Off we go to Thailand this summer aswell. We are 2 adults and 3 children (10,10 and 12 years). Thought perhaps a stay at a serviced apartment might be a could idea. Need recommendations from you experts out there. Have done some research on the net. The Ascott Sathorn looks good as do The Marriott Mayfair. Another option would be to have 2 connecting rooms in a hotell.
Hope you can help us out with some tips and suggestions.

We stayed at the Center Pointe Silom last year and loved it! It is conveniently located near the Saphan Taxin station and also the river taxi.

Our 1 bedroom apartment was very large, approximately 1000 square feet.

I would stay there again.

I have stayed at Grand President, Omni Tower, and Patumwan House. PH is the cheapest of the three, GP the highest. You can get two-bedroom apts at any of these (if available at the dates you wish to have them). I had a very large two-bedroom at Omni Tower (room 3207). I think you'd find plenty of room here for your family. HOWEVER, the location of the Omni Tower is on Sukhumvit soi 4, which has a rather seedy reputation for bars & such. I've never taken a child to this area, as I travel with DH and grown son. I've never had a problem walking from Omni to either the Nana or Ploenchit skytrain stations, whether alone or with my DH or DS.

GP location is somewhat better than Omni. It is sldo off of Sukhumvit (a main street in the shopping area) and about a 4-5 minute walk to the skytrain station at Nana.

PH does not have a pool. The other two do. PH is very basic and very clean, and also roomy, if you can get two bedrooms. The location is almost "in the heart" of the Thai shopping area (close to MBK mall). I'll be staying there in just a couple of weeks. A basic serviced studio will cost me 1200 baht per night. That's $35-40 depending on exchange rate, which is currently NOT good for the US dollar!!

Centre Pointe gets great reviews here. It's nice because of the river location. But if you plan to do a lot of shopping, then the others I mentioned above might be something to consider. Location is important in Bangkok because of traffic problems. If you can be near the skytrain station, that helps!

Carol

Second the recommendation of Centre Point silom. Excellent place. Easily accessible with the sky train as well.

Cape House Langsuan is also good. convenient access to Silom business districts. It provides serviced apartments and is a short drive to major shopping and entertainment centres in Siam Square. Chidlom Skytrain Station is 5 minutes walk away. Rooms are well designed with a living area and a kitchenette.

My husband and I stayed at Centre Point Silom last year. They were out of 1-bedroom apartments and gave us a 2-bedroom apartment. One of the bedrooms was locked since we were paying for only one bedroom. My husband figured the place with the 2-bedrooms was over 2,000 sq feet. With the 2-bedrooms, there are two full bathrooms and a half bath. We did not do any cooking, but there was a kitchen with a refrigerator. There is a grocery store on the bottom floor of the hotel that was handy for buying water and snacks. Packets of laundry detergent were provided for the washer/dryer. We found it took forever to do a load of laundry and only did the underwear and sent outer clothing out to be done. Also, each bedroom had a television, and there was a full media center in the living room. The dining area had a table that was setup with dishes and flatware for six people.

For our second stay, we had a 1-bedroom and 1-bath. It was quite large for two people but might be cramped for five people.

We really enjoyed our stay, and we will stay there again.

Here is a link to a virtual tour of Centre Point Silom.

http://www.centrepoint.com/Virtual/Silom_TwoBR.aspx

many fodorites have stayed at center point silom....they also have a number of other places around bangkok, including their newest on wireless road next to the american ambassodors house....great location...

i have toured the emporium suites, the marriott and centre point silom....all are very nice....emporium is probably the most expensive, marriott next and CP the least expenisve....we think marriott is the nicest and has the best pool area followed by emporium....emporium is right at a huge mall and you can go to a skytrain stop without going outside or climbing any stairs....great location!! all are near to sukhumvit rd....

one fodors family with 2 or 3 kids stayed at marriott last year and loved it....
all are in good locations...

