My first trip back to this city after COVID!

It was an atas sibling trip this time and of course I had to clock in more Bonvoy elite nights. I have to say that the Bonvoy options in this bustling city can be overwhelming and I decided on this property due to the fact that its recently renovated, offers decent proximity to the BTS Stations, the great reviews I saw while researching, plus a later evening cocktail timing (until 9pm) which I needed as my flight will only be landing in BKK at 1700. Onwards to a great stay!

Address – 4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2, Bangkok, Thailand, 10110. Website.

Contact – Tel: +66-2-1800060888. Email: mhrs.bkkdt.reservation@marriotthotels.com.

Location – Kind of between Nana and Ploechit BTS Stations, the property offers unsheltered access via a 8mins walk to either station if you dont mind walking in the heat on dusty roadsides. Otherwise, a grab to the main shopping area is completely affordable but a 30-mins point to point ride time is needed due to the crazy Bangkok traffic.

Price – THB7,500++ per night (~ SGD280) booked for a lead-in guest room via Hotelux under the Luminous Promotional Offer which includes the following benefits:

• THB3,100nett hotel credit pr stay (for use at hotel’s F&B or spa)
• Daily breakfast at JW Cafe
• Note from GM
• Early check in and late check out subject to availability

Prior to arrival – I made full use of the online check in as well as reached out via email to make requests for hotel pickup, spa bookings, meeting room use, upgrade requests as a Titanium – all were swiftly responded to and confirmed in good time. A few days out, my app was showing a 1-bedroom suite which was equivalent to at least an 8-tier upgrade. Yay!

Getting there – we arranged for the hotel to pick us up for THB2,600 which works for a fuss-free and stress-free experience. The staff and the car was waiting for us on arrival and it was probably the best way to get to the property – in a Merc Benz ride of 1hour or so.

Check In – We were welcomed at the doorway by a horde of staff and wisked up to the Lounge for check in as they were serving evening cocktails by then. Once seated, we were able to enjoy the food & drinks (more on this later) while the staff took our IDs to process the necessary. My choice of welcome gift was asked for, and I recieved 3 welcome letters in total: 1x Executive Lounge info sheet, 1x hotel info sheet, and 1x Luminous rate benefits.

Room – My suite, 1912, was super spacious at 66SqM and decked out in the newer JW Marriott corporates hues of grey and neutral tones which evoked understated classiness rather than luxury.

The space starts with a kitchenette area of sorts including a microwave, a sink area, a big fridge, and plenty of countertop space which held also the coffee/tea amenities as well plenty bottles of complimentary water. I usually avoid such room types as service-apartment facilities are harder to maintain from my experience and I’ve seen really grimy such spaces (may or may not be Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road) but this was thankfully immaculately maintained.

Immediately after the kitchenette space is the huge living area with 2x sofa with 2x tables + a workdesk + chair. There are only 2 power points designed into this space though but adequate for 2pax worth of devices. Laid out on the bigger table were two wrapped mango sticky rice which was a nice touch and a welcome note accompanying it. Then laid out on the smaller table is a fruit platter which I thought was pretty generous of the hotel. We made full use of this space for all non-sleeping matters hah.

Past a set of sliding panels which can be closed for privacy, the bedroom space is an awesome space of a huge king bed, a day sofa, a cabinet which contained a mini fridge + mini bar snacks. The bedside tables were of good size and comes equipped with power points on each side too.

The wardrobe does what it does but I thought it was pretty small for the space, though this is mitigated by an additional luggage area + hanging rack.

The bathroom is marbly nice but I did wish they had double sinks instead of bathtub which went underused for the stay. The toilet was open concept, alongside a standing shower space. Toiletries were Aromatherapy ones which I quite liked.

Executive Lounge – I had high expectations of this Executive Lounge based on the glowing reviews I saw. And turns out, it was quite accurate!

