13 replies to this topic

[fountainhall]

This week Travelzoo has an offer for the 5-star luxury Hotel Muse which opened in 2011 on Lang Suan (5 minutes from the Chidlom BTS station). On agoda, reviewers give the hotel a “90 Fantastic” rating. The hotel’s design is called “whimsical” and so it is not your usual type of traditional 5-star luxury. The offer is available right through much of the peak season till 28 February 2013. Nightly rate is A$117 and includes –

Daily Buffet Breakfast for 2
Guaranteed Upgrade to Corner Deluxe Room
Free in-room WiFi (usually $13 per day)
Tax and Service charges

 tzoo.g.61424.20120822.DuwaduengDeluxe1.jpg   39.54K   0 downloads

Conditions:
Validity: now to 28 February 2013
Vouchers must be purchased by Wednesday 29 August
Rooms booked not later than 1 February 2013.
Vouchers are non-refundable, but dates can be changed within 7 days of the start of your booking subject to availability.

Notes:
A$1 = approx. US$1.04
The cheapest non-refundable agoda rates which do not include breakfast and can not be changed after bookings are made are –
Low season – US$127
High season – US$184

For details of the travelzoo offer and bookings –
http://www.travelzoo...tm_medium=email

For more information on the hotel itself –
http://www.hotelmusebangkok.com

[Motel69]

Oooh! Even the traveler photos on tripadvisor.com make this place look luxuriously sexy. I think I've changed my mind as far as my hotel goes for my two-night Bangkok stay in October. Thanks, Fountainhall.

[fountainhall]

Delighted to have brought it to your notice. If you stay there, do let us know afterwards what it was like.

[snapshot]

Thanks for the reminder. Still have not tried this place yet as I've been exceedingly lazy going back to the same hotel instead of trying new. I blame the hot weather that only seems to become pleasant from Nov-Feb...

St Regis Hotel (nearby to this) has a nice direct air conditioned walkway to the skytrain station which is fantastic for avoiding both the heat and the traffic (which taxis get caught in). Stay in any other place and if it's peakhour (i.e. taxis no good) I'll be sweating before I even reach the station, let alone destination.

[fountainhall]

Still have not tried this place yet as I've been exceedingly lazy going back to the same hotel instead of trying new.

Perhaps you can enlighten us and remind us which one this is? The Dusit Thani? Le Meridien?

I have used that nice walkway from Rajadamri station to the St. Regis. But it really only saves 60 seconds in the open air - down one-flight of steps and then less than 30 meters to the front door. Does the heat really get to you so quickly?

Unfortunately, the Hotel Muse would not be for you as it requires either a walk from Chidlom or taxis. It does have transport, but it's an open-air tuk-tuk, alas.

[snapshot]

It's been a couple of years since I stayed at the Dusit or Meridien. I don't like staying in the Silom area anymore. It almost feels depressing compared to the Rajadamri/Siam Square area. Plus there's no value staying there as I don't go to DJ Station much anymore. Only been once this year as opposed to going almost every night of each trip like I used to.

The St Regis is right next to the skytrain station so it's a 60 second walk either way, which most other hotels can't offer. The walkway is just the icing on top.

The Kempinski is the other one I like for the big outdoor sanctuary pool and lounge area of a size you don't really get in any other hotel but it's a bit far from the road for my liking (though you can walk through Siam Paragon to get to the road) and the value of the pool lounge area (and hence, the whole hotel) really diminishes when the weather isn't so nice, as I found on subsequent stays.

I want to check out the Hansar, Muse and Sofitel So (though the location looks less convenient). Plus I heard about a really nice place that's opened or opening on the riverfront. But so far this year, each trip has either been a first with my BF (hence wanting to stick with a known place) or a really brief 2-3 nights (hence wanting efficiency/location).

[fountainhall]

You really are quite amusing, Mr. Snapshot (who doesn't post photos, according to another poster). On the one hand you tell us -


St Regis Hotel has a nice direct air conditioned walkway to the skytrain station which is fantastic for avoiding both the heat and the traffic (which taxis get caught in). Stay in any other place and if it's peakhour (i.e. taxis no good) I'll be sweating before I even reach the station, let alone destination.

So you find the heat trying. Yet, in the next post, we learn that air-conditioned walkway is really not an issue after all.

The St Regis is right next to the skytrain station so it's a 60 second walk either way, which most other hotels can't offer. The walkway is just the icing on top..

You also may try the Hotel Muse, even though you'll need to be in a taxi (oh dear, but that is "no good"!) or be absolutely soaked in perspiration. After all, for that hotel you'll have to spend about 10 minutes in the heat you so dislike.

I want to check out the Hansar, Muse and Sofitel So (though the location looks less convenient).

Don't dismiss the Sofitel So so quickly. It's close to Lumphini MRT station, so like the St. Regis your exposure to the heat would also only be around 60 seconds (depending on the traffic lights).

[lexusgs]

Great deal FT. I'm going to check that deal out mid Sept. For anyone looking for a less luxurious hotel I just got an email blast today for the Novotel next to Ploenchit BTS

Good deal for a standard 4*

Link here: http://www.asiawebdi.../?cid=AWDNL3807

[Motel69]

Delighted to have brought it to your notice. If you stay there, do let us know afterwards what it was like.

