bmttokyo

Have been for the past 4 months working on finding the right place for our 3 day bookend trips to BKK this coming July- Aug then Sept. We will be spending 5 weeks in the Phil visiting family & friends in between & will also be doing a lot of travelling there. Have mostly enjoyed the extensive research I have gone through, specially because of the thoughtful & thorough threads shared by the interesting folks of this Forum. Thanks so much to all for your expert advise !!!

We are a family of 5- children aged 15, 13 & 9 - that has limited our accomodations to either a 2 BR suite or 2 seperate rooms. My son has decided that the living room is his bedroom since he usually gets his own TV there. Initially was looking at keeping our budget to $150 nett /night but now am more inclined to spend up till $250 nett/ night.

I have looked at all options possible including but not limited to :
a) old reliables - hubby is Priority Club member of ICH & we've had overnight stays without our children at the HI Silom's Executive suites (which were OK but would rather try something else) enroute to seperate business trips to Pattaya & Phuket. Pathumwan Princess ( so close to shopping!) was another consideration but was pushing $300 nett for their 2BR Execuplus rooms
b) serviced apts- Center Point Silom was one of my first choices until I was advised by management that the dates we were in country were the dates the 2 BR apt were underconstruction. Also considered the Ascott & Somerset Suwan Park & found they had a good Get Away Packages
c) boutique hotels - Old Bangkok Inn was interesting , so was the Arun Residence
d) over the top- I even looked at the Suite Life & Summer Splendor offers at the Penn but with 5 of us- it was close to costing us our 3 day budget just for one night !
Oh well, I thought perhaps one day when we were just by ourselves then we could stretch our budget & enjoy the Suite Life at the Penn.

I have been inspired by a lot of you who are Riverside fans so now have added a riverside hoteI to my final 3 choices:
1) LeBua- I read consistent positive reviews for this property- not to mention an unbelievable price of $112 nett/room from planetholiday.com
2) Davis- I gathered about 14 negative reviews from a pool of 131 from another forum with generous upgrades for a significant number of guests - rates are $75 ++/ corner room suite also from planetholiday.com . Should I just take a chance & hope that we get upgraded? I wouldn't even mind staying at their basic room
3) Holiday Inn Ploenchit- our points could come in handy - heard it was close to BTS

With our children with us- we have asked Tong to take us out in her van to the Floating Market & maybe (?) the Tiger Temple or find the elephants bathing in the river somewhere , then have Nok take us around the next day through public transportation to the Wats etc, a day of shopping at MBK & other places, a night out to Siam Niramit, a dinner cruise on Loy Nova, a Joe Louis Puppet show outing, a Gold Class Theater might be fun since we don't watch movies here since our movie tix cost $ 18/person, a trip back to Suan Lum would be great but from the looks of it, we might have to do our night bazaar adventures somewhere else

Given our itinerary & our preferrence to being close to public transport which actually moves ( hoping to keep away from the cabs unless it is to take us from hotel to the BTS or Sky Train!) Would appreciate your input on which of the 3 properties we should stay at. Looking forward to counsel from the wise.

Thanks much . Best regards from Tokyo where Spring has sprung !!!

KimJapan

It's my understanding that the Davis has a couple of negatives about it. One is the tiny pool, and the other is the location quite far from the Skytrain. On their website they make it seem quite near, but on a full size map, it's quite far, about a 15 minute walk. Supposedly they have a shuttle though. I would never count on getting an upgrade, as that will be exactly the time you won't get one.

LeBua has an earlybird package that is $300.00/night for a huge 2 bedroom suite. Price includes breakfast and a slew of other benefits. That's what I would book. http://www.lebua.com/ratespackages_earlybird.php

Gpanda

Several families report having a good time at the Marriott Resort and Spa on the river. It's @$250 for two rooms, you can check on a suite. The pool is wonderful. It's down the river, but there's an easy shuttle from Taksin BTS.

simpsonc510

I just stayed at the HI Ploenchit in February and thought it was fine. It is right beside the skytrain station at Ploenchit. I have added pictures of my "basic" room to my web site at cjscollection.com. Just click on the photo gallery link on the left side of the page, and then select the Asia album. HI pictures are near the end of that set of photos. You will also see some other apartments and hotel rooms in those pictures.

I'm staying at Somerset Suwan Park View in July, in a 1-bedroom serviced apartment. I prefer an apartment over a hotel room, typically, because I like having the space.

bmttokyo

Thank you for your input. Much appreciated. Will look into your recommendations.

Bisbee

The Davis does have a shuttle (luxury tuk tuk) that will run you down to Phrom Phong BTS at the Emporium. But traffic on Soi 24 can be quite slow. Quickest way is a motorbike taxi that will get you there in 2 minutes for 20 baht. Davis rooms are nice, but the location is the major negative for me.

Guenmai

For your situation, I would select the Somerset Suwan Park View. I've been there and had an extensive walk through. I've also had an extensive walk through of Le Bua...or however you spell it...and don't like that building or location. When I saw the place it had a different name which I can't remember off of the top of my head. But, it's the same place. You can't go out of the balconeys because of a near accident of a child nearly falling over or something like that I was told. Maybe the balconey rail isn't high enough. The apartments are very high up. I saw one on the 50th-something floor. I'd hate waiting for eleveators to reach those floors and higher floors. Happy Travels!

bmttokyo

Thanks to all for the new entries. Guen, I was really impressed by the super weekend parties you hosted for other Fodorites in Pasadena. The hostess with the mostest !!!

Guenmai

Thanks. Smiles. Happy Travels!

heymo

I will tell you- you'll be completely frustrated trying to get a reply from Arun Residence. I tried for weeks to have them answer repeated e-mail inquiries about reservations, all went unanswered. And I am not the only onew who has had this problem. Not sure why...

Guenmai

I have friends who will be staying at Arun Residence.. Why not just call them? I call places overseas all the time. It's a lot faster. Then have them send you an e-mail confirmation letter after you've reserved by phone. I've done this throughout S.E.Asia, West Africa, etc. Never had a problem. Happy Travels!