Hotel Review – Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sukhumvit 15

Background

A few days ago I posted about my Egyptair business class trip between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.  That flight and this hotel stay were part of a larger Southeast Asia itinerary that saw me spending time in Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia before heading back home to Chicago.  My stay at the Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok was for the duration of my short stay in Thailand.

One of my favorite things about Bangkok is the wealth of quality hotels on offer for relatively inexpensive prices.  I had quite a few options during my short trip, but I eventually settled on this property because it offered what I viewed as a generously low price ($88 per night) with what appeared to be a solid product from the pictures and reviews I had read online.  Being a mid-tier elite in Starwood’s loyalty program also meant I’d collect a few extra Starpoints with my stay, so overall the cost/benefit scheme seemed to be working in my favor.

Location & Check-In

I arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) at around 11 PM.  I was quite exhausted since I had started my day in Siem Reap, Cambodia and had made my way to Bangkok through Kuala Lumpur, adding up to approximately 14 hours of flying and transit time.  Knowing I’d likely be quite tired, I had emailed the hotel ahead of time to see if I could arrange for a car to pick up at the airport and whisk me – hassle-free – to a comfy bed.  Despite contacting the hotel two weeks prior to my arrival in Bangkok, I never got a confirmation or acknowledgment from them regarding the request.  Normally I’d follow up in this type of situation, but Bangkok is an very easy airport to snag a taxi at, so I decided to try my luck and see if anyone was waiting for me when I exited the arrivals hall.  If not, I’d simply hop in a standard cab with little trouble.

The day of my arrival in Bangkok, I was hopeful the hotel would come through for me.  Disheveled, exhausted, and perhaps a bit smelly, I nabbed my luggage off the carousel and wandered out into the arrivals hall.  I scanned the crowd of people holding placards to see if my name was among them, or even if someone was holding a sign for the Four Points Sheraton.

Nada.  Nothing.  Nyet.  Goose eggs.

No big deal really, though it was a bit annoying.  I should have taken the initiative to follow up on the request but as I stated there’s no real risk of being stranded at the airport when arriving at BKK.  As predicted, I dashed out to the taxi queue and was on the road to the hotel’s location in the Sukhumvit neighborhood in less than 5 minutes.

The hotel’s location is interesting.  Typically when I’ve stayed in Bangkok I’ve chosen hotels closer to the Chao Praya river, but this property is located further from the river and in a busy commercial district.  One of the nice selling points of this property is that it’s located within walking distance of three train stations – two for the BTS (Asok and Nana stations) and one for the MRT (Sukhumvit station).  This made accessing the city through public transit quite easy during my stay.  Tuk tuk and cab rides are never very difficult to secure or expensive though, so if you decide you want to avoid the public you can navigate from this hotel quite easily and without denting your wallet too heavily.  The Westin Grande property is located just around the corner in addition to a wealth of restaurants, street vendors, and shopping malls.

The neighborhood is lively, there’s plenty to buy and eat, and getting to other interesting parts of the city is easy to do.  The location for this property was definitely a big plus during my stay.

Service & Staff

I’ve already given some detail on the service failure I experienced related to the car booking through the hotel.  I do take part ownership of that failure though, so won’t hold it as a grudge too heavily during this review.  That being said, the service I received from the staff at this hotel was phenomenal.

As soon as my taxi pulled up to the property I pretty much had hotel staff crawling across the hood of the car to help me.  Someone had my luggage out of the trunk before I had finished paying the driver.  Another gentleman shook my hand as I exited the taxi and let me know he was going to be escorting me to check-in.  Typically I like to keep my luggage with me at all times since I travel fairly light but there really wasn’t anything I could do about it at that point.  The Thai gentleman did indeed walk me to the check-in desk, making small talk about why I had decided to come to Thailand and whether or not this was my first visit to Bangkok.

Check-in was fast and friendly, with the agent taking the time to walk me through the elite benefits I would receive while staying at this property.  This is something I greatly appreciate since I’m relatively new to holding hotel status and often times different properties provide the benefits (free wifi, breakfast, etc.) in slightly different ways.  I really like being told directly how I can expect to use the benefits while on site rather then floundering in the wind and making phone calls to the concierge or front desk to clarify things.

I ended up needing to order room service during my stay, and the staff member who delivered my food was exceedingly polite and friendly.  Almost to a fault.  I say that because while I was awaiting the delivery of my food I received a phone call from the room service staff telling me that my food had arrived and that the staff member that had brought it to my room had been waiting outside my door for a few minutes unsure as to whether he should knock since I still had my “Do Not Disturb” sign hanging on the door handle.  Contrast that with some hotels where those door hangers have absolutely no meaning or power in stopping hotel staff from attempting to enter your room.

When I checked out of the hotel to head back to the airport and catch my Egyptair flight to Kuala Lumpur, the same gentleman who had escorted me during my check-in process greeted me in the lobby and made the same small talk about my stay at the hotel and in Bangkok.  They flagged down a taxi and loaded it up with my luggage while I was checking out at the front desk, so I had nothing left to do or wait for when I had my zero balance bill in hand except walk out to the waiting car and speed off to the airport.

Room

Four Points by Sheraton properties are generally nice to stay at, thought they tend to lack the more luxurious appointments you’d find at other Starwood properties like the Sheraton or Westin.  Having paid just $88 USD a night for the room, I wasn’t expecting much to be honest, so I’m quite happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of furnishings and overall design of the room during my stay.

The set up for this room was essentially the same as almost every other entry level room at a major hotel chain:  short entrance hallway with a closet near the door, bathroom entrance across from the closet, and open plan bedroom/office space directly at the end of the hallway.

The entrance hallway was tiled, which was a nice touch in the Bangkok heat.  The light wood and wallpaper gave the room a contemporary, modern feeling compared to the bare bones aesthetic I typically feel at Four Points properties.  Between the closet and the luggage rack was a minibar which featured some Western and local offerings.  Nice that they offered me a condom.  Safety first and all….

Many hotel rooms nowadays seem to feature bathrooms with a glass panel facing the bedroom.  Some folks seem to like it, others seem to hate it, and almost everyone agrees it’s awkward to share a room with someone that lets them see you drop a deuce or lather your nethers should you forget to close the blinds.  Since I typically travel alone, I don’t mind the architectural oddity.  The Four Points BKK bathroom features a bit of a modification on this feature – instead of a glass wall it has a sliding wooden door that separates the two sections of the room.  This allows the room to have an open-ish floor plan while still providing maximum privacy once someone decides to use the facilities.  A smart upgrade to keep the room feeling open yet useable.

The rest of the bathroom was also quite nice.  Polished metal, frosted glass, and light wood fixtures continued to be featured throughout.  The sink was quite large and modern, which means it functioned well when washing your hands and brush your teeth but wouldn’t be ideal if one is looking to fill the basin for some reason.  The hotel provides a scale (visible in the bottom left corner of the photo below) for your use.  The room also features a separate shower stall from the bath tub.  The water pressure was fantastic and the heat consistent.  No problems getting clean my entire stay at this property.  The sweat and grim one accumulates when in Bangkok was blasted off in seconds.