The Royal Orchid Sheraton Mixes Business and Pleasure with Five Stars in Bangkok, Thailand
Written: Sep 28 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High Quality of Service, Services, Ideal Location, Great View, and not too Expensive
Cons: None major
The Bottom Line: Perfect for business and pleasure at an affordable 5-star price.
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| rodeo7's Full Review: Royal Orchid Sheraton |
In the summer of 2001, I traveled to Bangkok, Thailand with my parents and my brother for a few days of sight seeing after visiting relatives in the Philippines. All travel arrangements were up to my parents, and they chose for us to stay in the five-star Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok.
By way of the fairly recently built expressway, the hotel was between 45 minutes to an hour away from the airport in heavy traffic. The ride was only about 30 minutes on our return trip very early in the morning with virtually no traffic to slow us down. From the highway, we could easily see the tall and impressive looking Royal Orchid Sheraton with the large Sheraton symbol in red.
The Royal Orchid is located on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River and literally just a few blocks away from major highways. This makes travel easy via river ferry, taxi, bus, the hotel’s limousine service, and motorized tricycles called “Tuk tuks”. The hotel’s limo service is excellent. The driver drove safely, was extremely courteous, handled our luggage carefully, and was prompt in picking us up in the lobby. The van, which we used, was clean and in very good working order.
The lobby had been recently renovated and was looking great when we arrived. Decorated in traditional Thai style, the beautiful lobby alone had plenty to take in and marvel at. Check-in went smoothly and we were sent ahead of our luggage to our rooms with an escort (bell-boy), but our luggage ended up already being there before us. Speedy service.
Our rooms were on the highest “non-Tower” room, which was the 14th floor. The floors above us housed more elaborately decorated rooms at increased prices as well as a butler for each floor. We didn’t need all that. Actually, being that I would be content in a hostel straight out of the movie “The Beach”, the cheapest room in a five star hotel would be heaven to me. The hotel also didn’t allow more than three persons to a room, so my dad reserved two of the more expensive rooms located next to each other. The hotel doesn’t have adjoining rooms; the kind where a door connects both rooms for easy access.
The room my brother and I had was wonderful. The first thing about the room(s) all of us first took note of was the marvelous view we had over the river and city. It turned out that all rooms have a similar view. The hotel is set up like the letter T, except the stem of the T is short and the arms are long. Running the length of the arms is the main hallway, which gets a panoramic view of the eastern side of the city from the hotel. All along the opposite side are the rooms, so that every room gets a panoramic view of the west. The stubby stem of the T is made up of suites, so those end up getting the best, unobstructed view. Okay. A little too much info maybe, but I personally was curious how every room could have a panoramic view according to their advertising.
My room had to full beds, a long wall unit that housed two sets of dresser drawers, the fully stocked mini bar which my brother took full advantage of, the television, a keyboard for internet use, and plenty of counter-space for whatever you need room for. The room was quite detailed in its Thai decoration right down to the Buddhist “bible” (I don’t know what it’s actually called. Sorry,) in the nightstand. Amusing note: A pair of condoms was found underneath the “bible”. What an amusing location to place them for guests.
Most importantly, the beds were comfy and the bathrooms were clean and in working order. Towels and toiletries (shampoo, soap, etc.) were replaced everyday and the whole room was given a nice tidying up by the maid service while we were out. The rooms were also quiet. Footsteps outside were barely audible, footsteps above were never heard, and even use of water faucets or toilets being flushed in neighboring rooms was never heard.
Many services one would expect at a five star hotel were available, which include laundry service, many stores within the hotel to shop in, 24 hour concierge, pay per view movies, currency exchange and cell phone rental. The rental works out nicely for those on business trips that need a cell phone that can work in Thailand.
Speaking of business and cell phones, a very impressive feature about the Royal Orchid is its 24-hour cyber center. Guests can access the Internet, photocopy, fax and even obtain secretarial services. You can even rent a private boardroom if you needed one. This large area makes life easy for the business traveler and also makes a quick e-mail check a breeze for those on a relaxing vacation. As I mentioned, you can also access the Internet through your hotel room, but that charges by the day, not the hour, so either one is excellent depending on your needs.
Another popular service of the hotel is the Mandara Spa. We didn’t use it, but I’m sure if the quality of all the hotel’s services that we did use is the same as the spa’s, then the spa is definitely five-star quality. For the curious, some of its services include, face, body and massage treatments, and the private spa suites have access to the outdoor pool area.
