For my very first night in Bangkok, I stayed at one of the newest Hilton hotels in town. This is a recent addition and one of the two that Hilton took over the management. This is a rebrand from a Novotel. It belongs to the lower categories of properties over here in Bangkok. I do love this part of the city. There is a lot of good local food in the surrounding street. Jok Prince, Prachak and Kha Mu Charoensang Silom are all within walking distance. You also have easy access to Iconsiam and the Chao Phraya River. This will be a solid option if you do not require anything too fancy. It offers a safe and clean space to shower and sleep.
Booking Process & Pre Arrival
I booked directly with Hilton for the stay and got the base-level Guest rooms. I will be staying here for one night. This cost me just 92 SGD including tax. With my late arrival, it doesn’t make sense for me to get something too fancy. I just need to shower and sleep. Before my arrival, I can see from the app that I was offered an upgrade to the best available room. It is very nice for the hotel to put me in the Deluxe High Floor room since upgrades are not required at HGI. This is the highest non-suite room. Hilton Garden Inn Bangkok Silom has 216 guest rooms and suites spread across 5 categories. You can check out the breakdown below.
| Rooms | Bathtub | Room Size |
|---|---|---|
| Guest | No | 26 Sqm |
| Guest High Floor | No | 26 Sqm |
| Deluxe | No | 32 Sqm |
| Deluxe High Floor | No | 32 Sqm |
| Deluxe Suite | Yes | 56 Sqm |
Checking In
I got to the hotel at around 9.30pm with my late arrival and the journey time of 45 minutes from the airport. I booked an airport transfer from trip.com but we waited a long time for the ride too. I won’t recommend this. Thankfully traffic was smooth. The hotel has a rather understated entrance there were barely even signs that said that this was the correct hotel. There was quite a long wait for checking in since a group just arrived ahead of me. You can find some seating by the side of the lobby and the bar is also right next to it. Nothing too fancy.
I was thanked for being a Diamond member and check-in was prompt. Late check-out is also automatically extended till 3pm. I opted for points instead of breakfast as I wanted to check off all the local spots nearby on my list. The hotel ended up not crediting these and I had to manually write in. For Singaporeans, they do take in paywave payments and I managed to get 4 miles per dollar by using my UOB PPV card.
Deluxe Room High Floor
I was assigned a room on one of the higher floors of the hotel. I got room 1812 on the 18th floor. It is just a short walk away from the elevators. The room measures 32 Sqm and it is much nicer than it is and bigger than it feels. Perhaps I lucked out in getting a corner unit. It does feel very dated and under-furnished. This is certainly not HGI standards and I believe that it is currently undergoing some slight renovation as well. The room comes with an L-shaped entranceway. This rather spacious area is a good spot for placing some of your belongings and baggage. I did feel it was slightly underutilised. It could certainly do with some additional furniture such as a full-length mirror or a bench or so.
Along the entranceway, on the left you can find a spacious wardrobe that comes with hangers, an ironing kit and a safe. In the middle of the two wardrobes, you have a luggage storage area that will be nice for a cabin suitcase or so. It would be nice if they had some additional portable racks for bigger suitcases.
The bathroom is located towards the right, it is spacious and you can find the toilets and showers in separate rooms. The basin is in the middle. Amenities are from Deep Nature Spa and in large pump-size bottles. I am not a fan of these and prefer the usual Crabtree and Evelyn. Feels like they are still in the process of clearing the legacy stocks. The sink is also badly designed such that water gets all over the place when you use the sink.
The bathroom comes with a standing shower with both a handheld shower head and a rainforest one. Water pressure and temperature control are excellent.
The main space of the room is in a squarish configuration. Right in the corner, you can find the minibar area which comes with some packaged tea and instant coffee. This is seen alongside a kettle and complimentary bottles of drinking water too. They also had a fully stocked mini fridge and there are some additional pleasure amenities available here too. That and the prices are shocking. A quick trip to a nearby convenience store would be better.
The TV is mounted on the wall. It is on the smaller side and of poor quality. You have a selection of both local and international cable TV channels.
The king-size bed is in the middle and the pillows were pretty good. Additional ones can be requested too. I love that the bedding is on the firmer side. On both sides of the bed, there are nightstands with power outlets within reach. Controls for the lights are also conveniently located.
There is a small working area in the corner with a chair. This is decent for a short period of work. The wifi connection is very good and power outlets are nicely designed here. They have other ports available by the side too.
By the window, there is another lazing day bed and a small table. This can be handy and a bed for the little ones too. The room comes with a lovely unblocked view of the surrounding area. There is nothing too amazing over here.
Fitness Centre
The facilities are all located on the 7th floor. The fitness centre is on the smaller side and nothing too fancy.
Pool
The pool feels more like one that you dip in to cool off rather than one for doing laps yet the vibes and feel are more for exercising. They have some sunbeds by the side.
Breakfast at Silom All Day Dining
Breakfast is served at Silom All Day Dining. This is located at level 6. Breakfast is served buffet style from 6am to 10am daily and it costs 250 THB if not included in your rate or membership. I did not manage to check it out since I had a late morning. I also opted to dine outside instead given the plethora of good food nearby.
Conclusion
For the price that I am paying, it is a very solid stay. It makes perfect sense given my plans. I also booked it kinda of last minute and you can expect to pay much less if you book earlier or come during the low peak period. I love the location of the hotel and the surrounding area. It is great value for money if you just want a safe place to sleep and shower. I would love to stay at the Waldorf every night but it just doesn’t make sense if you have a late arrival, early departure or out the entire day. I will have no qualms about coming back here for another stay. I am looking forward to them making some slight renovations and touch-ups.
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