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badfishlbc
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I decided to take a little chance on a hotel I saw with some decent reviews on Agoda and TripAdvisor. To be honest, I didn't expect much and ended up being pleased.
I booked the room on Agoda which had the lowest rate. Currently, a single night rate is about 2396 for the Deluxe room and 2723 for the Grand Deluxe room. But I needed the room for 3 nights and they have a 3 nights for the price of 2 promotion running. I booked the Grand Deluxe for 1815 per night, the Deluxe is 1597 and includes ABF. After 385 baht tax per night, it works out to be almost exactly 2200 baht per night. As soon as I got my confirmation from Agoda, I headed straight to the hotel.
The hotel is about a 2-3 minute walk from Sukhumvit on Soi 22. There's a parking lot at the street level with elevators that will go straight up to the floor you're staying on. The lobby is on the 2nd floor. The bell boy downstairs took my luggage and told me to check in on the 2nd floor. I walked up to the counter expecting confusion because I booked through Agoda and wasn't sure if it was all confirmed yet. There were 4 girls at the counter and they were very quick to assist. I told them I booked through Agoda and one of them went in the back room to check on that while another was setting me up with my room on the computer. About 10 minutes later, they had my keycard ready for me. The reviews I read indicated that the staff were poorly trained, I think they got the kinks worked out now.
One of the girls at the desk walked me to the elevator and would show me to my room. The hallways are very modern and have a beautiful chic feel to them. Upon opening the door, I was surprised at the quality of the room. A lot of these boutique hotels utilize cheap furnishings, this one does not. The bed is surprisingly comfortable, quality sheets, 4 big fluffy pillows. There's a built in sofa on the wall which is quite comfy. Safe is big enough most any notebook (never understood why you'd ever want put one in there anyhow). Though the room is not large, you don't really feel cramped. It's well appointed, very well laid out, doesn't seem have have any design quirks.
The bathroom is large for the size of the room, a nice bathtub with strong water pressure and a rainfall showerhead. The bathing area is closed by a large sliding glass door. There is a large, opaque sliding window next to the bathtub that opens up to the living area. Doesn't seem to have any way to lock it so your TG will have to deal with you opening the window at will. Sink is well laid out and there is a hairdryer. Towels are nice and fluffy.
The closet is an open design. I actually prefer it this way without doors. The workstation area is quite nice. There's a panel with HDMI, VGA, USB, audio, video feeds and an ethernet port. Those feeds go to the TV. The wireless internet access is speedy, not the highest bandwith I've had but more than sufficient for anyone who isn't trying to download movies on bittorrent. I ran a speedtest and got 1.03 MB down and around 426kbps up.
The TV is a large Samsung 42" LCD. The channels are clear and there are lots of channels. These TV signal is as clear as any TV signal I've ever had here. I just stayed at the new Adelphi Grande and though it's new, the channels were poor quality.
There's a pool on the 9th floor. It's a nice pool with some bubbling jets, there are lounge chairs that sit in the water on a shallow platform. The water was warm so I suspect it's a heated pool. The diner appears to be on the 2nd floor where you check in. I don't think there's a gym. Next to the pool, I found another elevator bringing the total number of elevators to 3.
Location wise it seems to be kind of in the middle between Asoke and Phrom Phong BTS station. So it's a good 10 minute walk to the BTS I suspect. But it's not a bad, treacherous walk on a narrow sidewalk or anything like that. I didn't think it was that bad walking over to Asoke. On Soi 22, it's situated right next to a bunch of small bars that have pool tables and cheap drinks. There's a lot to do in and around the area. Good amount of street food and there is a FamilyMart about 50 meters from the hotel. Lots of little restaurants on the Soi and in the sub-sois. Across the street in a small alley are a few laundry places, one of them SuperWhite has an English speaking woman and the prices are very reasonable. I dropped off a load for about 100 baht. I just walked out again and this is a very busy Soi, tons of cars, tons of restaurants with all kinds of food, almost everything you could want is on this soi. Internet cafes, several exchange outlets including SuperRich, tons of travel agencies, several TTM places, small bars, etc. Further down Soi 22, I spotted Imperial Queens Park hotel and past that was Admiral Suites which looked kind of like a dump. On the way toward Sukhumvit, I spotted the sign for Sazanka so it looks like a little opening toward Washington Square.