There are actually two pools at the Royal Orchid. The rectangular swimming pool is open 24 hours, and the shallower (5 feet deep maybe) Garden Pool is set in the hotel’s garden to provide a relaxing atmosphere. Tall trees and many plants hide the fact that the hotel is in the middle of the city and right next to a river. It is very nicely laid out. There is even a jogging track around the garden, and a bar in the center of the pool complete with submerged bar stools.
Other places to get a drink or get some food include the Thai restaurant, Thara Thong. This place was beautiful and authentic. We even thought we had to sit on the floor to eat, but it turned out there was a cut out in the floor under the table so you could sit normally, but without a back. River Night Market allowed you to choose your own seafood or in my case, nice selection of sausage and steak for my dad and brother. They then took the meat and cooked them up while we enjoyed drinks at our riverside table enjoying the summer breeze. The food was on the expensive side, but well worth it.
Our most frequented restaurant was Rim Nam Café. There, breakfast was served every morning in buffet style fashion. Anything cooked, though, had to be ordered at a window such as eggs or bacon. Cooking didn’t take long and the food was delicious. There were many other yummy looking places that we didn’t have time to eat at, like an Italian place called Giorgio’s. I really wanted to eat at Giorgio’s, but figured I should focus on getting traditional Thai food. I actually did end up getting a delicious pizza delivered to my room, one night.
Unfortunately, I missed the Thai folk music and dancing show due to a queasy stomach given to me by too much scary yellow drink in Chinatown. My family said the show was very entertaining and the food was great. It is usually done outside while you eat, but can be, and was set inside Rim Nam due to rain.
Lastly, an example of their excellent service was shown to us within an hour of arriving where we also got a sneak peak at the Thai show. After getting cleaned up and comfortable in our rooms, we unanimously agreed to go get some food because we were starving. Not knowing the layout of the hotel yet, we went straight to the lobby, but the only establishment we could find was a bar called Suralai Bar. It is distinctly placed right in view when you walk into the lobby. We decided to walk over there and ask if they could point us to a place to eat. Rather than just pointing an employee welcomed us to the hotel and walked us over a fairly long distance to the River Night Market, and a seafood place called Eight Bells. He offered to show us more places (we later found out the rest of the restaurants were on the second and third floors), but we told him we were content with what he had shown us and thanked him. It was a nice personal touch that impressed us with their service even more.
The only thing I didn’t like about the hotel was its lack of access to much interesting areas by foot. It would be nice to be able to walk out of the hotel and already be in a busy commercial district. Unfortunately, you have to take public transportation to get to the interesting commercial areas. Luckily, we never had to deal with any of that, but I had taken note of that problem imagining if I were there by myself, backpacking. I’d prefer not to have to negotiate prices with Tuk tuk and Cab drivers, and would rather be able to save money by walking.
Then again, if I were backpacking, I certainly wouldn’t be staying at the Royal Orchid. The reason I noticed this minor “problem” is because there are plenty of other hotels that are located right in the midst of the commercial district of downtown Bangkok where the nightlife is always in full swing. What those hotel services and accommodations are like, I don’t know though, but it must have been nice to simply exit your hotel to find the streets around you are full of people heading off to shops, restaurants, etc.
There were some shady stores right outside, but we decided to avoid them when a couple employees tried to swindle us out of some cash by converting our dollars into 30 Baht a dollar, when the conversion was more like 53 to the dollar. There is also a large shopping center connected directly to the hotel via a walkway on the second floor called River City Shopping Complex, but every store is an antique or art dealer. They sold the most beautiful and expensive pieces, which we weren’t in the market for. They were still interesting to look at though.
I also didn’t deal directly with making reservations, but seeing the staff’s efficiency and smooth running of business, I’m sure things were taken care of quickly and painlessly. The cost of our rooms was about $250 each, which included breakfast every morning. Walking across the street to a Money Changer tended to be a better exchange rate than the hotel’s currency exchange. This makes sense since the hotel can afford to increase their cut while the external Money Changers need to lower their fees for competition.
My experience at the Royal Orchid Sheraton was perfect. I can’t compare it to any other hotels in Bangkok, but stand-alone, it’s perfect for business and pleasure. Services for the businessperson and the vacationer are all readily available, and location to public transport and downtown Bangkok make getting to your business meeting or your tour group easy as pie. If it fits your budget, definitely give it a visit. You’ll be glad you did.
For more info on the hotel and up to date pricing, their website is:
http://www.royalorchidsheraton.com
And if you’d like to see some of my personal pictures of the hotel from my trip, you can view them at my Homepage:
http://joker250.tripod.com/home/photos/thaipics01.html
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rodeo7
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Member: Eddie
Location: Virginia, USA
Reviews written: 28
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