Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel

Having stayed at Sheraton HCM and Sheraton Hanoi the last business trip, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that my co booked a room at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit for my Thailand work trip.

But it was a surprise, because the 3 SPG hotels (Sheraton, Westin and 4 Points) are located within 5-8mins walking distance of each other and I'd thought that the most expensive option wouldn't be their first choice. I had thought it would be 4 Points, and if I was lucky, Westin.

But as it turned out, not only was I going to be staying in Sheraton for 2 nights (The Sheraton was rated #4 of all the hotels in BKK on tripadvisor ), but there was also an upgrade to the grand deluxe room which came with a host of benefits such as the butler service, free laundry (2 pcs) per day and free high-speed internet in the room. More on that later.

The Sheraton is connected to Asoke Station by a sheltered bridge and it takes all of 5 mins to get from the lobby to 1 of the largest newest malls in BKK, Terminal 21. Westin is right opposite Terminal 21 but one has to cross a small road to get there and it was raining when I arrived. So in terms of access to the BTS and the mall, the Sheraton beats Westin hands-down.

Anyway, when I arrived, for once, the staff at the reception escorted me right up to the room after the checkin process. She also arranged for tea (there was ice lemon tea, coffee or hot tea) to be brought up to the room before we entered the room, and for the bags to be brought up later. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the tea came with 2 biscuits in a nice little tray. Below is a picture of the grande deluxe room. It reminded me a lot of the club suite I'd stayed in at the Sheraton Imperial in KL. The room was spacious of course but the design was far from modern and sleek as you can probably tell from the picture below.

In addition to the iced tea, there was a complimentary platter of fruits consisting of 2 bananas and 2 mangosteens next to the hot drinks facility. I have to say that the selection of complimentary tea and coffee bags was pretty good.

A picture of the room next to the toilet which is some sort of a walk in wardrobe. It came complete with a safe, and pretty fluffy complimentary bedroom slippers.

Here is a picture of the toilet. The bathtub was clean enough so I had a good soak in it. The shower on the hand needs to be improved - there isn't the right mix of hot and cold water - it is either a touch too much of either.

I'd read that the pool at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit was something pretty amazing and my room on the 2*th floor had a view of the pool if I looked straight down from the window. It did seem rather pretty with the lush greenery and the dark blue tiling. If one wanted, one could have breakfast by the pool (But the selection of food would be smaller)

The more distant view from my room was of the river. In 1 of the mags I read, I learnt that the river flowing through BKK was the heart of the city. Which was something new to me because all my trips to Thailand consisted of well, shopping, eating and massages at malls and little nooks and crannies.

When my CEB finally joined me late in the night (almost midnight), the 24hr butler service promptly provided more iced tea for the 2 of us and biscuits. That was when I really started digging the butler service.

Because I had to leave the hotel at 8am for work and I didn't want to wake up early to have a buffet breakfast that I wouldn't be able to enjoy, I ordered from the butler service, a cup of hot tea and some biscuits. It was delivered in all of 5 mins and this was how I left my CEB to enjoy his day of a nice buffet breakfast, free in the room broadband AND WIFI, and easy access to the shopping mall. While I went to work. To say my CEB was happy is an understatement.

Talking about the buffet breakfast, I'd read on the internet that the spread was something awesome but my CEB had told me it wasn't. I was to find out the next day when we went for breakfast together before checking out. I didn't think the spread was that limited - of course, there are better breakfast buffets we've had but still, it was decent enough. My CEB groused that there wasn't anyone to cook noodles on the spot for guests (unlike 4 Points) and eyed the noodles I'd ordered for breakfast from the ala-carte menu. I think the bowl of noodles cost about SGD13 but it wasn't expensive when one comes to think of it. At least in comparison to the breakfast buffet which cost SGD40.

Now, here is the reason why one should book the Grande Deluxe Room at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. Other than the perks of the butler service, the room comes with unlimited drinks at The Living Room (the lounge for Sheraton).

I missed drinks the first night because I was out shopping. However, the second night found us at The Living Room enjoying the complimentary snacks AND the complimentary drinks between 6 to 8pm. Did I mention that the cocktails, mocktails, beers and even wine (red, sparkling, white) on the menu were ALL free?

So we drank quite a fair bit. My CEB going straight for the sparking wine of course, and me, pussy-footing around with the mocktails (literally) and then progressing to the cocktails.

The Slog Reviews: 9/10. I have to say that the amount for the grande deluxe room at the Sheraton is worth every penny. A fabulous experience all in all. And when we got back, the first thing we did was to book air tickets to go back to BKK in August.