St Regis Bangkok

Hotel Stay Details
Hotel: St. Regis Bangkok
Dates: February 15-17, 2013
Rate Paid: $219 / night 
Total $ Savings: $0 
Points Earned: 907 SPG Points

My father tells me there are 2 ways to budget for Thailand. The first is to Save Money because just about everything is super cheap (meals for $1-5, massages for $6, hostels for $25-30). The second is to Go Upscale but spend the same amount of money you would have in the US (because your dollar goes a lot farther in Thailand, you can enjoy some luxuries you may not be able to otherwise).

Staying at the St. Regis Bangkok is definitely the 2nd choice.  To give you an idea, the St. Regis in New York City runs $795/night for a weekend during high season in May.  The St. Regis in Bangkok for a weekend in high season in February cost my parents $219/night.

We switched hotels from the W Bangkok to the St Regis on Friday afternoon around 3PM.  My father's SPG Gold status got us a late checkout from the W so that we weren't stranded in between hotels (since the St Regis check in started at 3PM).  However, upon arriving, we were told that our room was not ready yet.

We were offered seats in the lounge and to have some tea while we waited.  Now, I'm not used to fancy luxury hotels but were they apologizing and giving us free afternoon tea or just providing an option?

Nevertheless, my father wanted to impress my mother (especially after a very lackluster Valentine's Day) and ordered the St Regis Afternoon Tea for Two for 1,030 THB total (about ~$34 USD).

(UPDATE:  When we checked out, there was no Afternoon Tea on the bill, so guess it was complimentary for the delay after all.)

My rich baby friends tell me that a comparable afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel in NYC runs about $50-60...per person!

The last time my father had a proper tea service was in London years ago when he was 19 years old and recalled thinking it was something girls would enjoy, so he wanted my mother to have a nice proper tea experience.

Around 4PM, they came by to tell us our room was now ready.  We were on the 18th floor overlooking the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, a horse track / golf course.

The style was classic but modern and while we didn't have a ton of space, it was well laid out so that there was enough space for everything, including a crib.

My parents were very impressed with the entire experience.  They had been to a St. Regis before during their delayed honeymoon in Bora Bora, but this was their first city center experience, and it did not disappoint.

I personally could care less about the hotel room as long as it's sanitary, safe and has a bunch of stuff for me to pull down off the tables, but I was told that I'm a high class baby this weekend and was expected to act as such.