I've stayed at a lot of hotels and serviced apartments in BKK. Just completed a stay at Adelphi Grande and the 5 star Grand Millenium. I gotta say that this is one of my favorite hotels now. It's charming, modern, well situated and an unbelievable value at the price I got it for.
Cons, so far I've only heard of the cons. Like on the other side of the building there is supposedly some noise coming from a club next door. I don't hear any of it in my room but do hear some background street noise, not annoying really. I believe this hotel is girl friendly though I have to test that. The downstairs elevator from the garage lifts straight to the rooms so it leads me to believe getting girls in and out should be easy unless that night watchman makes an issue of it. The room is a bit small but I don't really care because it's very functional. The other con is that Tim doesn't have it on his site yet! 
Overall, this hotel does it right. The person that designed the room deserves and award. Boutique in BKK used to mean chic and dysfunctional but these rooms are just right. Comfy bed, good bathroom, quality furnishings. This hotel has only been open a few months and if it's maintained properly and the rates stay this low this will be one of the best hotel deals in town. As for pictures, my camera isn't working but you can trust the pictures on the website.
http://www.istyletrendhotel.com
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:27 am on Feb. 10, 2010
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LarryO
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My! I think I will book right away. Great to get a personal recommendation & not just some advertorial written by someone trying it on. NOT
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 5:30 pm on Feb. 10, 2010
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Wanderingsam
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The prices on the website are very high. Not anything like the poster is suggesting.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:41 pm on Feb. 10, 2010
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Buttman 007
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If you read his review, the poster said that he got his room rates from Agoda.
Actually, I appreciate the thorough review and might even stay there in a month as a result. The hotel looks quite nice, and I'm always anxious to try something new.
Thanks badfish!
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 12:36 am on Feb. 11, 2010
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badfishlbc
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The deal I booked through Agoda, not through the hotel website. Agoda has the guaranteed lowest rate for this hotel.
Just an update, it is girl friendly. Got a nice freebie from a corporate girl at the Londoner last night and brought her back. I don't remember seeing a night guard though we were pretty buzzed after hitting up Titanium which is on the way back.
You can hear some traffic noise in the morning though it's not that bad. My unit is closer to the front, if you get one near the back and away from the bars I think you will probably have a silent room. Also, you can hear the doors close in the hallway. Again, not a deal breaker for me.
Laundry came back from Super White laundry across the street in the alley. Really well done, I highly recommend it.
I'm surprised at how some hotels skimp on the bathroom amenities. For instance, Adelphi Grande didn't have a 110v outlet and no outlets in the restroom though you can borrow an inverter from them. The bathroom here has one and it also has 2 toothbrushes (came in handy this morning), comb, shower cap, sewing kit, cotton ear buds, nail files, and box of cotton balls. There is a liquid soap dispenser at the sink for washing your hands, again just a small but nice touch. The minibar has a box of condoms. The couch is comfy enough and big enough to take a nap on.
I turned on the clean room sign and walked the girl to the taxi, then picked up laundry, came back and the maid was cleaning my room already. She must have been lurking around somewhere waiting for just me to leave because it couldn't have been more than 5 minutes. Before the maid left she asked me if I needed anything else, I thought that was a nice touch, usually the maids just say "Set laew ka." Woke up too late to eat breakfast this morning so I'll check on it tomorrow. Not sure how many people are staying here as the service seems too good that it must be a fluke. Really enjoying Soi 22 as well, so much to do here...
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:38 am on Feb. 11, 2010
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Wanderingsam
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Buttman, I agree, just pointing out that the website for the hotel has not rates even close to what badfishlbc got. I use Agoda frequently. You just have to be careful with the addition of taxes and booking fees.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:43 pm on Feb. 11, 2010
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badfishlbc
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This morning I woke up to have breakfast. I heard some construction noises from the building next door. Not obscenely loud but definitely audible. Noise seems to make it through these sliding glass doors, I can hear Tuk Tuk's right now. Again, I believe a room further toward the back and maybe higher up is less prone to noise. Noise is this hotel's biggest drawback. The complaints of noise on the other side next to the bars I believe management talked to the bar owners already as even at night they are not blasting the music that loud. I saw on Tripadvisor that management was trying to do something about it last month.
