok toilet

Toiletries were from Salvatore Ferragamo.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok toiletries

Overall I thought the room was great — it was nicely appointed, comfortable, and in good condition. The Wi-Fi throughout the hotel was also fast and free.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok gym, pool & spa

The gym, pool, and spa were all located on the 16th floor.

The outdoor pool (open daily from 6AM until 10PM) were beautiful and quite large, with great views over the city. I’m not sure I totally get the structure they decided to put in the middle of the pool. Was this solely to look good (because it’s quite large, and somewhat obstructs views), or what?

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok pool

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok pool view

The gym was open 24/7, and had a good selection of equipment.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok gym

Then there was the spa, open daily from 10AM until 10PM. I ended up getting an hour-long massage here (which cost ~100USD), and was excellent.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok spa

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok breakfast

Breakfast was served at the Brasserie, located just off the lobby, between 6:30AM and 11AM. The restaurant itself was beautiful — in addition to a bar by the entrance, the remainder of the restaurant wrapped around the exterior of the hotel.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok Brasserie

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok breakfast buffet

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok breakfast restaurant

While the restaurant had a buffet breakfast, you could order some things off a menu, like fresh juice or smoothies, tea, and specialty coffee. Here’s that menu:

Bangkok has some of the most over-the-top and extravagant breakfast buffets in the world. In many ways I sort of hate them, because I get seriously indecisive and overeat.

So dare I say it, but I actually found this buffet to be rather modest by Bangkok standards? That’s ultimately not a bad thing, but there was no six foot chocolate fountain, no 12 flavors of ice cream, etc. Below are some pictures of the buffet.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok breakfast buffet

My only disappointment with the buffet was the lack of fresh fruit. There were berries next to the yogurt, but there was no other fresh fruit that I saw, which I found puzzling. I must have been missing something? (Update: apparently I missed a section of the buffet, which had fresh fruit.)

Anyway, to drink I ordered a delicious cappuccino and a tropical smoothie.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok breakfast drinks

Then I had some french toast, because why the hell not?

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok breakfast french toast

I also ordered an omelet.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok breakfast omelet

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok Peacock Alley

I was on a pretty bad time schedule while in Bangkok (unsurprisingly), so while I didn’t sleep the whole night, I did take three naps during my ~30 hours at the hotel. So while I walked around a lot outside, I also had a meal in Peacock Alley, so that I could bring my laptop and work.

Peacock Alley is just off the lobby, and is intended to be more of a lobby lounge with all day drinks, afternoon tea, etc.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok Peacock Alley

The Waldorf Astoria does deserve credit for their Diet Coke presentation. It’s just so undignified when the soda that doesn’t fit in the glass is left in the can!

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok Peacock Alley drink

I ended up having a Thai chicken wrap.

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok Peacock Alley snack

From the dessert menu I also ordered the coconut and Thai tea ice cream. I figured an order of two scoops wasn’t unreasonable, though they did serve them in separate bowls, which made me feel pretty bad about myself. 😉

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok Peacock Alley ice cream

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok bottom line

I had a great stay at the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok — the rooms, public areas, service, and location were all very good.

The thing about Bangkok is that there are so many great luxury options, and I think they’re all in a fairly similar league.

Personally I think the Park Hyatt and Waldorf Astoria are almost identical quality-wise. Heck, the designs even reminded me of one another. As a matter of fact, in a few months I’m not sure I’ll be able to tell them apart in my memory.

So personally I’d gladly return to either hotel, depending on where I could get a better value, or where I needed elite nights in order to requalify for status.

So the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok is awesome, but so are a lot of hotels in Bangkok.

If you’ve stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok, what was your experience like? What’s your favorite luxury Bangkok hotel nowadays, given how many new hotels there are?

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