Blue wizard

Hanrahans is still serving good food, the Weekend roast looked the goods with heaps of veg and the half chicken option good value (same prices as pictured earlier). Saw a few other plates of food coming out of the kitchen and it all looked pretty good.

Just a heads up for anyone considering a stay here. Word from the former Night manager is that it will close late October / early November for a 5 star fit out. Maybe 12 months or more. Not known if Starbucks and the restaurant will make it through the refit.

Tower wing ? Did you stay President palace or Grand president ?

IMHO. President better location unless you never venture beyond Soi 4. Rooms a little bigger at President maybe but similar standard of fit out and Aspen has kitchenette . President pool and gym superior. Breakfast similar. Tuk Tuk at Aspen none at President. Starbucks in lobby of President handy. President has individual modems in rooms and speed OK, can't remember speed at Aspen. Aspen usually a little cheaper.

I check inn are only guilty of not answering emails. They don't charge joiner. (2014, Nana and Soi 11/1 properties) And great thread...thanks for putting in the time to contact all these hotels.

Jolski has nailed this place in post # 4 above but I'll add a few (minor) observations from my recent 2 week stay which may or may not be relevant to future patrons. The sun lounges are among the most uncomfortable I have every used with a bar under the lower portion right where your lower back settles. If you get a rear facing room morning sun may wake you as while the curtains are blackout they have gaps around the edges If you like a bit of fibre in your breakfast of the wholemeal bread or muesli variety buy some at Villa down the road

Very much appreciated Madchild. Thank you.

Hi Madchild, would it be possible for you to take a few pics of the gym ? Particularly if they have chin up bar / power rack type equipment. If not no problem.

Putting location aside I would rate Aspen at least a star above I check inn. You pay more sure, but you get more, small pool,small but well thought out gym, breakfast buffet. Better if slightly older room. If you tend to gravitate toward Soi 4 and Nana for your entertainment then location is excellent. The last few trips I've tended more toward Soi 7 and 11 so the Icheckinns in 7/1 and 11/1 were more suitable. I know Boomerang posted about expectations from budget properties and I understand that but it's been my category of choice for most of my trips so I've stayed in a fair cross section at this level and IMHO the service at the 7/1 property has declined since my first stay there. Had that service remained consistent I'd not be considering other options for my next trip. Having said that I'd also say it's a fault of so many budget places. Nice and shiny and new on dy 1 but maintenance of fixtures, fittings AND service seems to often be on a one way decline from then on. I'm staying in a popular Guesthouse in the LK area of Patts at the moment and see a similar thing happening.

Yeah, you've nailed it with the nickle and dime thing. All small gripes but the sort of things that have people who would otherwise be regulars looking for alternatives. I'd been hoping to settle on this one, mostly because while it was at least on par with similarly priced options in the nana area it had superior location BTS wise. To me, after this last stay, location is it's only advantage. The 11/1 icheckinn property, Boss suites, Salil 8, even Woraburi with a small pool and OK breakfast outdo it for service.

I'm downgrading my previous review on this place. For 2 reasons, the first already mentioned in regards to towels but I'll take it further and comment that house keeping in general is pretty hit and miss. Sometimes I have a hand towel, sometimes not.I booked a double, why do I have to ask for a second bath towel ? Replenishment of soap and shampoo...pot luck. Same quilt cover and bottom sheet now for a week, WTF. Good thing i've been crook and not had anyone back to the loom. I know asking will get it sorted but ya shouldn't have to. The second problem is out of their control but still a killer for me. Every night ALL night deep base thumping, maybe it's just impacting the lower floors (I'm on 3, didn't hear it last time on 4). Wandered down to reception at 4 this morning and she thought it was from the "sip song" bar next door. Strange thing is can't hear it from the street. (I first thought it was some dickhead in a car) Anyway, that's my gripe, for now.

