Just spent 8 nights at the Mercure on Soi 11 and thought I'd offer up my take.
I had a King room with shower and bathtub, one of several options. It's not their largest or their smallest room, but was plenty large for my needs (photos below).
I arrived at midnight, and check-in was quick and simple. I purchased a room without the breakfast add-on, as I like to explore various breakfast options around town. I booked well in advance, while prices were still depressed by Covid, so got a rate of about $86/night. When I checked in, the rate being offered at that time was about $112.
My room was on the 16th floor and away from Soi 11, so as quiet as a room will get in that part of town. I had no issues with noise
A funny moment: I was only interested in sleeping after a 27 hour trip with a 15 hour time change, but could not figure out how to turn off the room lights. I searched everywhere (I thought) for the switches, finally calling the front desk to send someone up. The control for the room lights (nearly all of them) was in the middle of the bed headboard, hiding behind a stack of pillows.
Description of room:
The room was plenty spacious, and had pretty much everything I would want. The king bed was comfortable and the bed linens were high quality. Four large pillows. There was a desk with two chairs, and an additional two guest chairs with a small table. Opposite the bed there was a small storage unit with two drawers for clothes, and a flat screen TV above it. TV worked fine and was decent sized, but I never watched any TV. To the left of this, towards the door to the room and the door to the bathroom, was a platform to set luggage on, a small fridge (not a minibar), and then a closet with a decent sized safe (big enough for a laptop). Across from the closet was the door to the bathroom. As mentioned, the bathroom had both a glass-enclosed shower, with adjustable/handheld shower head and a rainfall shower head. Across from the shower was a full tub with an adjustable/handheld shower head (for some reason, many Thai girls seem to prefer to shower in the tub...I don't get it). Tub had a wall mounted soap dispenser, shower had wall mounted soap, shampoo, and conditioner dispensers. Next to the shower was a toilet with the essential bum gun, and next to it a shower and sink with ample room for storage of toiletries.
Pros:
Comfortable bed
Good AC that was easy to control air speed and room temp
Great hot water. It was easy to control, and never ran low.
Two large bath sheets and two smaller bath towels
Plenty of seating for guests. Chairs came in handy for sex as well.
Housekeeping was responsive to requests for extra towels, hangers, etc. I tipped daily.
Good reading lights by the bed.
Cons:
Lighting was hard to control. No dimming, and ceiling lights were either all on or all off.
No power outlets next to the bed! Charging phones had to be done at the desk or on top of the fridge. This was a nuisance.
Aside from liquid soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion, there were no other amenities in the bathroom. No plastic hair cover for the girls, etc.
Fridge was on the small side. Room for a few drinks and not much else.
The Hotel:
The lobby is nothing fancy. From the driveway you walk through sliding glass doors, across a seating area with a concierge stand, past the elevators (one left, one right), and to the actual reception desks. One of the two hotel restaurants (Lily Fu's) is on the ground floor to the right of the hotel entrance, and can be entered from inside or outside the hotel. Another restaurant (Gaucho Argentinean Steakhouse) is loosely affiliated with the hotel and is just to the left of the hotel.
The hotel has a parking garage (4 levels), a pool, bar, and gym that sit above the parking garage, and 16 floors of rooms (1-16, minus 13th, plus a Penthouse level). I spent a fair amount of time at the pool. One of the better pools I've used. There are actually two pools: a smaller and very shallow splash pool for kids and a larger pool, still fairly shallow (1.2 meters) for swimming. The pool is surround by ample seating of various sorts with shade for the sun-averse. The bar sits at one end of the pool, and has a decent drink and food menu. Neither cheap nor overpriced. The gym, glass enclosed and looking out over the pool, was also very good, with plenty of cardio and weight machines.
Pros:
Lobby easy to negotiate. It's a decent walk (of shame?) to the elevators, but you have the option of skipping the desk and taking your guests straight to your room. Elevators require a room key to get to a particular floor, so no surprise guests will appear at your door (as has happened to me at other hotels).
Breakfast buffet at Lily Fu's is excellent, at 299 baht. Egg station, all the usual options for American/English breakfast, tons of Asian options, good selection of fruit, juices, breads and pastries, coffees and teas, etc. One can sit open air in the front of the restaurant facing Soi 11 or sit back further inside or at the bar.
In the evening, Lily Fu's is a bar/restaurant and is pretty active. Good drink options, reasonably priced, and usually quite crowded. The food is primarily pan-Asian and good, but there are better options, so I only had a quick meal there one time when convenience was key.
Gym was great and never crowded.
Pool would get busy, but there was always ample seating.
Cons:
The hotel is definitely a family hotel. Not exclusively so, but if you're a shy monger just know that you'll be dealing with lots of couples on vacation, families with kids, and so forth. The clients were incredibly diverse, a little United Nations. Didn't bother me at all, but I know some here prefer hotels that cater primarily to mongers. I'm afraid there are fewer and fewer of those, and they are generally not the best hotels.
Pool area could get noisy when a few families with kids would show up. The pool is my reading area, and shouting kids are distracting.
Come on the early side for breakfast. At least while I was in town the restaurant got quite crowded by 9:30. Fortunately, I'm an early riser.
