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Mercure Soi 11 Review

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Thanks very much for the review.  This helps me a lot as this is certainly the most in depth review I've found on this hotel including reviews from travel sites, the Accor website, etc.

You did good on the price as I'm booked there for my first 5 days in late Feb in a "Deluxe King" room and the rate I got was 22K Baht. ($134 USD per night all taxes in)  My booking is no money down, free cancellation and breakfast for 2 included.   I had a cheaper reservation but had to cancel it as my trip got delayed and it appears that around March is quite busy for tourism and all hotels that I've looked at are quite expensive from late Feb to late April.

No outlet by the bed is a big con for me as I have a CPAP machine...I've needed it even when I was young and fit and now that I'm old and fat I absolutely cannot sleep without it.  Maybe I'll bring an extension cord (or have hotel provide one), but in your picture of the bed it almost looks like there is a power outlet to the right of the bedside table right near the floor?

Love that it is walking distance to many lb bars...that was certainly a factor in me choosing it.  You mentioned you could skip the desk and bring guests straight to your room...if you went to the counter would the doormen check visitors ID and check with you when your guest left to make sure everything was okay?  This sounds like it wouldn't be a bad idea if I had a freelance guest, but would probably skip this step if I brought back a well known girl from Cindys or CIB or whatever.  Thoughts? 

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Thanks for the review. I think lighting might often be one of the most overlooked and strangely set up situations in Thai hotels in general.

The switches are either everywhere or in one place and it's often not intuitive. Dimming or mood-lighting is not a thing. They're often either bright or nothing. I think that's the worst thing about ST hotels to me is I feel like I'm doing the deed in a dental office (and that's not my thing.)

Any hotel that has this figured out usually is better at all the finer points. Dream and Galleria 10 both seem to understand this.

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9 hours ago, CanadaVisitor said:

Maybe I'll bring an extension cord (or have hotel provide one), but in your picture of the bed it almost looks like there is a power outlet to the right of the bedside table right near the floor?

if you went to the counter would the doormen check visitors ID and check with you when your guest left to make sure everything was okay?  This sounds like it wouldn't be a bad idea if I had a freelance guest, but would probably skip this step if I brought back a well known girl from Cindys or CIB or whatever.  Thoughts? 

1. I don't recall, but think something essential was wired to that plug near the bed.

2. I took a couple of freelancers to the desk and had them leave their IDs, then after the deed was done walked them back to the reception desk to get their ID. I took a few Cindy's/CIB girls upstairs without dropping off IDs because there's a certain guarantee of safety when the girls work for Cindy or June.

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Very accurate description
I am staying there quite often but I am surprised about the power outlets there is one on each side of the bed and even with a USB plug
I am travelling a lot so as platinum member I enjoy executive lounge access wich includes happy hour e ery day. Small buffet and free drinks cocktails beer wine whatever.
I would suggest for those staying often there to negotiate a special price. I am staying the on average 30 to 40 nights a year. And I got a fixed rate in their best room for 3000Thb
Prices in that hotel went up quite a bit indeed and last check was like 145eur per night which is imo overpriced.
Novotel soi 4 is for the moment one of the cheaper options in the neighbourhood around 75eur
Of course location of Mercure is perfect. However novotel is 150 meters from WN

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Thanks for the review. The hotel underwent a major renovation and changed names. I stayed there several times before renovation. The location is excellent for Cindy's Secrets and in general for the action on Soi 11.

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11 hours ago, Bwana_LB said:

1. I don't recall, but think something essential was wired to that plug near the bed.

2. I took a couple of freelancers to the desk and had them leave their IDs, then after the deed was done walked them back to the reception desk to get their ID. I took a few Cindy's/CIB girls upstairs without dropping off IDs because there's a certain guarantee of safety when the girls work for Cindy or June.

Thanks for taking the time to answer those questions.  Really appreciate it.

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Thanks for the in-depth review, you do paint a picture apart from the snaps you added. Soi 11, does get incredibly busy during the peak business hours, crossing that narrow stretch can be quite difficult. The Thai street food arcade serves well into the night as well, a bonus for finding late night nibbles.

As you say, lot many FLs/bar girls hanging around the soi, possibly available for pick-up even late into the night, I suppose. Will look for a ST opportunity next time am there, as my flight lands pretty late in the night at BKK.

