Bangkok isn’t short of places to stay – whatever your budget. It’s particularly good if you’re looking for luxury accommodation at prices far cheaper than Europe or North America. For our first two nights in Thailand, we opted for the So Sofitel Bangkok – and were impressed by the experience.
Location
So Sofitel Bangkok is located opposite Lumphini Park, and has an MRT station located five minutes away. After landing at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, we opted to take an Uber to the hotel, which cost 375THB, or approximately β¬9.50.
The location was good. You can take the MRT directly to Sukhumvit for shopping, food and nightlife. In contrast, Lumphini Park is a welcome open space in the vast, and often congested Bangkok.
We mainly used Uber whilst in the city, and paid 184THB (β¬4.70) to get to Wat Arun, 234THB (β¬6) back to the hotel from the Grand Palace and 66THB (β¬1.70) to Sukhumvit.
Arrival
As I’m a Platinum member of Le Club Accor, upon arrival we were escorted to the Club Lounge. We were offered a refreshing welcome drink, as well as breakfast, had we wanted it.
The Room
The hotel has 4 room themes – Earth, Wood, Water and Metal. We were allocated a ‘Water’ themed room, and these are located on the top floors of the hotel. We were in the ‘So Comfy’ room grade, and were impressed with our accommodation on the 26th floor. The decor was well done, and the bathroom was particularly nice. As always at Sofitel, the bed was amazing, the only negative point being that it makes getting up that little bit harder.
The room included a number of useful perks. This included Apple mini multimedia entertainment, which was particularly good for playing music – with speakers in the bedroom and bathroom. There was also a coffee machine, as well as a complimentary minibar which was stocked with water and juices – a nice addition. The in-room amenities were of an excellent quality too – with separate ‘His’ and ‘Her’ amenities, or in our case, a double set of the first.
The views from our room of Lumphini were particularly good, and if staying again I’d definitely want to be on this side of the hotel.
Leisure
One of the main reasons for booking the So Sofitel was the infinity pool – and we weren’t disappointed. There were an adequate number of sunbeds and the pool was a good size, but I can see that during peak season it could feel a little crowded. The views from the pool, however, were great. We had a good couple of hours here. The hotel also had a spacious gym with plenty of equipment.
Bars and Lounges
The So Sofitel has three bars, and two restaurants, but we only tried out the Hi-So Rooftop Bar. With a live DJ and panoramic views of the Bangkok Skyline it was a fun place to spend the evening, although prices were considerably more than you’d pay elsewhere in the city (as you’d probably expect). The atmosphere, however, was great.
If you’re staying in a Club room or higher, or are a Le Club Accor Platinum member, you’ll have access to the Club Millesime Lounge on the 25th floor. In our case, the latter applied, and we were impressed by the service.Β The staff in the lounge were superb. During the day from 6.30am to 10.30am breakfast is provided, between 2.30pm and 4.30pm afternoon tea, and between 5pm and 7pm evening cocktails and canapes. We were impressed by all three of these, and particularly enjoyed the evening drinks, with views of the sunset over Bangkok.
Conclusions
We had a great stay, and could quite happily have stayed for longer at the So Sofitel Bangkok. We also stayed at the Pullman King Power during our time in Bangkok, but this one was definitely our favourite. In fact it, was our favourite hotel of all those we visited in Thailand. We particularly liked the style of the hotel, along with the pool which is a great place to relax in the centre of Bangkok. When returning, we’d definitely return, and perhaps try out one of the other themed rooms to see how they compare.
You can check out more of our hotel reviews here.
