Novotel Fenix Silom hotel, Bangkok
Stay: May, 2016
A nice welcome and attentive, efficient staff made check-in a joy. My flight arrived very early, and I was at the hotel before 7am. Although they didn’t have a room for me then, I was safely ensconced by 9am – which is an excellent five hours before normal hotel check-in time.
The hotel is located at the far end of Silom, closer to Surasak BTS (sky train) station than to Sala Daeng, which is at the heart of the Silom / Patpong tourist area.
The room was well designed, comfortably decorated, reasonably spacious for a standard offering and had an interesting view of the Bangkok skyline looking at and beyond the gold-domed Lebua Tower and one of the famous “ghost buildings” (towers that were abandoned during construction due to the early 2000s Asian financial crisis and remain as stark monuments to that era).
The bathroom was well appointed with a soap and shampoo caddy on the vanity basin, and a large shower that had both ceiling and hose fittings. Water pressure was strong and the temperature easy to alter (not always the case).
There were some glitches with the door mechanism, which meant I was twice unable to get in the room and the batteries in the unit had to be replaced.
Happily, the staff attended to this quickly and efficiently. My other concern was with the lifts — two didn’t seem enough for the size of the hotel, especially around breakfast and checkout times, when lifts were slow to arrive and full.
The breakfast selection was quite good, including an egg station, although for hygiene reasons I wasn’t very keen on the shared jars of jam and other spreads, and balls of butter that exposed to the elements (and whatever bugs the other guests might cough up or sneeze out).
I guess, however, that that’s a “greener” option than individual packets.
Verdict: a comfortable stay in a quieter part of town, with friendly service.
After four weeks US$ 20 per individual.