The best hotel I have ever stayed in !

The best hotel I have ever stayed in !

I will come flat out and say that this is the best hotel I have ever stayed in. I have stayed at the Mount Nelson in Cape Town, Roosevelt in New York, Sun City in South Africa, the Wynn in Las Vegas, Terrenea Resort in Los Angeles and the Best Western in Amarillo and I say the St Regis in Bangkok is better than them all. Here are all the facets of our visit.

Arriving at the airport:

I had arranged for the hotel to send one of their limos to collect us. On exiting baggage and customs there was the driver with our names on display. Once he had met us he phoned ahead to his partner outside to make sure that the limo was directly outside the door. He took the suitcases from my wife and led us out to the limo. It was a stretch Mercedes, a lovely, comfortable ride into the city.

Video screens for each seat with the map into the city displayed, water and glasses available. The driver was courteous and knowledgable. The drive took about 45 minutes at lunch time. The driver knew a few tricks to bypass quite bit of Bangkok traffic and we got to the hotel on time.

Arriving at the hotel:

I had told the hotel we were landing at 13h30 so should be at the hotel earlier than check-in time. That was no problem for them as when we arrived at the hotel there were 4 people to greet us. One was the concierge Pecky to show us to our room and 3 were to take care of the bags. We were led straight to the elevator and up to our room.

Pecky showed us in, sat us down, poured us a cup of tea and served us some small tarts and cakes before she even got down to checking us in. Everything was smooth and after about 10 minutes as she was about to leave, with perfect timing the bags arrived at the door. That level of timing would be a feature of our stay. Of course they offered to unpack for us but we were happy to do that for ourselves.

Once they had all left our room we looked around. Pecky had given us a tour but now we were exploring. My wife said she was happy. She could see no reason to leave the room during our stay. It was so nice she wanted to experience everything.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bkkxr-the-st-regis-bangkok/overview/

Our gorgeous room:

Starting from the door. There is a table and a huge mirror for checking yourself before you go out, as well as an umbrella in case of rain.

Then around the corner on the right is the cupboard with gowns and slippers, all the laundry paraphernalia and a safe.

On the left was the lovely bathroom. It consists of a shower with separate hand shower, a lovely sized bath and a counter with double sink.

There are soaps and toiletries, even a full drawer of extras like 2 toothbrushes, razor, earbuds, a comb, hair dryer, power plug points and many other items.

That bathroom experience was great, my wife had a luxurious bath using the bath salts and also loved using the provided loofah.

The luxurious bedroom:

The bedroom was nice and spacious. Two lovely beds with soft linen and really comfortable pillows.

There is a desk with writing utensils, and then a chest with items in it. A coffee maker with 2 large bottles of water and 4 proper cups and saucers.

The first drawer in the chest had 2 wine glasses, 2 whiskey glasses, 2 normal water glasses, a small bottle of wine, a wine bottle opener, 2 stirrers and some other items.

The next drawer down had the usual snacks that are provided such as candy, chips, nuts, and some romantic items.

On the next shelf over was the kettle, ice bucket and small bottles of favorite spirits: whiskey, vodka, brandy and gin.

The refrigerator had soda, both types of water, wine, beer, juice and 2 chilled champagne glasses, really classy.

There was a table with 2 chairs on which was served our introductory tea, baked items and a bowl of fruit.

This table was also big enough for us both to enjoy the breakfast in our room in the morning. More on that later.

The view was not supposed to be anything special as we were at the back of the hotel but we had a wonderful view of the city behind us, as well as a partial view of the golf course across from the front of the hotel. A best of both worlds view.

 

But the aspect of the room we loved the most was the butler, one on each floor. We could call them for any item we needed. Perhaps pressing of our evening outfits, assistance with packing or unpacking suitcases, and our favorite – ‘Could we have tea for 2 please, thank you’.

The tea that was delivered by the butler Champu was so nice. It was served in a lovely pot with 2 cups and all the accompaniments. A delightful touch that we used a few times.

The next morning we decided to have breakfast in our room.

Breakfast in bed:

This was a gorgeous experience. One of the nicer breakfast in bed servings I have enjoyed. Tea and coffee pots, oatmeal, fruit, pastries, bacon and eggs and potatoes, fruit juice, jams, etc. All the little extras that make this type of breakfast so enjoyable.