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Awesome review! I love Soi 11. So many great restaurants and bars and weed vendors. I usually stay at Hyatt Regency which is just around the corner from Soi 11. I'll be back there in April.

Like you said Soi 11, just a short walk to CIB.

I had dinner at El Gaucho Argentinean Steakhouse a few years ago. Bloody good steak! International prices but top quality. I first went to El Gaucho in Saigon before I discovered this 1 on Soi 11. There are a few El Gaucho steakhouses in Bangkok, another on Soi 19 and a few other places.

Hotel rooms light switches are a pet hate of mine too! Some hotel rooms have a central switches to turn off the main lights, then they have a few lamps that are not connected to the main switch. First night takes me ages to walk around and work out how to turn off all the lights.

Power points next to the bed is key too. Got to have my laptop power!

Another tip for food on Soi 11 - further down past Mercure you'll find Bang Bang Burgers which has some very tasty burgers!

Awesome Smashed Burger at Bang Bang Burgers Bangkok.jpg

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10 hours ago, sydney69er said:

some very tasty burgers!

Best burgers I had were 10 meters up Soi 11 on the right. A guy about 19 and I think his sister, making burgers in a small stall in front of a small hotel. You can take your food up to the eating area in the hotel no problem if it is raining etc. 

Now to the burgers. 99 baht for the small and 149 b for the large. Small is enough for me. Very tasty too. If you are used to Big Mac's you may not like them. These are tasty!. 

To top it off there was a pretty girl serving juice from a cart at the kerb right next to them.

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On 1/24/2023 at 3:43 PM, Bwana_LB said:

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: 

  1. Comfortable bed
  2. Good AC that was easy to control air speed and room temp
  3. Great hot water. It was easy to control, and never ran low.
  4. Two large bath sheets and two smaller bath towels
  5. Plenty of seating for guests. Chairs came in handy for sex as well.
  6. Housekeeping was responsive to requests for extra towels, hangers, etc. I tipped daily.
  7. Good reading lights by the bed.

Cons:

  1. Lighting was hard to control. No dimming, and ceiling lights were either all on or all off.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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:

  1. 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).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Gym was great and never crowded.
  5. Pool would get busy, but there was always ample seating.

Cons:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

 

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You should send this review to the hotel sir , it’s is exceptional they probably use it somehow and give you a nice upgrade ;) , thank you very much  Bwana 

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On 1/27/2023 at 1:33 PM, Bwana_LB said:

On the topic of burgers, just 10 yards from from Bang Bang Burgers is Artisan Craft Burgers. They are pricier, but the burgers are terrific, as are the fries.

https://www.artisancraftburger.com

Tried Artisan today for the first time, and they are indeed fantastic. The fries were some of the best I’ve ever had too. Will be back for sure!

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Tried Artisan today for the first time, and they are indeed fantastic. The fries were some of the best I’ve ever had too. Will be back for sure!
Come to Belgium
Not so many LB but the best fries you can get anywhere in the world.

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13 minutes ago, gainsbarre said:

Not so many LB but the best fries you can get anywhere in the world.

I don't doubt it mate, but it is hard to fuck up fried potatoes with a sprinkling of salt......there again, when I eat our chips In England.....:Yuk:

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17 minutes ago, gainsbarre said:

Come to Belgium
Not so many LB but the best fries you can get anywhere in the world.

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I’ve had them there before (in Brussels), and agree that they are amazing.

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Anyway arriving now Friday from Sg and staying in Mercure. So I might give the burgers a try. Tkx for the tip. Be in Bkk till 17th Feb


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On 1/24/2023 at 3:43 PM, Bwana_LB said:

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

Excellent review and now thinking of changing up my plans. Quick question : a parking garage is mentioned, as I fall into the shy monger category, can one skip the whole reception and enter via the garage ?

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Excellent review and now thinking of changing up my plans. Quick question : a parking garage is mentioned, as I fall into the shy monger category, can one skip the whole reception and enter via the garage ?
No need you can take the elevator without going via garage anyway not possible as parking is on higher floors

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19 minutes ago, gainsbarre said:

No need you can take the elevator without going via garage anyway not possible as parking is on higher floors

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Do they not ask for Id Gains ? 

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