I'm a big fan of this hotel and we have booked the Krungthep Wing through my agent several times in the past.

It's been a while and we thought we would visit Bangkok again (april / may 2006). My agent can't get rates for the Krungthep wing and no brochures or web sites i've come across offer prices for that wing (they seem to list every other possible room combination though). The only site that has any prices for the Krungthep Wing is the Shangri La site.

Does anyone know why this might be the case? Is this wing being redeveloped, knocked down or sold off?

I find it strange that the only people who will sell me a room are Shangri La - themselves. You used to be able to easily book this wing on the web. Deluxe wing rooms at their other hotels (e.g. Valley Wing at Singapore) seem readily available at independant web sites.

If anyone knows of a good site selling rooms in the Krungthep Wing I'd be glad to know.

Why not think outside the box and book at the Penn or the Oriental for a different experience.

I've stayed at the Peninsula before, fantastic hotel, but I felt more comfortable at the Shangri La in the Krungthep Wing. Most of the Staff addressed us by name after day 1, which never happened at the Pen, and I love those balcony's. If I can't get the Krungthep Wing at a competitive rate, I will probably book the Peninsula.

The Oriental, whilst it gets loads of plaudits, is more expensive - both in terms of room rate and restaurant prices. The Balcony rooms are out of my price range. It's also quite a hike from the skytrain station.

I agree with you on the Oriental comments- the value is not there for what they charge. I'm a little surprised about your balcony comments as we really don't look for a balcony given that it is so hot we would not want to be standing out on the balcony.

Agree with you during the day, but we find it very romantic (blush) in the evening

If you are a big fan of the shangrila I would think you would love the Pen. I'm not a fan of either (much prefer the Oriental) but since you obviously like generic modern ultra deluxe I would definitely recommend the Pen although the location is not as good.

Have you tried putting in a specific request with sawadee.com? They are very helpful.

Yes, sawadee have Krungthep balcony rooms on their website. http://www.sawadee.com/bangkok/shangrila

one thing that i have not seen reported here is that a large part of that wing has been converted to serviced apartments as of my last stay....this may be part of the reason...

Which "wing" - Krungthep or shangri-la - looks downriver in the direction of the Oriental hotel. I remember one year there and the Views were fantastic!

the khungrep wing is at an angle to the river so you must mean that one...the sh-la wing is square to the river...

From what I can see the Sawadee site doesn't guarantee that the balcony room will be in the Krungthep Wing. It implies you could be allocated a balcony room in the much larger and busier Shangri La wing.

It would still appear that the only site I can find that actually gurantees a Krungthep Wing room is Shangri La's own site.

I had heard something about most of the wing being turned into long term apartments. The Hotel may feel they few enough roms to sell themselves (and presumably save on commission)

Walter,
Don't forget that you can get a balcony room at the Pen. They are located in the "center" of the building, and the views are not quite so wide ranging as in the regular deluxe rooms. DH and I had a balcony room once, and yes, we did enjoy it!!

www.asiarooms.com will let you book specifically in the Krungthep wing

Added to Jim0884 site, Circle of Asia also shows this wing at $187 with no breakfast.
http://www.circleofasia.com/thailand/bangkok/

Thanks for the tips - I usually keep an eye on asiarooms.com - I think they may have only just put their post Easter rates up.

Thanks for the help!