www.huahin.20m.com often has good deals for rooms at these places, or at least some of them....www.asiarooms.com also....

i always suggest the marriott resort and spa to families as well.....they have the best pool area in bkk....perfect for kids....but more importantly attached to the hotel is a small mall....for kids it has a mcdonalds, burger king, video games, pizza hut, sweansons ice cream, etc....and not sex outlets which you find most other places around bkk, especially along sukhumvit....you could let them go out there on their own with no problem....

i am not sure however that they have adjoining room doors???

for two rooms the price will be more than the svcd apts however....make sure to get the breakfast at each place however...

i should have mentioned above that CP silom is right next to the skytrain station (taskim)

Emporium Suites is an outstanding service aprt - great pool, breakfast and very conveneitn location right on Emporium shopping mall and sky train. The larger apartments have small kitchenettes equipped with washer driers wich can be handy. I love the Somkid area so liked the service apartment on Soi Ton Son (whose name eldues me) but it is definitely smaller then Emporium.

I'm with Hobbes. Two thumbs way up for Emporium Suites. She has actually lived there and more than once... and that's my choice of residence,too. I have seen a LOT of serviced apartment buildings...almost all of them on soi Langsuan...Frazer, Centre Point( I think it was), Marriot Mayfair, etc...and many in other areas too...like on soi Ton Son (Chitlom)...Somerset Suan Park View building which I like, but needs renovation... and in Sathorn...the one that you mentioned...and many on Sukumvit soi 16...and on Wireless Rd., and I've stayed at the Chateau de Bangkok and as far as I'm concered it's Emporium. It's not that there's anything real wrong with the others...they're fine, but there are certain things I look for in a building....like high ceilings and wide corridors for a spacious feel, a great pool area which Emporium has along with a great gym and a spa. And a terrace that one can actually go out on which Emporium has.

A LOT of buildings in BK have low ceilings which I personally feel clostophobic in. Another thing is...how close the supermarket and internet cafe are.It's no fun having your frozen food thaw out before you get home if you have to go too far to a supermarket in hot Bangkok. Or having to lug groceries too far. Emporium's building is connected to both the Emporium office complex,Emporium Mall, Bangkok Bank, and the skytrain station...what more could one ask for? The supermarket inside of Emporium Mall is excellent. There are many western products which I can't always find at other markets...like my Amy's(Petaluma,Ca) frozen food products which the supermarket at Emporium carries...and Kettle chips...Sometimes I get a craving for these things. Plus, there are lots of restaurants, food court, a movie theater (which usually has movies that kids can go to), tons of shops, department store, a tailor down in the basement of the mall near the parking structure,an internet cafe, and many more services. And when one decides to take a taxi back to the building, the taxi driver always knows where the place is...like late at night. The other big plus is that it's walking distance to some really good restaurants. Happy Travels!

As for the kitchens at Emporium, I have a large, full kitchen... as a separate room and with a door... in an 80 square-meter studio apartment. The kitchenettes that I saw were in 65 square meter studio apartments. Lucy can comment on this as she just visited me last month and couldn't believe not only the size of my kitchen, but that it was fully equipped. Now, since the new rules went into effect again...only 1 bedroom apartment and up get to have a washer dryer.
Also, I I love the apartments facing west...park view. Hope this has helped. emporiumsuites.com Happy Travels!

in fairness guen i think we should point out that emproium is more expensive than most other places and almost twice the price of centre points...location, location, location!!!

karen and i both felt that the wide beautiful corridors were a total waste of valuable space however...

Bob...I know that Emporium is more expensive. The Oriental, Pen, and other 5 star hotels are more expensive than 3 or 4-star hotels.... it's all a matter of personal choice and I'm really glad that years ago Hobbes highly recommended Emporium Suites to me since her high recommendation ended up my choice...along with the choice of many families since there are many that stay in that building. It's not uncommon for the place to be booked solid.

