Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

Sponsored Review

Singaporeans love Bangkok, but recently I have began to appreciate Thailand even more, after staying at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. Voted the World’s best hotel by readers of many leading magazines, this hotel is the Top Choice for travellers who want to enjoy luxury and service as they go for a holiday in Bangkok, Thailand.

Check out the magnificent views that greeted us the moment we entered the lobby. Simply Jaw-dropping!!! Nothing but Superlatives to describe this hotel!

Located on the Banks of the Chao Phraya River, the Mandarin Oriental is away from the busy areas of Pratunam Market and other shopping malls. This is a place, where you go to relax and basically enjoy your holiday.

If you have kids and are wondering  whether there are any public amenities nearby, do not fret! The kids were overjoyed with the hotel as there was a Mcdonald’s and a Starbucks for Daddy, just 10 minutes away by foot. The hotel also offers private shuttle boats, which provide daily access to the nearest Skytrain station (Saphan Taksin) and River City Shopping Centre. Therefore, travelling to the city is really very convenient.

From the pictures, I guess you can see why the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok is the No.1 choice for celebrities. Built in 1876, she is the old grand lady of service,style and grace. For Singaporeans, the hotel is the equivalent to the Raffles Hotel Singapore but much much more. The hosts of celebrities who have stayed here are Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, David Beckham, George W. Bush, Prince Charles and Princess Diana. This is definitely the hotel of choice for the rich and famous!

After checking in, we were excited to see the family room, where we were hosted to stay in. And, we were in for the sweetest and most pleasant SURPRISE! Placed on the coffee table of the family room, was a toy train made of chocolate, filled with macaroons, marshmallows and sweets. It was the “sweetest” welcome that one could wish for, and a definite BIG HIT with the kids!   (We found out later that the Pastry Chef took 3 hours to make this creation for us! Truly Amazing!!!)

Besides having to face the temptation of snacking non-stop, we were welcomed into the room by our friendly butler. Every floor in the Mandarin Oriental is serviced by it’s own butler, who goes out of the way to know every guest, and to make sure that every guest’s whim and fancy is looked into.  All a guest would need to do, is to press a button at one’s bedside, and the Butler will be alerted via his pager.

And the first thing that our Butler Chatchai brought to us were welcome drinks! There were juices for the adults and Milk Shakes for the kids! Besides the food and beverages, the kids were also welcomed with “Angry Bird” Caps, and a little Miniature “Tuk Tuk”. Our welcome was made even warmer, as we were blessed to be served by Chatchai, who has been working in the hotel for more than 30 years.

And if you are wondering what the room is like? Check out our piece of Thai heaven for the next 2 nights?

Just one phrase to describe our room…”We LOVED IT!!!”

There was plenty of space for the kids to run around and with the pan0romic views of the river, we were in 7th heaven.

Besides the wonderfully sized rooms, the Mandarin Oriental is always looking into the finer details. For example, they had an in-built shoe rack that was flush into the wall next to the door. This means that all our shoes could be neatly hidden away from the public eye, and not tossed everywhere along the corridor. This definitely made the room neater and cleaner!

The service finesse of the Mandarin Oriental was seen throughout our stay at the Hotel. After going for a walk around the hotel, we came back and realized that our Butler had prepared mini cocktails for us! What a pleasant surprise!

With it’s emphasis on size and luxurious living, the whole family loved the toilets at the Mandarin Oriental. Built bigger than the size of a Singapore HDB room, there was more than enough space for Daddy and Mummy to use the toilet simultaneously. As a frequent traveller, whenever Daddy goes to hotels, I will regularly use their toiletries. However, Daddy was in for a SURPRISE at the Mandarin Oriental. The Amazing thing was that when I came back to the room, the toiletries were replaced with brand new items! The shower Gel and shampoo was replaced with brand new bottles. They even replaced the soap that I used with a brand new one, within the same day!!! And Yes! they do this every day!!!

Their service excellence was further seen when we went out for a short excursion to the nearby Supermarket. When we came back there were bathrobes placed on the bed by our butler and bedroom slippers placed at every bedside. The whole family felt thoroughly pampered by the thoughtful service of our butler.

Check out my little Male Abercombie model, who was more than willing to model for Daddy after his bath!

If you like what you see so far, do check out Part 2 of our report on the Mandarin Oriental, as we will bring you around to explore the other opulent rooms within this historically beautiful hotel.