The space located on level 16 occupies half the floor, and suitably so as the crowd here is certainly a buzzing one especially during evening cocktails. The classy space is made up of a main hall equipped with 2 to 4 seaters, a corridor of 2-seater sofas, as well as an alfresco area if that’s your thing. There is a staffed reception area which can handle check ins and outs, and the entire staff team was all warm efficiency throughout my 5days there – they seem to try to ensure that everyone is well taken care which was a real treat considering the massive effort required during busy times.

6:30am – 10:30am Breakfast (until 11:00am on weekends) – this was a quiet affair and saw an expectedly small though decent selection including a live egg station – great for someone who prefers peace and quiet (or possibly round 2 of food at a later hour).

2:30pm-4:00pm Afternoon Tea – I only saw this once during my stay and saw mostly very carbful bites with sweets but very awesome pandan scones!

6:00pm – 9:00pm Evening Cocktails – a flurry of buzz every night I was there with late arrivals finding it difficult to find available tables. But the duration of 3-hours also meant that guests come in waves which allowed for most to secure seats after a short wait.

Food on offer was a full-on buffet with rotating items of a live station, carbs, and proteins, sweets, fruits etc. Definitely a meal replacement even for the fickle minded.

And great service is to be commended when the chef accommodated my special request for Pad Thai without noodles – yay!

Drinks on offer was an impressive selection of prosecco, wines, spirits, a cocktail menu, then off-menu items if the staff can manage. You can either self serve or order through the staff – all you need to furnish your table number and it’ll come to you soon after.

Breakfast at JW Cafe (6:30am – 10:30am) – The restaurant is located on level 1 and is a huge space which makes sense given that the property has more than 400 rooms. Realized that I didn’t remember to take pics of it but it is furnished like a typical hotel restaurant would be.

Titaniums and Ambassador Elites can opt to take breakfast here even if breakfast is not included in the room rates. It didn’t make a difference for me as my rate includes breakfast at the venue explicitly, but this is one property where I think it is worth to perhaps top up to try your first meal of the day at least once as the quantity and quality was in my opinion, spectacular. Also a shout-out to the biggest noodle station I’ve seen and the middle eastern section which I loved!

Facilities – all leisure facilities of the property are located on level 6 and is an impressive well equipped floor space for guests to chill out in.

My massage experience at JW’s Health Club & Spa (24hrs) was 90mins of kneading my sore muscles by a very experienced masseur, which started by a super nice lemongrass drink while choosing the oil to use. Menu screenshots are what was offered at the time of my visit and sent by email upon request prior to arrival day.

The fitness centre is open 24hours and, although very much un-renovated, is super well equipped if you don’t mind not-new workout stuff. And have rower, yay!

Pool (6:00am-11:00pm) – located right beside the gym and seems decent for a short swim if need be. Surrounding it is small decorative pond, a few sunbeds, as well as a herb garden which should be more advertised!

Service – fantastic service from start to finish with every staff we encountered all super helpful. Small gestures like being greeted every time we walk into the hotel after a day out, or the doorman offering to help lookout for our ride while we wait in aircon comfort inside the lobby – all these make a big difference in the overall experience and makes you feel really well taken care of. Housekeeping happens twice a day was amazing and we came back to an immaculate room every time.

We also opted to pay THB2,600 for our ride back to the airport on departure day which turned out to be one of the best ways to end this trip. Instead of merely being dropped off at the airport as most hotel transfers do, they had a uniformed staff waiting for us at departure hall and escorted us for the counter check in process, guided us (and helped double check) on our tourist VAT refund process, and basically was our hands and legs right up to where we had to enter the secured area. Awesome service!

In Summary,

An absolutely steal for the rate we paid for, generous upgrade, excellent service and a thoroughly enjoyable experience in the Land of Smiles! That said, I realized the accessibility of the BTS station does not matter so much to me since I grabbed everywhere so perhaps next time I can try the Surawongse or Queen’s Park Marriotts instead.