Stayed here recently. The initial review and follow ups pretty much cover it all but I though I'd share some thoughts. I'd stayed at the soi 11 property before so i knew what to expect room wise. Very similar (bathrooms different) but this property is in better condition as you'd expect being newer. Wasn't expecting to have issues with noise as per previous reviews but I was surprised at just how quiet it was given it's location. I stayed in Deluxe room 40 something (1280 b / night) and looked down on DrBJ which made for some interesting people watching. Friendly staff, secure ID taking process which might be too much hassle for some but I like it. They call when your squeeze leaves but I'd unplugged my phone to stop the bright LED flashing at night so reception came up and checked everything was OK in person...nice touch. Friendly staff, good wifi, DVD player and flat screen TV. One bad point was the useless light above the vanity for shaving...but that's something I've found in probably 80% of places I've stayed in Thailand. Location location. What a self contained little soi 7/1 is, best money exchange, straight and shonky massage, straight and shonky bars, plenty of food options, Bangkok beat and metres from the BTS. If it had a 7/11 you'd never need to leave it. Until you'd been through the selection next door of course !

Reasonable deal running at the moment, works out to roughly 1410 baht per night once you add the taxes for deluxe inc BF. Deal only on for a couple days though. http://www.asiawebdirect.com/thailand/bangkok/sukhumvit/aspen-suites-bangkok-nana-sukhumvit-hotel/?pCode=72HRSALE&cid=edm:awd:accom:asia:72hrsale_20140418_booknow:v2

I stayed here in August and rate it as good value if you get it at around 1500 baht inc BF. The rooms and facilities / common areas are probably a step up from most 1500 hotels that are better located...and that's really the only downside of the place...it never bothered me because I walk everywhere anyway and the girls didn't seem to mind the stroll or you can grab the Tuk Tuk. It's 100 m down the little sub soi that Woraburi (also worth a look, slightly cheaper) is on the corner of. Massage spa on the mezanine level which I never used but the girls were always ready with a smile. Breakfast buffet was typical of this price point but I think finished at 10, could be wrong on that might have been 1030. Pool is open air but no direct sun, looked clean but I didn't use it. Small basic gym which was a selling point for me but of course the bike which I wanted to use had no seat (some might not mind a bit of bum action but a seat post up the freckle ain't my idea of a good night out) and one of the universal stations had a buggered cable. Only time will tell if they maintain their equipment or as is typical of a lot of places they just let things go downhill. Bar with pool table on the ground level. All the staff I dealt with were friendly and competent. Paid extra for 6 pm checkout (700 baht) no drama with that, it's fair. In summary...if you don't mind the location it is a good option. If it were 300 metres closer to Suk you'd be paying somewhere between 1800 and 2000 for the place IMHO.

Thought I'd try something different back in November and at 1400 baht on their own website Salil seemed like pretty good value with wifi and BF inc. Reviews were reasonable and I had no problems with its location about 150 m from the end of the soi. An email to the Salil group confirmed it was GF though my mate and I only took GG's back. Any LB action was at Nana ST rooms. Superior rooms were small but well laid out. I had room 26 which was at the back of the building looking out on the concrete jungle while my mate in room 21 had a small bay window alcove with a day bed sort of thing which gave the impression of a bit more space and was a comfortable place to relax while we shared stories from the night before. Safe, fridge, tea and coffee OTH, wall mounted flat screen TV (though channel selection for english speakers was ordinary), card entry and comfortable beds though we both asked for lower pillows from housekeeping who were friendly and helpful. Wifi was OK in rooms and good in the lobby. I had a long narrow bathroom with tiled modern shower area at one end while my mates room was more conventional with shower over bath. The fittings / tiled areas in both bathrooms were showing their age and their were some hard to get at places that were being neglected by the cleaning staff but the hot water was good and everything worked. The buffett breakfast was limited but given the place has less than 30 rooms it was equal to my expectations. Eggs to order always a positive. YMMV. Limited seating in the indoor part of the cafe where breakfast was served meant sharing tables at peak times but no problem for me. Seating outside for considerate smokers. Free golf cart down to Suk or a 10 minute walk. Location wise, if you don't mind a walk back from Suk (if the cart passes they'll pick you up and probably could have rung reception to get a pick up) it's great. Very little traffic so quiet at night, short cut near the start of the soi past Lolitas and onto soi 6 out onto soi 4 was handy. Easy BTS access or use the Station promenade to cross over onto the odd side of Suk. All in all...recommended at the price point. (pics lifted from Trip advisor)