Um, I changed my mind after reading tripadvisor reviews of the hotel. A couple solo travelers complained that the staff needs to chill and let guests enjoy their Bangkok vacations. I read between the lines.

So it looks like the Dusit Thani for me, after all. And that's fine. The place is merely expensive, as opposed to super-expensive, It gives 500 airline miles for two-night stays if you sign up as a Dusit gold card member, wi-fi is free and the ground floor Thai restauarant, Benjarong, is truly one of Bangkok's finest.

[KhorTose]

Um, I changed my mind after reading tripadvisor reviews of the hotel.

Which is exactly the reason i never use TripAdvisor for hotel reviews. To do a review you do not have to stay at the hotel. A disgruntled patron or a competitor can give a bad review that has nothing to do with reality. Agoda reviews by people that actually stayed there gives it a 9.0 with 156 reviews.
http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/bangkok/hotel_muse_bangkok.html?asq=gl4%2bLFvmHolqZ0WKJatt0RcQNg%2brs9VUJnpl4iUGDMFCvGaGqeHSzaCEgFcwtI69KAHMUtZi5Y5ifNVi9g0KXMlBrsbHa6wSL2SKPIzsqf9ZQBiqmluPwXxrS1SSkmIk

[fountainhall]

I agree completely with KhorTose. But even with sites where only reviews of actual stays are posted, you still have to be a little careful, since one man's meat is the other's poison etc. Taking a decent sampling rather than one or two individual reviews should always give you a pretty good indication.

The one good thing about tripadviser is that it often gives you a profile of the reviewer (assuming that profile is accurate) and tells you the number of contributions made. If it is only one or two and the reviews are 5-star or 1-star, I just automatically discount them. If there are more than a couple, then a check on what the reviewer’s tastes might be and how they compare with my own to help me decide if it the reviews are worth considering.

With the reviewer Motel69 mentions, I’d rule him straight out. Why? Well, in the space of just 4 days, he reviewed 4 different Bangkok hotels. Not really an issue on its own, since he might have waited till the end of a longish trip and then submitted them all in one go. But I’d be put right off by his style of writing! Of the Shanghai Mansion in China Town where he stayed for a maximum 4 hours (arrived at 1:00 am and had a 07:00 am flight!) and allocates 5-stars, he says this –

“incredible decorated, clean and just all around awesome. to be sure, a far cry from the mandarin oriental...but i'd prefer this funky spot any day of the week.”

Yet of the Mandarin Oriental, also 5 stars, he says -

“this place is great…rooms, service - everything. really dug the authors' lounge, cool spot to grab drinks. and the limo service is a pretty sweet perk as well. top place to stay in BKK.”

So personally I don’t quite understand how the stars have been allocated. Then of the Hotel Muse (4 stars), he starts by praising it before getting critical –

“stayed here a couple times, pretty cool spot. loved the vibe and the rooms were great . . . but the staff really needs to chill-the-f-out. seriously, let’s call a spade a spade…it’s not like this is some new trendy club in the middle of the meatpacking district…i’m on vacation, in bangkok, so do everyone a favor and lose the attitude. for real. great thanks bye!”

Quite what that means, I'm not sure! But this is a young guy who is 25-34. I‘m a lot older. I'd therefore discount his hotel reviews. For others, he may be spot on. You pays your money and you takes your choice!

[Michael]

http://www.marriott....resort-and-spa/

Travel Zoo is offering this for 89 per night. I am thinking of going there. Would I get my night credits and points if I book with a coupon bought from them?

[fountainhall]

Michael – I assume this must be another Travelzoo offer because the one I posted from the Travelzoo Australia site in the thread headed “Amazing Travelzoo Offer: Khao Lak JW Marriott Resort” expired on 15 August. I booked 6 nights, but have no idea if it awards points and credit. Best to check direct with the hotel. Probably not, though, since I rarely get points if I book through an external site.

[fountainhall]

When I post travelzoo offers, I merely pass on the information provided by that site, an agoda price comparison and agoda customer rating. I have rarely visited the establishment. I do sometimes keep tabs on the property, though, and one point has arisen in a review about this hotel that would, frankly, turn me off - even though it still has its 9.0 agoda customer rating.

Apparently, is has dark wood uncarpeted floors. Aesthetically pleasing, no doubt, but I have found from past experience of this type of hotel that rooms are rarely sound-proof from the noise of feet on the floor above. Most visitors don't bother taking off their shoes on entering a hotel room, and so one is subject to what can be quite loud clump-clumps above. It's worse when anyone moves the bed or other piece of furniture when the room above is being cleaned, as a Business Traveller reviewer discovered -

What I did mind was the noise caused by the wood flooring. I became annoyed by my own loud footsteps when I returned to the room or was about to go out and had my shoes on. Even more irritating was having to listen to the noise when the room above me was being serviced.

http://www.businesstraveller.com/asia-pacific/archive/2012/october-2012/tried-and-tested/hotel-check-hotel-muse

To be fair, though, the hotel gets mostly rave reviews.