Palazzo Banfkok Hotel - Bangkok, Thailand
Any time I find a hotel located a reasonable walk from a subway or skytrain station I give it points. And being the tightwad I am, if it has a minimart nearby, it gets even more points. The Palazzo Hotel just 100 meters off Ratchadapisek has both. But that isn't all this reasonably priced accommodation has to offer.
At its location off Ratchadapisek Road, the Palazzo is especially convenient for those enjoying upscale nightlife. Any number of bars and clubs are a short taxi ride. This area is where middle-class Thais party. As a point of reference, the Palazzo is on the soi just north of the Emerald Hotel. The address is 111 Soi Niam-Utit, Ratchadapisek Road. Huay Kwang Subway Station. They also have car parking.
Even if you're a geek, you get a break with the Palazzo's location. Walk up to the subway station and grab a train headed south. A couple of stops later, exit at Phraram 9. Fortune Town offers five floors of fast food, computers, software, cel phones and a Tesco. Girl watching isn't bad either.
Service at the Palazzo is better than one usually gets a a budget hotel. The good service starts at reception. My check-in was quick and effortless. Adding my valuables to a safety box located in a locked room behind reception was easy as well. However, they get a slight negative since their booking page shows "in-room safety deposit boxes". Small electronic in-room safes would be appealing.
Spacious, clean, and nicely appointed rooms feature large comfy beds, minibar, a comfortable chair, dressing table, bedside lighting & air-con control panel; and a 32" LCD TV with a number of English language channels
To get extra bottles of drinking water added to the mini-bar each day all I needed was ask the housekeeper. She didn't forget on subsequent days.
My room happened to be on the back side away from the soi, so it was quiet. I can't be sure about the rooms in front.
The restaurant occupies a good portion of the 2nd level, and service there is just as good. An "American Breakfast", included in the room price, consisted of a nice buffet. Eggs and omlettes cooked to order, ham, sausages, croisants, toast, rolls, juice, coffee and more.
Besided the traditional western fare, an Asian version included khao tom. I suppose if one is very hungry, sampling both versions might be in order.
Servers roamed the tables continuously, topping up coffee and tea. A supervisor kept track of the buffet line and tables.
I tried their dinner buffet one evening. Reasonable at Bt 210, they served a nice variety with the same good service. This time, fruit and dessert pastries were available.
While I'm not much of a lobby person, the Palazzo has a nice one. One side has a lobby bar of sorts, serving drinks, coffee, and nibbles from a bakery. The prices seemed moderate.
Opposite the lobby lounge, a sitting area for reading and being left alone was surely a nice way of balanceing their public space.
Negatives: The only real whine I had about the Palazzo, other than the safety box mentioned above, was the air-con in my room. I couldn't keep it from getting too cold.
Maybe it was a design flaw, or maybe the bedside control box wasn't working properly. But shutting it off and turning it on again worked just fine.
Overall: Do I recommend the Palazzo? If you are looking for a good room in the Bt 1,200 - 1,500 range, I surely do recommend the Palazzo Bangkok.
Bangkok Hotels
