Thailand hotel room rates soar by 15%

[sydneyboy1]

I like the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. I know it’s a bit far from Patpong but it’s on the skytrain and has a magnificent pool in a tropical paradise. The service is wonderful. 

[PeterRS]

9 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

also heard great reviews about a hotel called The Muse😄

Not sure The Muse would be for you @Olddaddy if only because it's a long walk down from Chidlom BTS station - around 250-300 meters I'd guess. The entrance lobby is quite dark and the overall theme in the hotel is art deco. I have never stayed but often take friends to the open-air Speakeasy Cocktail Bar on the 25th floor. The ambience is great, service very good and there is an excellent snack menu. If it's raining, everyone just moves inside. Not much of a view other than the tops of other buildings - unless you are there at sunset - but it is the bar itself which 'makes' the place. Mind you, I don't think the view from Vertigo at the top of the Banyan Tree is great either if only because Bangkok is so flat!

[Keithambrose]

On 2/19/2025 at 1:53 AM, PeterRS said:

Not sure The Muse would be for you @Olddaddy if only because it's a long walk down from Chidlom BTS station - around 250-300 meters I'd guess. The entrance lobby is quite dark and the overall theme in the hotel is art deco. I have never stayed but often take friends to the open-air Speakeasy Cocktail Bar on the 25th floor. The ambience is great, service very good and there is an excellent snack menu. If it's raining, everyone just moves inside. Not much of a view other than the tops of other buildings - unless you are there at sunset - but it is the bar itself which 'makes' the place. Mind you, I don't think the view from Vertigo at the top of the Banyan Tree is great either if only because Bangkok is so flat!

Yes, Bangkok is flat, but if you can find a pollution free day, the views are still spectacular.  It's also fun having  dinner there

[Keithambrose]

On 2/19/2025 at 1:07 AM, sydneyboy1 said:

I like the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. I know it’s a bit far from Patpong but it’s on the skytrain and has a magnificent pool in a tropical paradise. The service is wonderful. 

It's a shame that the Skytrain doesn't  run all night! Would be very useful.

[khaolakguy]

On 2/18/2025 at 5:47 PM, jason1975 said:

Yes the pool at Le Meridien is really too small.

Indeed, however if you have it to yourself it can be acceptable. We used to swim there before breakfast(when there were no other users) then sometimes return later in the day when it was busier and the eye candy was worthwhile and entertaining!

[Keithambrose]

5 hours ago, khaolakguy said:

Indeed, however if you have it to yourself it can be acceptable. We used to swim there before breakfast(when there were no other users) then sometimes return later in the day when it was busier and the eye candy was worthwhile and entertaining!

I agree. I tend to go there in the morning, and, in January, there were rarely any people swimming. I didn't see much eye candy. More at breakfast!

[floridarob]

4 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

I didn't see much eye candy. More at breakfast!

The bacon or the sausage?

[PeterRS]

11 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Yes, Bangkok is flat, but if you can find a pollution free day, the views are still spectacular.  It's also fun having  dinner there

Sorry to disagree but I find a view that is nothing but flat ground with some sparkling lights dotted everywhere quite boring - and quite expensive! How many can go on to afford dinner at Vertigo, I wonder? Just a personal view LOL 

[Pantherz]

3 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Vertigo

The Nobu rooftop bar is the new place to go. Check it out, I had a great time there. 

[reader]

One of best views in town is found from the terrace of G’s.

[Keithambrose]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Sorry to disagree but I find a view that is nothing but flat ground with some sparkling lights dotted everywhere quite boring - and quite expensive! How many can go on to afford dinner at Vertigo, I wonder? Just a personal view LOL 

Each to his own! When there is some wind, I get the impression  that the building is swaying slightly,  which is fun. I haven't  eaten up there for a long time, so don't know about prices.

[Keithambrose]

10 hours ago, floridarob said:

The bacon or the sausage?

Sausages not on view, regrettably.....

[reader]

1 hour ago, Keithambrose said:

When there is some wind, I get the impression  that the building is swaying slightly….

You’re not wrong; it does.

[PeterRS]

When there was the earhquake of Aceh Province that ked to the tsunami in December 2004, the building swung violently and had to be quickly evacuated!

[Keithambrose]

11 hours ago, reader said:

You’re not wrong; it does.

Glad to know that when my drink swayed, it was the wind, not excess of alcohol. My Office building in London did the same, the light fittings would perform a stately dance!

[Keithambrose]

10 hours ago, PeterRS said:

When there was the earhquake of Aceh Province that ked to the tsunami in December 2004, the building swung violently and had to be quickly evacuated!

I was in an earthquake  in Lima, having a gin and tonic in the rooftop bar of my hotel! I retreated to underneath  the door, as suggested  by the waiters, rsj there,  but glad to say my G&T remained intact. Odd feeling, sort of grinding motion, with the windows creaking. 

[reader]

From theconsrructor.org

Viscoelastic dampers have been successfully incorporated in a number of tall buildings as a viable energy dissipating system to suppress wind-and earthquake-induced motion of building structures.

 

 

A tuned mass damper, also known as a harmonic absorber or seismic damper, is a device mounted in structures to reduce mechanical vibrations, consisting of a mass mounted on one or more damped springs. Its oscillation frequency is tuned to be similar to the resonant frequency of the object it is mounted to, and reduces the object's maximum amplitude while weighing much less than it.

[PeterRS]

Anyone who has lived in Japan knows what earthquakes feel like as you experience them virtually every six weeks. All but a few are mild and only involve a gentle swaying. I was in a bad one in Kobe, though, which did a lot of destruction. Thankfully I was in a relatively new hotel which was structurally very sound.

I have also felt several in Taipei, one resulting in a major jolt but litttle damage. The worst I experienced was in in 1989 in the little California town of Pacific Grove not too far from San Jose. I had arrived from Hong Kong that morning for an urgent meeting, hired a car and drove to Pacific Grove. Just as we completed our business around 5:00 pm, the whole wooden building shook, pictures fell off the walls - and instead of diving under desks the four of us just stood there, as if wondering 'what is happening'? By the time we realised it was an earthquake 30 seconds later, the shaking was over. But all the power in the town was out and the roads cracked. It was the worst earthquake in that area since the San Franisco quake in 1906. Part of the Bay bridge collapsed and fires broke out in one part of the city. I finally made it back to my hotel in Pacific Grove which was all in candlellight. Despite aftershocks, I was by then so tired I fell fast asleep. But getting back to SFO the following day for the midnight flight back to Hong Kong was a real problem.

[Patanawet]

On 2/22/2025 at 1:52 PM, reader said:

One of best views in town is found from the terrace of G’s.

oh, you saw me?