As I said the room was so nice that we would not have needed to leave it at all but of course we did.

The swimming pool area:

The pool is on the 15th floor and has a regular pool as well as a whirlpool relaxation bubbled zone.

There is a lovely entrance at which you can obtain water and towels.

There are deck chairs and loungers available.

This pool area is at the front of the hotel and also looks over the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and golf course.

The Clinique La Prairie Longevity Hub is also available for pampering the guests.

There is also a comprehensive fitness center with locker facilities as well as a large variety of exercise equipment.

The 12th floor:

The 12th floor is where the hotel starts.

VIU is an international dining experience with a great future. It is rumored to be in line for its first Michelin star this year so you would do good to get in before the rush.

The St Regis Bar is the main feature of the 12th floor. It consists of 3 areas namely the Bar, the Drawing Room and the Lounge.

The bar also serves the Siam Mary. Each bar in the St Regis hotel range creates its own signature version of the Bloody Mary and the St Regis Bangkok serves their slightly spicy Siam Mary.

The Lounge serves light fare from morning to evening, while the Drawing Room and Bar are open from midday till midnight. High Tea is served every afternoon in the Drawing room.

There is also an outdoor deck available and it is here that hotel celebrates sabering every evening at 6 by opening a bottle of champagne with a sword.

Afternoon tea:

We had a delightful afternoon tea in the Drawing Room at the bar. There was a reserved table set aside for us with a lovely view over the Sports Club. We started with a glass of champagne and then they brought out the lovely setup for the tea and goodies. The tea is based on the old English tradition and there were at least 10 different items for each of us, ranging from scones with clotted cream and jam through chocolate layered deserts to pastries with a Thai twist. Your personal choice in tea is served in a fancy pot. It was such a lovely experience, we loved every minute of it.

Our tea ran from 4 till about 5h45 in the afternoon and we finished just in time to take part in the evening 6pm ritual of champagne bottle sabering. The St Regis celebrates the tradition of soldiers on horseback returning from battle and opening the bottles while still riding by using their swords. This was done on the outdoor deck and afterwards a glass of champagne and some snacks were enjoyed.

Attached is a short video of the opening.

Champagne opening

Revisiting the lobby:

There are many different aspects of the lobby.

IGNIV is a Michelin starred restaurant that offers an exciting fine dining experience. It is highly recommended if you are happy with the cost.

Zuma is another highly rated restaurant.

The coffee and pastry area in the lobby lounge is where I bought delightful pastries. There are also a couple of relaxing lounge areas.

The bellman move to and fro with covered wagons carrying guests luggage. I smiled when I first saw that, realizing that the reason they cover each wagon is so that guests luggage is not exposed to anyone else, preserving their privacy.

The bell desk is available for any transportation assistance. They helped me arrange a 5am taxi for our trip to the airport.

There is also a bridge over the main road which provides direct access to the train station.

Outside the hotel:

I spent part of the afternoon walking around the hotel. There is a lovely garden area with a fountain, a prayer area and seating. That was where I read a large book on the history of IGNIV, the Michelin starred restaurant in the hotel. A pleasant diversion.

How good value is this hotel?

I was fascinated by how good value this St Regis was compared to my next attempted St Regis experience in the US a few weeks later. This hotel was 46,000 points per night for 2 nights. A few weeks later I tried to book 2 nights at the St Regis, Palm Springs and the charge was 88,000 points per night. Sorry, no can do!

I checked the rate in Bangkok just before I posted this, $288 per night, so low. I find this to be an astonishingly good rate for such a high class hotel. To be able to have access to all that we experienced for under $300 is quite exceptional.

As you can tell we absolutely loved this St Regis hotel. We enjoyed the pool, the afternoon tea, the butler service, the breakfast in bed, the hotel limo, the coffee shop and pastries and the high quality of service.

I can gladly say that the St Regis in Bangkok is the best hotel I have ever stayed in.

 

Please let me know in the comments below which hotel you consider the best you have ever been in. I have to limit this discussion to hotels under $1000 a night, I am sure there are some very expensive hotels that are marvelous, I look forward to getting some names to visit in the future.