As for the corridors as a waste of space...a waste of space to do what with if they weren't that wide? It's not a waste of space to me since due to the width of them, I can't hear my neighbors across the hall which is very important. I don't want to have to possibly listen to crying kids coming from all angles. And Emporium has been quite quiet although there are many families. I'm sure the mothers who have to wheel their carriages down the halls and slep groceries are happy with the wide corridors,too.

My Thai friend and I went to one serviced apartment building...no name...and as soon as we got off the elevator, we heard kids screaming from all angles. We could hear the noise from across the hall in the apartment that I was being shown. Happy Travels!

Thank you all for your great information. Both Emporium and Centre Point sound good. I will make further enquires regarding rates etc. Anyone stayed at the Ascott Sathorn? (looks really good the website).

bonita who often posts here and who is travelling in india at the moment often stays there and says it is fabulous....

its only detraction is its location....i do not find sathorn rd the most convenient place to stay from a transportation stand point....it is quite new...

jpam...As for the Ascott Sathorn...I haven't stayed there, but it was the second building that I got a walk-through of a few years ago. The apartments are beautiful. As for the price,when I was given price info on the place, it was about the same as Emporium was at that time. As to pricing I go by price in relationship to square meters, not price in relationship to number of bedrooms. I just didn't like the location of the building. It's in a bit of a dead area and I didn't see a supermarket nearby and forgot to ask where one was.

As for Emporium,contact the building directly and see what they can come up with as a rate. If you can, try to get a corporate rate as it's lower. And a seven-day or more stay is less expensive than fewer than 7 days.

Oh, and I forgot to add, that it's common to see women pushing their shopping baskets directly from the supermarket inside of Emporium mall into their apartments at the building. So, if you have to do a lot of grocery shopping, that is another convenience.

When I started my apartment search some years ago, I went on moveandstay.com and went through the whole list and then narrowed it down. I then looked at location for each place I'd selected and afterwards fortunately was able to spend time in Bangkok to look at buildings before moving into one the following trip. I'm always looking at different places as I need to have a plan B and C.

Emporium is building a brand new building on the river which is to open in August now...not April as planned. Hopefully that will take some of the overload from the Sukumvit location being that sometimes it can be difficult to get into the Sukhumvit location. Hope this has helped and good luck with the search. Happy Travels!

Remember to have a plan B and C. Some buildings might be booked solid or not have an apartment available that fits your needs. Folks do live in these buildings long term. And remember...patience...even the best of buildings can have quirks...like periodic electrical power outs among a few other things....but a flashlight is usually in the apartments. The blackouts usually don't last that long though. It's Bangkok so just be prepared to expect the unexpected. Smiles. Happy Travels!

Still doing research, and I have E-mailed some of the apartments (CP, Ascott, Emporium, Mariott etc), got a very good offer from Lebua State Tower. Anyone got some experiences with them?

Yes, I have been to that building.Had an extensive walk-through. I wrote an extensive report. In the search box type in,"Guenmai in Bangkok 2006" and "Report on Siam Ocean World...two thumbs way up!from Guenmai".
My August 2005 and Dec 2005/Jan 2006 trip reports are under those two threads.
I know that I reported on a lot of serviced apartment buildings in the first thread, but also on some in the second thread if I remember clearly. Scroll to around Dec 31,2005 where I start reporting a lot...on the first thread. I'll try to pull it up for you, but I don't have time to do it right now.

In the first thread I remember reporting on the Marriot serviced apartment building on soi langsuan.That day I went to a lot of buildings on that street. I remember it was 7,000 baht for an 84 square meter one bedroom at the Marriott as I reported. At the time I was living in Emporium for 4,950 baht for an 80 square meter studio.

As for the one you just mentioned...again...not a great location and you can't open the glass door that leads to the balcony. I reported on that situation,too. Keep searching for buildings. Don't give up!It's well wotrth it when you find a building that's suitable for your needs. Then you'll always have a "home" to return to. Happy Travels!