Breakfast spread wasn't huge but was good and extremely clean. The service was impeccable. I ordered 2 eggs over easy and stood around waiting as the omelet station guy was preparing eggs for some other people. They asked me to sit down and they would bring it over. It came sunny side up and I told the waiter who would bring it back perfectly over easy 3 minutes later. Breakfast, I heard, changes up every day a bit. Today there were beans, chicken sausage, shrimp fried rice, homestyle potatoes. That's in addition to the fruit, bacon, croissants, rolls, brie, blue cheese, salami, prosciutto, and some other things.
I noticed the lounge on the same floor toward the front of the building. It's pretty nice. It's just one floor above the street level and it's very large open windows which gives you a unique perspective. Might have to have a drink in there to check it out at night.
The trick to getting the best rate on this hotel is book your stay in multiples of 3 since it's 3 nights for the price of two and use Agoda.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:45 am on Feb. 12, 2010
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jgm005
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Badfish,
Your write ups are very much appreciated. I am always looking for a new place to put my head down.
SPECIAL NOTE:
If you book through AGODA for a stay before 01/April you will get the rates as noted by badfish. After 31/March the rates JUMP UP.
The stay 3 pay 2 promo ends 30/June on the hotels website. So I find this a bit strange. I worked the dates to find this out.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:18 am on Feb. 12, 2010
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badfishlbc
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jgm005 no problem. I'm not sure how long this promotion lasts. As long as it's this price, it's very hard to beat.
I had to extend my trip an extra day so I called the front desk to see what rate they could give me. They advised me to use my agent (Agoda) again for the best deal.
I went online and booked the Deluxe room to get one of two possible results. Either they let me stay in my room for the price of the Deluxe or I move to a Deluxe room. Since it was only for a day, the room was quite a bit pricier. It worked out to about $84, I don't know why the tax is higher for a single night then it is for 2 nights. Single night tax is over 500 baht whereas for 2 nights is 300 per night. Go figure. Anyhow, I forgot to mention Agoda gives you the option to charge THB or USD, the USD rate seems to be a bit cheaper when you do the math (saved $4).
I went down to eat breakfast immediately after booking. Breakfast ran out of bacon but they were quick to replace it. Had a good omelette. Today's spread was chicken fried rice, chicken sausage, pork kielbasa, beans, stewed beef, homestyle potatoes and most of the usual stuff (yogurt, croissants, breads, cheeses, salami, parma ham, pineapple, salad, etc).
So I decided to check with the desk what we could do about my room situation. She could let me keep my room if I work with Agoda to change my booking to a Grand Deluxe or she could move me to the Deluxe room. I decided to see what the Deluxe room was like so she gave me a new set of keycards and asked if I needed help moving. I politely declined and packed my things up to move to the new room on the 5th floor further toward the back (away from the street). On the 5th floor I ran into a maid who recognized me, smiled and asked if I was moving rooms. I opened the door and I'll be damned the rooms are no different. I don't know if front desk girl was trying to be nice or what, but I won't complain. This room is identical in size and appearance except now I've got flowers everywhere to welcome me as a new guest. I can't find any difference other than that the walls around the desk have a few more scratches from the office chair. Moving away from the street I can hear an audible difference in street noise. Again, your main qualm if you stay here will probably be noise so try to stay in the back on the side of the hotel away from those bars.
At ~2900 baht for a single night stay it's fair but I would definitely start comparing because you can get a decent serviced apartment which will be larger and you'll have a kitchenette and washer/dryer and a gym. At this stage in my trip which has been over 2 months long, I'd rather pay to have my laundry done across the street and have all the conveniences of this good location as well as the excellent service of the staff here. I don't use the gym so much anymore, rarely cook and the washer dryers that a lot of these serviced apartments have only perform OK at best. So 3 nights for 2, at around 2200 a night for the Grand Deluxe is a no brainer, best deal I can think of right now. You might think about booking just the plain Deluxe room because if this room I am in is a deluxe room, there is no difference. I'll ask tomorrow after I check out.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 9:42 pm on Feb. 12, 2010
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jgm005
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Another informative post. Will be interested in what type of room you got moved too.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:27 am on Feb. 13, 2010
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