Conclusion:
Depending on the rate I can get, I'd definitely stay again. Did I mention that Cindy's Secrets is about 100 yards from the hotel, and that it's a short walk to Check In Bar? And that Soi 11 really has lots of options for food at any time of day, and plenty of nightlife. By 9 pm freelancers show up along Soi 11 closer to Sukhumvit. I definitely preferred staying here over Soi 4. Soi 11 is now also the hub for the mobile marijuana dispensaries. There were at least ten vans selling marijuana along Soi 11 (and tons of dispensaries along Sukhumvit), including two vans parked in front of the Mercure in the evenings. Didn't imbibe. I liked getting in walks to the skytrain from the hotel (maybe 5 minutes), and Terminal 21 is just a 10 minute walk.
The morning I left, at 5 am, there were four girls from Cindy's sitting in front of my hotel, so I went out and chatted with them. The street was still pretty active, but mostly filled with bargirls and freelancers ending their nights by getting something to eat or drink. I don't think Soi 11 ever sleeps.
Backstory
My work requires meticulous planning, but when it comes to social occasions, the average Thai has better planning skills than me.
So here I was at midday on Christmas Day, nursing a hangover and thinking where can I go for Christmas Lunch?
I live on soi 13 and whilst having a lung torpedo on the balcony, I looked down to the soi for inspiration and saw two very easy options - The German Beer House or the Red Lion...
OK that was easy, Red Lion it is.
Crimbo Lunch
By the time I got myself together it was around 1700, which was fine, as by my logic, most Brits eat Christmas lunch around 1500, so there should be some tables free. I crossed over the soi and walked in and luckily the theory was right. They also served until 2000 that night.
There were 2 options: main course only for THB 595 or 3 courses for 895. I decided on the latter.
The food options harkened back to the 1970s, which was fine by me, so I chose the prawn cocktail to start, washed down with a bottle of water as I couldn't face any more booze.
For the main course they offered turkey and ham with all the trimmings. It was served on a very large plate, so what looked small,, was actually very large. You could not fault the serving size or the quality of the main course.
For dessert I had the traditional Christmas pudding and another bottle of water.
Service was excellent, it was busy and I was lucky to get a table, as it filled up with what seemed like a second sitting around 1730.
I'd give it 8/10 for what was a last minute decision. Very good value and close(ish) to original food, as I remembered it.
They also have a happy hour every day up until 2000 with cheap beer and they serve Baht Buster breakfasts, which I will give a try over Christmas, as they are served up until midday.
The only 2 negatives I had (which were minor) were
a. The prawn cocktail had onions in it, which I've never come across before and the raw onions overpowered the taste of the rest.
b. The Christmas pudding was served as a slice. I have never seen that before either.
I'd recommend the Red Lion overall and now have a go-to Christmas place for next year!
SAG
I rate Hyatt Regency, not as the best hotel but the best location (for mongers), on corner of Soi 13 Sukhumvit. Price around 7000 THB per night depending on season. I have seen it cheaper but 7K seems to be the average. Suites go for 13,000 THB per night. Great buffet breakfast, nice swimming pool and gym on level 6 and very cool rooftop bar. I have stayed at Park Hyatt (over 16,000Thb per night for standard room) which was very nice but not the same awesome location as Hyatt Regency.
Hyatt Regency is a very nice 5 star hotel. 1 minutes walk to Soi 11 with heaps of restaurants to choose from, and Cindy's Secret.
450 meters - 4 minutes walk to Check-in Bar. 8 minutes walk to Nana Entertainment Plaza, 9 minutes walk to Soi Cowboy. 2 minutes walk to Nana BTS if you want to venture out around Bangkok.
Street walkers (GG and LB) right out the front most nights.
When I stay there I very rarely venture further than 450 meters!
Or Sofitel, just on next block past Soi 13. I have not stayed there but still great location.
Pics of a King Deluxe Room from my stay at Hyatt Regency in July last yeat
Another hotel off the beaten path, but fairly close to Patpong. 10 minute walk maybe.
Two nights for 110USD. I booked through Agoda and this rate was not available on a single night booking. This hotel is a bit dated I suppose but still very nice. Glassed in bathrooms with shades. This bath had both a normal shower head and an over the head straight down spout. I had one LB visitor here 1.5 years ago. Max / Nikki from CL. (no one this trip) and I met her outside and walked in with her. No problems with staff. The floor plan allows you to go up the elevators without passing the front desk. Though sometimes the elevators require your room key to operate the elevator.
Small rooftop bar and pool on the 20th floor. Excellent restaurant and a free breakfast buffet. WiFi is excellent this trip, last trip it was horrible.
Well two years on and I am still here living with it.
I had my annual medical check up last week and I am in better shape now than I was when I was first diagnosed, all blood counts back to normal viral load lower than it was when first diagnosed etc.
I have just moderated my alcohol intake, I.e. Less than one bottle of Vodka / day and keep beer under 12 per day, I jest you not, plus a slightly healthier diet ( no vodka on my cornflakes), Joking aside, where as I used to drink everyday I will now go a few days a month dry and allow the body to recover and have started eating more fresh food, currently in Vietnam there is no fast food so no option but for fresh, feeling as fit as a fiddle for a 50 year old.
The only downside is how it is perceived by various Nations, Middle East is a no go area for me anymore as is Australia (Work Permit Wise) even in Vietnam it was a struggle to get medical clearance signed off, now if I worked in F&B, Medical or Childcare I would understand but I design oil Refineries and Power Plants I am only intimate at work with my computers.
HBV is not HIV but many countries attach the same stigma against it, but as I said 2 years ago, life is too short to worry, onwards and upwards guys!
Botafogo reacted to Bwana_LB in Mercure Soi 11 Review